Capital Campaign Director – Lead a Field-Defining Campaign to Anchor Abolitionist Infrastructure in Oakland

Critical Resistance (CR)—a national grassroots organization working to end the prison industrial complex (PIC)—seeks a Capital Campaign Director to drive and staff Building People Power (BPP)’s multi-year capital campaign, leading strategy, fundraising, donor engagement, and ecosystem coordination to complete the remaining raise and bring a bold vision to life.

This is a rare chance to shape a field-defining campaign—one that reimagines how capital and community support local-to-global movement building, governance, and cultural memory. The Director aligns the campaign with CR abolitionist values and anchors its success in strong relationships, compelling narrative, and collective care.

This full-time, Oakland-based (hybrid) position reports to CR’s Development Director and collaborates closely with the BPP Building Project Manager, campaign consultants, and CR’s national staff team.

Building People Power | Project Overview

Building People Power (BPP) - a project of Critical Resistance - is preparing to launch the quiet phase of a bold capital campaign to resource a new movement hub for healing, organizing, and community-led governance—and to activate a living model of abolitionist economic sovereignty. A recent feasibility study affirmed BPP’s potential as a generational investment in abolitionist infrastructure and informed an updated campaign work plan, positioning CR to move forward with clarity, intention, and momentum.

At its heart is the transformation of a 10,000 square ft building at 4400 Telegraph Ave in Oakland, CA into a home for political organizing, cultural strategy, collective care, and movement stewardship. Currently under CR’s ownership, the building will house the organization’s national headquarters and provide a welcoming, inclusive space for movement partners and communities impacted by imprisonment, displacement, and state violence.

To date, the campaign has secured ownership of the building and a $6 million lead gift. With preliminary architectural estimates, the working goal is $11.5 million to complete renovations and ensure long-term sustainability for building operations (final goal to be confirmed with contractor pricing and updated BPP operational planning).

This is not just a capital campaign—it’s a blueprint for how movements can mobilize resources and relationships to build the world we need: centering community stewardship, participatory governance, and the transformative use of resources to build collective power.

Position Details

Title: Capital Campaign Director

Location: Oakland, CA (hybrid)

Status: Full-time, two-year+ position (initial six-month mutual fit review)

Salary Range: $120,000-140,000/year + generous benefits

Key Responsibilities

Campaign Strategy & Management

• Refine and implement a multi-phase campaign strategy from quiet phase cultivation through public launch and close.
• Align campaign calendar with CR’s programmatic, construction, and fiscal timelines.
• Track benchmarks, manage campaign budget, and report progress to key internal and external stakeholders.
• Coordinate consultants, advisors, and a Capital Campaign committee; assess overall campaign capacity and design.
• Develop annual fundraising plans and materials aligned with CR’s values, voice, and vision.
• Facilitate internal coordination and documentation across campaign staff, volunteers, and systems.

Donor Organizing & Engagement

• Build and manage a portfolio of donors and funders giving $10K+ in one-time or multi-year commitments.
• Cultivate and solicit major individual and institutional gifts—including recoverable or blended capital where aligned.
• Coach and support CR staff, campaign committee, and volunteers in donor engagement and asks.
• Manage donor systems, acknowledgements, pledges, and grant proposals and reports.
• Collaborate on donor storytelling and events that highlight the campaign’s transformative impact.

Campaign Culture, Learning, & Ecosystem Stewardship

• Cultivate a campaign culture grounded in CR’s abolitionist principles: collective care, accountability, and shared power.
• Represent CR and BPP in philanthropic, community finance, and movement-building spaces.
• Support documentation that uplifts BPP’s broader field impact and long-term strategic significance.
• Bridge CR with aligned fields (solidarity economy, community capital, and governance innovation).

Ideal Candidate Qualifications

We welcome applications from candidates with a variety of backgrounds (development, organizing, philanthropy, and economic justice). You don’t need to meet every single qualification to apply—we value curiosity, strategic thinking, and alignment with our values.

• 5–7+ years of fundraising experience, including 3+ years in capital campaigns or major gifts.
• Demonstrated success leading/co-leading multi-stakeholder fundraising and securing six-figure+ gifts.
• Strong relationship-building across philanthropic and movement spaces.
• Creative, values-aligned approach to capital strategy and narrative positioning.
• Effective communicator and collaborator with strong writing, planning, and prioritization skills.
• Comfort working in CRM systems (Salesforce a plus); experience managing campaign budgets and tracking systems.
• Experience supporting or supervising fundraising staff, volunteers, or campaign committees.
• Familiarity with integrated-capital strategies (e.g. grants, major gifts, recoverable capital, public/private partnerships) is a plus.
• Deep commitment to prison industrial complex abolition; ability to learn and articulate CR’s mission and values.
• Personal qualities: diligence, humility, integrity, emotional intelligence, and self-direction.
• Confidence operating as a visible campaign leader while honoring collective leadership and grassroots values.