Chief Development Officer

Location

Richmond, VA | United States

Job description

The Endowment Project is a dynamic, mission-driven social enterprise with the mission to build for the benefit of public high schools in the US the same fundraising infrastructure that fuels US colleges and private high schools. We empower public high schools to achieve sustainable excellence through alumni and community development and fundraising and position our nonprofit partner Foundation, The Endowment Project Foundation, for high-impact grantmaking. Through strategic fundraising initiatives, we aim to provide vital dollars to create a lasting positive impact on students, teachers, and communities. This is a unique opportunity to achieve significant nonprofit impact with for-profit compensation and growth potential.

The Endowment Project is looking for a Chief Development Officer (CDO) to build and lead its development and alumni engagement function. This individual will report directly to the founders and be able to thrive in a fast-growing startup environment. The ideal candidate will have extensive and proven fundraising experience from a diverse group of alumni, community members, and corporate donors. CDO's primary roles are to create and implement the overarching fundraising and alumni engagement strategy for our nonprofit partner Foundations as well as lead, develop, and mobilize community support to achieve their ambitious fundraising goals. This individual must have an entrepreneurial mindset and be willing to be hands-on with the work that moves the company towards achieving its aggressive growth plans. We view this as a unique opportunity for a Senior Development professional to exercise their significant skillset and experience while also participating in the launching and growing of a new business alongside the Company's Founder Entrepreneurs. Equity in the Company will be a component of compensation.

Duties | Responsibilities:

• Develop and oversee the implementation of the development plan in consultation with leadership; track results/outcomes.
• Participate actively in leadership team meetings to strategize and position the organization for the future.
• Recruit, coach, train, supervise, and evaluate the development team and ensure staff members have the tools to accomplish their goals.
• Utilize a broad tactical toolkit of digital and email marketing, direct mail, telephone, in-person meetings with alumni, corporations and foundations to drive fundraising success.
• Provide guidance to reports and track performance against the development plan.
• Manage a large portfolio of donors and prospective major donors across designated communities through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Develop and strengthen relationships with individual donors, corporations, school administrators, alumni, and foundation trustees.
• Create, delegate, and oversee the production of donor-related materials, including print, email, social media, annual campaigns, and stewardship communication.
• Prepare or delegate the preparation of written and verbal proposals, concept and informational materials, endowment and planned giving agreements, and other materials needed to secure major gifts.
• Solicit a measurable number of major gifts annually while growing a pipeline of new opportunities to support future major gift solicitations.
• Manage donor software; run reports, manage contacts, and enter notes about donor meetings/relationships into database.
• Ensure that alumni are engaged, involved, represented, and encouraged to be active and informed about the activities of their high school alma mater, including calling upon their time, talent, and treasure to strengthen their alma mater.
• Lead innovation founded on industry best practices in ongoing strategic planning and tactics for fundraising activities and programs.
• Commitment to building a welcoming and inclusive community where all people can thrive.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Education | Experience:

• Bachelor's degree; preferred bachelor's or advanced degree in a related field.
• Experience in a large nonprofit, corporate, or education institution development with an established record of increasingly greater management, program development, and communications responsibilities (minimum 7 years).
• Experience in alumni engagement, fundraising, board, and volunteer management (minimum 7 years).
• Proven track record of successful fundraising across a large, diverse and broad base of constituents equal to or greater than fifty thousand. Individual or team fundraising success should be in the seven to eight figures annually.
• Effective leadership skills with the ability to manage and directly supervise a large and growing staff and influence and collaborate with people and departments in a high-growth environment, as well as solid business acumen.
• Strong interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, with the ability to attract, hire, motivate, and direct staff. Proven ability to work effectively with a diverse constituency; and the willingness to work collaboratively with all stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with the demonstrated ability to perform analytical and financial assessments and proficiency in analyzing and making sense of data to drive decisions in a data-driven manner.
• Strong organizational skills and an ability to handle multiple and complex tasks and projects concurrently and balance a wide range of assignments throughout the year.
• Extensive experience with Blackbaud Raiser's Edge or other fundraising databases.
• Requires occasional travel.

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