Women’s Initiative for Self Employment seeks a visionary, entrepreneurial, and creative Vice President of Philanthropic Development to lead its resource mobilization efforts. Women’s Initiative raises 95% of its annual budget each year through a diverse base of funding sources which currently totals approximately $5 million plus an additional $4M toward capital items. In addition to working closely with the Executive Team and the Board of Directors, the VP of Development will initially work with staff located in its five offices around the Bay Area: San Francisco, Oakland, Concord, Novato and San Jose. This executive will demonstrate the strategic vision enabling the organization to expand and implement national fundraising activities, and will manage the daily operations of the philanthropic development team to achieve the bold goals as set forth in WI’s new five-year strategic plan.
The Vice President of Philanthropic Development will report to the CEO on matters of strategy and on ways to advance national philanthropy. The VP will report to the CEO on issues pertaining to day-to-day management, operations,
administration and growth of the development team. The VP will work closely as part of an executive team. This position interacts frequently with members of the Board of Directors on issues related to major development activities. The Vice President of
Philanthropic Development will also lead, oversee, manage, and mentor the development team .
Responsibilities
As a member of the executive leadership, the Vice President of Philanthropic Development will work closely with the CEO, Chief Finance Officer and the Marketing Communications Director to design and implement the organization’s long-term strategies. The VP will be a key player in enabling Women’s Initiative to further expand its global reach. He/she will provide leadership and direction to the development team to set and define key fundraising goals, refine and implement innovative methods of raising funds, commensurate with the bold vision of the organization, and help to craft future strategies for advancing progressive philanthropy and women’s advancement. Specific responsibilities include:
Strategic Leadership: Providing strategic leadership to WI’s philanthropic development function. In concert with other members of senior management and the Board of Directors, the VP will craft long-term development strategies and design and implement the tactics to ensure success.
Working with Board of Directors: Advancing the work of the Board led philanthropy committees and facilitating the active participation and engagement of all Board members’ in promoting feminist philanthropy. Helping to recruit and train board members at the national and regional level.
Staff Management: Directing the day-to-day activities of the “back office” development team and indirect management of the “sales team” in each regional office. This includes training, setting strategy, mentoring, and leading a diverse team of dedicated professionals who share a common commitment to advancing women and social and economic empowerment philanthropy.
Fundraising: Working with the development team to secure grants and funds from a variety of sources, including foundations, individuals, corporations and multilateral agencies, and engaging in relevant entrepreneurial funding activities consistent with WI’s values and principles. This includes research efforts to explore new sources of
support, designing strategies to identify, educate, involve and cultivate prospective donors, and further developing, maintaining and enhancing WI’s relationships with current individual and institutional donors. The VP to Philanthropic Development is required to raise 5-10 times his/her salary in new funding.
Budgeting: In conjunction with the CFO and CEO, developing, overseeing and managing an annual budget. Monthly projections and budget flow are critical pieces to this equation.
Articulating the Vision: Presenting with commitment and passion WI’s vision, mission, values and goals to the worldwide donor community and other audiences.
Qualifications and Experience:
Passionate Commitment: Candidates must be motivated by a passionate commitment to a world of equality and social justice, in which the empowerment of women plays a critical role. They must demonstrate an understanding of feminism, small business and possess a good grasp of current national affairs, including critical developments in social, economic and political spheres.
Diversified Perspective: Women’s Initiative is bicultural in its composition and culture. Candidates with multi-cultural and multi-ethnic perspectives and a strong commitment to and comfort with a wide range of diversity, including age, sexual orientation, race, and religion will be preferred. Fluency in Spanish and some experience living and working in a country other than that of one's origin is preferred.
Entrepreneurial Spirit: Candidates must possess an entrepreneurial spirit, which values risk-taking, creativity, and flexibility. A sense of humor and ability to work under pressure in an environment of rapid change is preferred. Women’s Initiative seeks a candidate who thinks big and has a “Yes and how” response.
Fundraising: The VP should demonstrate significant experience managing a fundraising function or sales in previous professional capacities. Equally important, the VP should have the confidence, sophistication, creativity, and maturity to establish credibility with and to influence donors at all levels.
Superior Manager: Proven effectiveness as a senior manager is essential. Beyond general oversight of the group’s daily activities, the VP will guide this exceptional team in setting priorities.
Superior Communicator: Superior communication skills, both written and oral, are critical. An ability to articulate with passion, commitment and respect the complex concepts involved in WI’s work is fundamental.
Personal Characteristics:
Candidates must be warm, compassionate, curious, open minded, intelligent, creative and dynamic. They must combine vision with pragmatism, blending foresight to anticipate needs with mature judgment to allocate resources for maximum impact. They must have the interpersonal skills, maturity of judgment, a sense of good humor and perspective, as well as the operating talent to achieve immediate credibility and influence with the CEO, senior management team members, the Board of Directors, staff members and donors. Experience in business and ability to work well with high level corporate executives is a must.
Candidates must also be committed to the values of diversity, open communication and inclusiveness. Equally critical is the ability to work effectively and respectfully with a variety of constituencies representing diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds. They must demonstrate comfort in interacting with all types of donors, from large grant making organizations to individual givers.
Compensation and Benefits:
Compensation is competitive and commensurate with skills and experience.
To Apply:
Candidates will be reviewed on rolling basis. Please email a cover letter and resume to Yvette Nichols:
Yvette.nichols@KornFerry.com
www.womensinitiative.org
