Director of Development

Location: San Francisco with some work-from-home allowed.

Compensation: Salary range from $165,000 - $185,000.

Applications considered on a rolling basis until Sunday Feb 8, 11:59PM.

Target

Start Date:

April 1, 2026.

Apply now:

KALW Public Media is at an inflection point.

KALW has always been more than a radio station. After more than eight decades on the air, we are now stepping fully into our role as an independent nonprofit public media organization with the freedom and responsibility that comes with it. Rooted in the Bay Area and shaped by its creativity and contradictions, KALW produces independent journalism, music, and cultural programming, trains emerging media makers, and shows up in places where public media rarely goes.

We gather people through live events that create connection and belonging. In summer 2026, we will move into a new downtown San Francisco headquarters designed as a civic space for dialogue, culture, and community.

We are now seeking a senior fundraising leader to help carry this work forward. The title is flexible. The mandate is not.

This is a rare opportunity to shape the fundraising future of a respected, innovative independent media organization at a moment of growth, visibility, and possibility.

The Director of Development will be a core member of KALW’s senior leadership team and a key partner to the Executive Director, who is deeply engaged in fundraising and brings a strong, hands‑on track record of building donor relationships and securing support. You will lead strategy and execution across institutional giving, major gifts, listener membership, on‑air and digital campaigns, and board engagement, while helping to build a sustainable, values‑aligned public media funding model for the long term.

You will inherit real momentum. A newly engaged and growing board. A small, talented development team. Strong donor loyalty. Clear strategic priorities. A leadership culture that values fundraising as relationship building, storytelling, and shared purpose, not transactional extraction.

You will also help lead KALW into its next chapter, including our move into a new downtown building that will dramatically expand our visibility, programming, and community engagement.

If you are looking for a role where fundraising is central to mission, creativity, and civic impact, this is that role.

In close partnership with the Executive Director

• Design and execute a comprehensive fundraising strategy aligned with KALW’s mission, values, and growth goals
• Set clear revenue targets and build systems to meet them across individual, institutional, and earned revenue
• Evaluate current systems and tools to design fundraising practices moving forward

• Partner with communications, editorial, and senior leadership to shape and steward KALW’s institutional narrative
• Ensure fundraising, marketing, and public‑facing communications are aligned, compelling, and values‑driven
• Help translate complex work into clear, resonant stories for donors, foundations, partners, and the broader public
• Play a senior role in defining how KALW shows up as a brand, a civic institution, and a cultural force

• Personally manage a portfolio of major and principal gift prospects
• Partner closely with the Executive Director on top relationships and solicitations
• Help donors and listeners see themselves as builders of public media and civic infrastructure

• Lead institutional fundraising strategy and relationships with local, regional, and national foundations
• Personally engage with foundation partners as a senior representative of KALW, shaping multi‑year investments aligned with our journalism, music, training, and civic impact work
• Oversee foundation and institutional giving in close partnership with program, editorial, and leadership staff
• Position KALW as a trusted, long‑term partner for foundation investment in public media, culture, and civic life, and as a field leader in innovative, community‑centered public media

• Provide…