Chief Development Officer (Hybrid)

The Trust for the National Mall is a nonpartisan non-profit organization located and established in Washington, D.C. in 2002. The Trust for the National Mall is the leading philanthropic partner of the National Park Service dedicated to restoring, enriching and preserving the National Mall.

The Chief Development Officer will manage and grow the organization’s principal and major gift fundraising efforts by playing a lead role along with the President and CEO in elevating the individual, corporate, and foundation giving programs while building out the Trust’s long-term infrastructure for successful fundraising.

The Chief Development Officer will be an experienced fundraiser who thrives off closing significant gifts and understands how to nurture long-term relationships while leading with a sense of urgency. The Chief Development Officer will work directly with the President and CEO to identify and secure seven (7) and eight (8) figure leadership gifts in support of the Trust’s fundraising priorities. The successful candidate will have overall responsibility and guide strategy while effectively delegating responsibilities related to pipeline management, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

The Chief Development Officer is primarily responsible for:

• Overall operating revenue and capital project fundraising strategies;
• Recruitment and closure of the most significant gifts to the Trust;
• Appropriate and best-in-class build-out of a long-range fundraising program that is defined by excellence;
• Manage philanthropy team goals and results.

The Chief Development Officer reports to the President/CEO and will manage three (3) Director/Senior Director positions that each oversee external, internal, and special events fundraising functions. With the leadership team, the successful candidate will set and define organizational strategies to further the mission and impact.

Key Skills:

• Expertise and demonstrated success as a principal-level (7 and 8-figure gifts) fundraiser with comfort working with sophisticated philanthropists. The successful candidate will thrive on securing these types of gifts.
• Exceptional capacity to delegate and not get caught up in the weeds while having expert-level organizational skills and a commitment to detail.
• A passion for making people around them successful. Fundraising success for the Trust will require excellence from the entire organization, and most notably the development staff. This will require the CDO to trust the Director/Senior Directors and quickly implement a system that delegates responsibilities accordingly, efficiently, and effectively.
• Experience and demonstrated success working alongside a motivated CEO.
• A competitive nature along with an empathetic style. The candidate should understand the difference between urgent and important and have a servant leader’s mentality.

Education / Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent professional work or military experience.
• At least 15 years with a successful track record in securing leadership gifts at the seven- and eight-figure levels.

Position Overview: https://driwaterstonehc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Trust_for_the_National_Mall_CDO_2026_Final.pdf

Location: Washington, DC – Hybrid Role

Salary: $225k - . The salary listed is one component of the total compensation package for employees.

Apply: https://driwaterstonehc.com/position/trust-for-the-national-mall/

DRiWaterstone is proud to lead this search on behalf of the Trust for the National Mall.