Career Opportunities

WellSpring is seeking an experienced development professional to lead and oversee all aspects of development work including setting the development strategy, donor communications, donor prospecting and stewardship, donor engagement, major gifts, foundation engagement and online fundraising. This is currently a 30 hour per week part-time role that could grow to full-time as the organization expands. This position qualifies for PTO as noted below.

WellSpring’s fundraising has grown rapidly with total income more than doubling in the last seven years, driven by an expanding donor base, high donor retention and a strategic mission that resonates with our partners.

This role will report to our Managing Partner and collaborate with the Partner team that leads WellSpring ministries. This role will also work closely with the WellSpring staff team including event planning, financial management, and operations.  The Development Director will be part of a strategic leadership team who helps the ministry grow through a transition from a founding-team-led organization to an effective and sustainably growing ministry beyond the original team.

The ideal candidate will

• Have experience building a successful development program including:
  • Relevant development experience within a growing nonprofit.
  • Creating a development plan with strategies and tactics to deliver the development goals.
  • Creating and overseeing Branding, Marketing and Communications functions for development efforts.
  • Producing results in all stages of the development process (i.e., prospecting, cultivation, conversion, ongoing engagement, and retention).
  • Maintaining a donor database to track donors, prospects, gifts, meetings, etc.
  • Experience with or exposure to a variety of development channels including major gifts, foundations, churches, individuals, alumni, and online giving.
  • Experience with or exposure to a capital campaign.
• Have a demonstrated track record cultivating trust-based relationships that allow them to influence and mobilize colleagues and ministry partners.
• Be entrepreneurial and self-directed, with the potential to experiment, pilot and scale significant new areas of development strategy and donor engagement for WellSpring while also being collaborative and a team player with the Partners.
• Demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Be a mature and growing Christian. Place a high priority on their spiritual and emotional health. Be committed to building and nurturing a connected life with God supported by spiritual practices and evidencing the fruit of the Spirit.
• Be committed to growing in their understanding and experience of the process of spiritual formation and growth in character, and particularly WellSpring’s approach to spiritual formation.
• Connect well with donors who value the Church (including nonprofit parachurch ministries) and who understand the importance of investing in spiritually and emotionally healthy leaders to lead these institutions.

WellSpring will offer a competitive compensation package, adjustable hours, and flexibility to work a hybrid of on-site and remote. Some in-office hours in our Menlo Park office will be required to promote internal collaboration and teamwork. Our culture is collaborative and entrepreneurial with colleagues who are deeply committed to an organizational ethos that values warmth, hospitality, and generosity as integral expressions of the character of God.

Salary Range: $75,000-$90,000 (based on 30 hours per week) PTO will be prorated.

To inquire about an application please contact Chris Coli, Managing Partner.

Responsibilities include

• In collaboration with the Managing Partner create and execute a strategic fund development plan to build a scalable fundraising operation that generates steady, long-term sustainable growth for WellSpring. Build on our track record of growth.  We believe WellSpring could be positioned for $3-5M in revenue by 2027 to meet the growing need for new SoulCARE cohorts in the Bay Area, Southern California, and geographic regions beyond California. Provide monthly or quarterly reports on progress against the annual Development Plan.
• Personally oversee and be responsible for a portfolio of major donors, including prospecting, cultivation, conversion, ongoing engagement, and retention. This will occasionally require face-to-face meetings and attendance at weekend and evening events. Occasional travel to Southern California will also be required.
• Be responsible for grant writing and partnership development with WellSpring foundation partners.
• Be responsible for continual refinement of marketing and communication positioning, value proposition, and messaging for WellSpring’s development efforts. Coordinate messaging with Operations team and Partners leading WellSpring programs to insure high-quality and consistency through all written and verbal communications.
• Design and manage development campaigns, including a 30-year celebration in fall of 2024 and capital campaign launch planned for 2025.
• Create online and print fundraising materials. Contribute to WellSpring’s social media presence and website enhancements related to development.
• Organize events associated with fundraising and donor engagement.
• Oversee WellSpring’s CRM system, Donor Perfect, to leverage WellSpring’s 10+ years of development data. Identify and design actions to increase donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, engagement, and retention and to translate those into appropriate growth targets.
• Work with WellSpring’s loyal base of donors and partners to design and deliver a set of programs that enrich and engage our donor base.
• Be comfortable contributing to and helping shape strategic and program priorities in collaboration with WellSpring senior team members.
• Represent Development to Board members and contribute to Board meetings as requested by Managing Partner. Help board progress in their participation in prospecting, cultivating and stewarding donors.

About WellSpring

WellSpring is a nonprofit ministry that is working to transform the ethos of the Church by transforming the lives of leaders. In an era when the Church is experiencing attrition, waning influence in society, and significant burnout among its leadership, WellSpring is investing in Church and nonprofit leaders to facilitate renewed vibrancy, longevity, and vision for the Churches and communities they lead.

We are a spiritual formation ministry offering Biblically based and historically rooted resources that help people discover God’s personal, generous love, and the joy-filled life available in the Kingdom of God. Over 29 years, WellSpring’s ministry offerings have proven to facilitate long-term personal transformation that overflows into healthier relationships, work environments, and communities where people serve.

Our core ministry, SoulCARE, which is tailored to pastors and nonprofit leaders, is an innovative, cohort-based, 9-month retreat experience that nurtures a leader’s life with God and equips them for a vibrant, fruitful, and sustainable tenure in ministry.  WellSpring also provides continuing support to foster the ongoing spiritual health of pastors and leaders as well as training to amplify spiritual formation into their communities. Leaders thrive when they experience authentic and connected life with God. Healthy leaders build healthy churches and nonprofits that impact the world for good.

Building on this legacy, the current season of WellSpring is propelled by a vision to see more pastors gain access to our SoulCARE experience. Driving this vision is a two-part effort:

1. To expand the organization’s impact by increasing the number of SoulCARE cohorts we offer into new geographic regions; and
2. To amplify the efforts of pastors who have been in SoulCARE to grow their congregations into bodies that live the character and behavior of Christ in their communities.