Development Director
McDowell Local Food Advisory Council - Marion, NC
Full-Time | $50,000–$60,000 commensurate with experience.
About McDowell Local Food Advisory Council
McDowell Local Food Advisory Council (LFAC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening community health through an equitable and economically viable local food system. Through core programming at the Foothills Food Hub and the Marion Tailgate Market, LFAC works to increase access to healthy food while supporting the success of local agriculture. Since 2018, we have facilitated charitable food access programs, and partnerships with local farmers and community organizations. In recent years, we worked to expand markets for local farms to sell their products and for consumers to connect with locally produced foods.
As our organization enters its next stage of growth, we are investing in leadership capacity to help diversify revenue, strengthen community engagement, and build long-term organizational sustainability.
Position Summary
This is a newly created leadership position, reflecting an intentional investment in McDowell LFAC's next stage of growth. Rather than stepping into an established role, the successful candidate will help shape the position alongside the Executive Director, building systems, strategies, and relationships that strengthen the organization's long-term sustainability.
The Development Director is a senior leadership position responsible for advancing McDowell LFAC's mission by growing the organization's financial resources, strategic partnerships, public visibility, and community engagement. Working closely with the Executive Director, this role develops and implements strategies that strengthen philanthropy, expand community support, elevate the organization's brand, and increase awareness of local food across the region. Through fundraising, storytelling, communications, relationship-building, and strategic planning, the Development Director helps build a financially sustainable organization that supports local farmers, improves community health, and expands access to local food.
Our Leadership Philosophy
McDowell LFAC believes that strong organizations are built through shared leadership. The Development Director serves as a strategic thought partner to the Executive Director and contributes to organizational planning, revenue diversification, and long-term sustainability. While the Executive Director maintains overall organizational leadership, this position expands the organization's executive capacity by bringing experience, perspective, and leadership to the areas of development, communication, and external engagement.
This position is ideal for someone who enjoys building systems, cultivating relationships, solving complex challenges, and helping shape the future of a growing nonprofit organization.
Primary Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Serve as a member of the organization's leadership team.
- Collaborate closely with the Executive Director on organizational strategy and long-term sustainability.
- Help identify opportunities for organizational growth, partnerships, and revenue diversification.
- Contribute ideas, expertise, and thoughtful perspective to organizational planning and decision-making.
- Help establish systems that strengthen organizational capacity for years to come.
Fund Development
- Develop and implement an annual fundraising strategy in partnership with the Executive Director.
- Lead individual giving initiatives, donor cultivation, stewardship, and annual campaigns.
- Build recurring giving, major donor, and planned giving opportunities.
- Develop sponsorship opportunities for programs, events, and organizational initiatives.
- Identify, cultivate, and steward relationships with foundations, businesses, community leaders, and philanthropic partners.
- Collaborate with the Executive Director on grant strategy, proposal development, grant research, and reporting, with responsibilities shared based on organizational priorities and staff capacity.
- Track fundraising progress and recommend adjustments throughout the year.
Communication & Brand Leadership
Provide strategic leadership for McDowell LFAC's communications while collaborating with staff and contractors on implementation.
- Developing annual communications and storytelling strategies.
- Guiding organizational messaging and brand consistency.
- Growing public awareness of McDowell LFAC's mission and impact.
- Supporting marketing strategies that increase participation in programs, grow storefront customers, and strengthen community engagement.
- Overseeing newsletters, website content, media relations, and digital communications.
- Working collaboratively with staff to highlight farmers, partners, volunteers, and community impact.
Relationship Development
Develop and strengthen meaningful relationships that advance McDowell LFAC's mission. The Development Director will work closely with the Executive Director to determine how relationships are cultivated and stewarded, recognizing that successful organizational partnerships are shared across the leadership team.
Systems & Organizational Support
- Serve as the primary administrator for the organization's CRM (MonkeyPod).
- Maintain systems that support donor stewardship and relationship management.
- Support communications systems including mailing lists, newsletters, and campaign tracking.
- Provide light administration of Microsoft 365 systems, SharePoint, and organizational information management.
- Coordinate with outside IT support for advanced technical issues.
Success in this newly created leadership position will be measured not only by fundraising outcomes, but also by the systems, relationships, and organizational capacity established for long-term growth.
Key priorities during the first year include:
- Helping the organization achieve its annual fundraising goal.
- Developing new donor and sponsorship relationships.
- Creating a thoughtful annual communications and storytelling strategy.
- Strengthening grant development capacity alongside the Executive Director.
- Building systems that improve donor stewardship and communications.
- Becoming a trusted strategic thought partner to the Executive Director and leadership team.
Our Ideal Candidate
The successful candidate is both strategic and relational. They enjoy helping organizations grow and are energized by connecting people, ideas, and resources around a shared mission.
They are comfortable thinking at both the strategic and implementation levels and are excited to help shape a new leadership role within a growing nonprofit.
They bring intellectual curiosity, humility, initiative, and creativity to their work.
Most importantly, they are excited to learn and believe deeply that everyone deserves access to healthy food.
Because our organization supports local farmers, expands healthy food access, operates food distribution programs, and grows local food markets simultaneously, the Development Director must invest time in developing a deep understanding of our work and the broader regional food system. This understanding will allow them to authentically communicate our mission across multiple audiences and funding partners.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
- Minimum 3–5 years of experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, communications, business development, relationship management, or a closely related field.
- Demonstrated success cultivating relationships and securing financial support.
- Excellent written, verbal, and public communication skills.
- Experience developing strategic plans and executing complex projects.
- Familiarity with donor databases/CRM systems.
- Strong organizational and project management skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and common communications platforms.
- Experience with grant writing is preferred.
- Knowledge of agriculture, local food systems, rural communities, or community health is preferred but not required.
Work Environment
This is primarily an in-person leadership position based at the Foothills Food Hub in Marion, North Carolina. The Foothills Food Hub is the location of our offices, warehouse, and storefront.
Because authentic storytelling and relationship-building require deep engagement with our work, we believe the strongest candidates will become active members of our team and community.
Occasional hybrid work may be available after onboarding for focused project work.
Some evening and weekend work is required for meetings, events, and community engagement.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary: $50,000–$60,000, commensurate with experience.
Benefits include:
- Three weeks paid vacation after successful completion of a 90-day introductory period
- Vision, dental, life, and disability insurance
