Director of Development

Direct message the job poster from My Friend Ben

Location: Denver, Colorado Metro Area - Hybrid (Remote with 1–2 in-person days/week preferred for core collaboration at downtown Denver offices, co-located with Gary Community Ventures)

Type: Full-Time (W-2)

My Friend Ben  is a nonprofit technology organization working to make the social safety net easier to access, understand, and use. We build statewide benefits screeners and referral infrastructure that help tens of thousands of households understand and claim public benefits they are eligible for. To date we’ve helped over 70,000 families secure over $45M in benefits and tax credits out of over $1B+ identified.

Our current annual operating budget is approximately $1.5M
, supported by leading national and regional funders including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We are entering a new phase of growth, focused on scaling statewide implementations, increasing partner adoption, and delivering significantly more impact to households across the country.

Our Funders & Partners: My Friend Ben  is supported by a strong group of national and regional funders and partners, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
, Annie

E. Casey Foundation
, J.B. & M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation
, Rainwater Charitable Foundation
, Telluray Foundation
, Code the Dream
, Policy Engine
, Colorado Access Foundation
, and Gary Community Ventures
, among others.

We are hiring a Director of Development to lead fundraising strategy and execution at a pivotal moment in My Friend Ben ’s growth. This role is not a turnaround or early bootstrap position;
My Friend Ben  has demonstrated traction, repeat funders, and a clear path to continued growth.

This is a fundraising-first, senior role responsible for securing philanthropic revenue across foundations and other institutional funders. The Director of Development will also work closely with the CEO, program, product, and partnerships teams to translate real-world impact and adoption into strong fundraising outcomes
.

This role is ideal for an experienced fundraiser who is excited to build and scale a development function in a lean, high-impact organization — and who values close collaboration with program and strategy leadership.

• Own and execute My Friend Ben ’s fundraising strategy across foundations and other institutional funders
• Manage a pipeline of current and prospective funders, including cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship
• Lead proposal development, reporting, and grant compliance
• Partner closely with the CEO on high-leverage funder relationships and strategic fundraising decisions
• Ensure fundraising goals are aligned with organizational priorities, budgets, and impact targets
• Collaborate with internal program, product, and partnerships teams to ensure fundraising is grounded in meaningful adoption and outcomes
• Translate program performance, referral activity, and household impact into compelling proposals and funder reports
• Engage selectively with external partners where helpful for funder learning, storytelling, or relationship building
• Help shape My Friend Ben ’s external narrative around impact, growth, and sustainability

• Serve as a senior leader in a small, fast-moving organization
• Help establish and refine development systems, processes, and rhythms appropriate to our stage
• Contribute to strategic planning around growth, sustainability, and multi-state scale

• 8+ years of nonprofit fundraising or development experience
• Demonstrated success securing six- and seven-figure gifts from foundations or institutional funders
• Experience working in lean or early-stage nonprofit environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly for proposals and reports
• Comfort working cross-functionally with program, product, partnerships, and leadership teams
• Excitement about building, not just maintaining, a development function

Grounded. We design, build and improve in direct partnership with community members and end users and in response to community…