Development Officer and Campaign Manager

Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) is a nonprofit public-private partnership with city, state, and federal agencies that collectively manage New York City's largest and most biodiverse open space: 44 square miles (twice the size of Manhattan) of public parks, wetlands, and open water in Brooklyn and Queens. Jamaica Bay and Rockaway parklands provide unparalleled opportunities for outdoor recreation and education, while providing vital habitat for 325 species of birds, 100 fish, 50 butterflies, numerous marine mammals, turtles, ancient horseshoe crabs, and many rare and endangered plants. JBRPC's mission is to improve these parklands for both public enjoyment and ecosystem health.

JBRPC serves the 3 million New Yorkers who live within the Jamaica Bay watershed and millions more park visitors. As a trusted collaborator and convener of public agencies, community groups, elected officials, and local stakeholders, JBRPC advances restoration and adaptive management of wetlands and natural areas, improving public access to the unique natural and cultural assets in our region, providing robust opportunities for recreation and educational activities, fostering local environmental leadership and a nature-based workforce, and ensuring long-term sustainability of public parklands.

Since our founding in 2013, JBRPC has removed more than 60 tons of trash and debris from shorelines and parks, planted more than 425,000 native plants and trees, and hosted more than 120,000 people at public programs and events – including our annual Jamaica Bay Festival, and biennial Rockaway! or Floyd Bennett Field! Public Arts Festivals. We've organized more than 250 stewardship events that drew support from more than 5,000 dedicated volunteers, and welcomed 15,000 students into our environmental education programs. We led the planning, design, and construction of Jamaica Bay’s first living shoreline, and are advancing other nature-based initiatives across our catchment area. As a nonprofit organization, JBRPC has strategically built its capacity for greater impact and project scope. JBRPC is poised and uniquely positioned to build on prior success to realize greater impact in our parklands and surrounding communities.

The Opportunity

The re-activation of Floyd Bennett Field (FBF) is the centerpiece of this strategic initiative. Extending into Jamaica Bay from southern Brooklyn and Queens, the park is globally significant for its role in early aviation innovation and the visitor epicenter for Gateway National Recreation Area (Gateway) – our country’s first recreation area within a major metropolis, spanning 27,000 acres across two states and three New York City Boroughs at the entrance to New York Harbor. Gateway is now the fourth most visited National Park Service (NPS) unit in the nation with nearly 9 million visits in 2024.

As an official NPS Philanthropic Partner, JBRPC is embarking on our largest and most transformative project to date: the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic Hangars 3 and 4 as a regional destination for outdoor recreation and community-based events, educational programming and workforce development opportunities, and a hub for research and development of nature-based technologies to improve park resource management and protect people in surrounding communities from more frequent cloudburst events and flooding, sea level rise, extreme heat, and the pressures from a highly urbanized landscape.

JBRPC and NPS are at a critical point in this monumental project. JBRPC is launching a $126 million campaign to realize the adaptive reuse of Hangars 3 and 4, with lead funding of $26 million in Legacy Restoration Funds appropriated through the Great American Outdoors Act to honor the park’s grand aviation history by exterior rehabilitation of these Art Deco treasures. Additional major commitments are in development from public and private sources, while project planning and design are well underway toward anticipated operations in 2028.

Position Overview

JBRPC seeks a skilled and creative fundraiser to expand and diversify our revenues, with a focus on major gifts and completing the $126 million campaign over the next 2+ years. The ideal candidate will have at least 4 to 5 years of experience managing portfolios of 150 to 200 major donors and prospects.

Reporting to and working closely with the Executive Director, the Development Officer & Campaign Manager is expected to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and prospects, and must be able to enthusiastically and accurately represent JBRPC to a variety of constituents and stakeholders including board members and individual and institutional major donors and prospects. The Development Officer & Campaign Manager monitors all prospect contacts to ensure positive and purposeful relations and recommends and assists with programming involving senior JBRPC staff, board members, donors, prospects, and elected officials.

Experience collaborating with senior staff members and in support of board members is a must, as is a desire to work in a small nimble nonprofit environment on local environmental issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Become versed in JBRPC’s mission, audiences, partners, and diverse initiatives to best shape fundraising strategies and campaigns.
• Partner with the Executive Director to develop appropriate cultivation and solicitation strategies for donors and prospects capable of giving gifts at six-figure levels and above for the current $100 million capital and operating campaign, moving potential donors in an appropriate and timely fashion toward solicitation and closure.
• Support the Executive Director and the Board of Directors with development efforts, creating and implementing strategies for leveraging directors’ networks and empowering them to act as key spokespeople and fundraisers for the organization.
• Oversee all aspects of the gift cycle, including identification, research, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Manage a continuously refreshed portfolio of 150 to 200 prospects, drawing from and replenishing an existing pipeline of over 500 contacts.
• Work independently and in partnership with staff and board members to identify and initiate contact with donor prospects.
• Make direct, face-to-face solicitations, and provide strategic counsel to the board and other staff with their solicitations.
• Develop and implement strategies for stewarding donors, maintaining awareness of and sensitivity to their individual needs and interests.
• Partner with other members of the JBRPC team in the creation of donor proposals, acknowledgments, and stewardship materials.
• Help create and oversee public and private recognition and acknowledgement opportunities for major donors.
• Track and report progress using metrics mutually agreed upon with the Executive Director and board leadership.
• As needed, support public programs and events, volunteer stewardship projects, and various convenings as part of the JBRPC team.
• Establish protocols for and oversee the management of JBRPC’s fundraising database, moves management, data entry and maintenance, gift processing and acknowledgement, and generating lists, exports, and reports.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• 4-5 years successful experience in major gift fundraising, preferably with parks, open space, or environmental organizations.

Skills

• Track record of securing new major institutional and individual donations, stewarding board recruitment activities, and cultivating long-term relationships with major funders.
• Demonstrated success in meeting and exceeding ambitious fundraising
• Flexibility to work at both a strategic level and manage the day-to-day tasks associated with the implementation of a robust major gifts program at a small organization.
• Excellent research, writing, organizational, and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to make JBRPC’s work come alive through superior written and presentation materials.
• The maturity and sound judgment necessary for interacting with major donors, prospects, board members, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to be a stellar team member who also shines when working independently and managing multiple complex tasks simultaneously.
• Strong project management skills and a demonstrated ability to set and complete priority projects under deadline.
• Passion for the topics and issues JBRPC’s work addresses, including environmental sustainability, open spaces, advocacy, and civic engagement.
• Experience managing moves management protocols in fundraising databases and developing systems to ensure data is complete, current, and accurate.
• Proficiency in Google Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, Squarespace, Salesforce or other fundraising databases.

Other

• Enjoyment of being outdoors throughout all seasons and weather conditions is essential, as is the enthusiasm to join JBRPC programs.
• Travel throughout JBRPC’s catchment area (valid Driver's License is a plus) and the ability to work occasional evenings and weekends are required.

Hybrid Location: offices in Rockaway Park and Floyd Bennett Field; park sites; occasional WFH Schedule: 35 hours/week, M-F 9am-5pm, with occasional weekend/evening work required (flex schedule).