Vice President of Development - YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

POSITION TITLE: Vice President of Development STATUS: Exempt, FT GRADE: 7

DEPT: Strategic Engagement SALARY: $100K-$115K/yr

REPORTS TO: Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer SUPERVISES: Data Strategy and Impact Coordinator and Manager of Development and Donor Relations

SUMMARY: The Vice President of Development is responsible for the overall strategic direction, management and expansion of individual giving at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, including annual campaigns and donor communications, major gifts and planned giving programs. This individual is also responsible for overseeing a small team that is responsible for the development department’s donor database, development operations, as well as the Ambassador Council, YWCA’s young professional's board.

This staff member will partner closely with the Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer to set annual revenue budgets related to individual giving and be accountable to meeting those budgets through effective and meaningful engagement of individual donors at all levels.

An ideal candidate will be someone with a rich development background, who has had progressive and successful experience building and growing annual appeals, major/planned gifts and capital campaigns. This individual will be able to integrate frontline fundraising techniques with the organization’s priorities, key initiatives and events. The candidate will have a passion for the organization’s mission and be able to translate that into both coaching and mentoring their direct reports, as well as external relationship building activities that drive success. They will have a knack for prioritization, juggling multiple projects and priorities simultaneously with a positive attitude. Finally, the VP of Development will infuse new approaches to the successful identification, cultivation and solicitation of individual donors.

COLLABORATES WITH: The Vice President of Development will work closely with the Strategic Engagement team, particularly the Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer and the VP of Marketing and Communications, the CEO and Executive Team, as well as the YWCA Board of Directors and Ambassador’s Council to develop and execute strategies to identify, cultivate and solicit new and existing individual donors.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Contribute to the development of an annual departmental budget (P&L), and monitor revenue and expenses throughout the fiscal year.
• Develop and implement annual plan that includes clear goals, objectives and activities for growing revenue from individual donors, including annual fund and major gifts.
• Monitor and report progress towards annual goals and meet regularly with key leaders to review plans and progress to goals.
• Collaborate with the Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer to develop strategies to grow gifts from existing donors and explore successful conversion of volunteers to donors.
• Coach and lead Data Strategy and Impact Coordinator and Manager of Development and Donor Relations to support their ongoing leadership and professional development.
• Monitor development operations such as donor gift entry, Key Performance Indicator (KPIs) reports, mail and email list generation, and donor acknowledgement letter production.
• Conceptualize and create annual fund campaigns, write and coordinate direct and email campaigns in coordination with the Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer and VP of Marketing and Communications.
• Partner with other members of the Strategic Engagement team to develop a communications and events plan to foster engagement with potential and existing individual donors.
• Keep current on programs and initiatives at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago to inform potential and current donors of YWCA impact.
• Assure organizational compliance with generally accepted fund-raising principles, financial reporting requirements and ethical codes of professional conduct.

Breakdown of Core Responsibilities:

Donor Identification and Cultivation (20%):

• Develop and maintain “top prospect” lists based on giving histories, research and anecdotal knowledge.
• Develop, manage, grow and track active portfolio of approximately 75-100 individual donor and donor prospects; Closely partner in the development and management of the CEO’s, Chief Development Officer’s, and Manager of Development and Donor Relation’s portfolios.
• Create individualized cultivation strategies for a select number of donors each quarter, based on guidance from senior management and in line with overall fundraising strategies.
• Support the Board of Directors in growing a culture of philanthropy; serve as a liaison with the Board’s Strategic Engagement and Development Committee in their work to engage the Board of Directors around fundraising roles and responsibilities.

Solicitation and Moves Management (20%):

• Work with the CEO, Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer, board members and other staff to execute solicitations of potential major gift donors.
• Oversee annual solicitation strategy and moves management process for all potential donors.
• Oversee and contribute writing to creation of personalized proposals for donor solicitation and organizational donor communications (printed and digital).
• Work closely with team members to ensure accurate tracking of donor information, meetings, and action items in donor database.
• Partner with Chief Development and Brand Inspiration Officer and VP of Marketing and Communications to conceptualize and create annual fund campaigns; write and coordinate direct mail and email solicitations.

Development Operations and Administration (20%):

• Manage and coach the Data Strategy and Impact Coordinator and Manager of Development and Donor Relations.
• Partner with the Data Strategy and Impact Coordinator to ensure the overall data integrity of the YWCA donor database through creation, staff training and oversight of database protocols.
• Oversee the provision of detailed reports, mailing and email lists, projections, and analytics to assess progress toward organization and departmental KPIs.
• Monitor and ensure the timely and accurate entry and acknowledgement of donors’ gifts.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to the Manager of Development and Donor Relations in working with the Ambassadors Council and other external facing groups; Develop the Manager of Development and Donor Relations’ skills for annual fund campaign creation and execution.

Recognition and Stewardship (15%):

• Collaborate with the team to develop recognition opportunities for major donors, which may include special events, targeted print and online publications, and/or physical sites for permanent acknowledgements.
• Provide input on personalized stewardship reports for major donors.

Planned Giving Program (10%):

• Provide leadership and guidance to the continued development of a robust planned giving program.
• Collaborate with Manager of Development and Donor Relations to integrate planned giving into all aspects of our major gift program as well as grow the awareness of planned giving with annual donors.

Cross Department Collaboration (10%):

• Work closely with Executive Team, program and functional leaders to establish cross-team strategies and donor engagement activities.
• Interact with the Strategic Engagement team, attending weekly team meetings, to facilitate an integrated fundraising strategy.

Other duties as assigned (5%):

• The VP of Development will be asked to participate in various leadership development opportunities, enterprise-wide events, and departmental activities.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS / COMPETENCIES:

• Seven or more years of experience leading individual giving, major gifts, and fundraising, preferably in human services or racial justice
• Minimum of 3-5 years of management/supervisory experience
• Experience working with high-level donors, volunteers and colleagues on collaborative activities.
• Experience with capital campaigns, planned giving and major gift solicitation.
• Understanding and commitment to embrace equity, diversity and inclusion in fundraising practices and work environment.
• Discretion with confidential information and a demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with a broad spectrum of people (donors, staff, board members) is required.
• Knowledge of tax laws that impact charitable giving, personal assets and estates.
• Demonstrated initiative and desire to take on new projects.
• Superb leadership and interpersonal skills and the ability to actively listen.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Effective presentation and negotiation skills.
• Highly organized & attentive to detail.
• Adaptable and flexible, with ability to handle several priorities simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Team-oriented and collaborative with the ability to work independently.
• Proficiency in MS Office – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.
• Development database experience (Raiser’s Edge experience desirable).

EDUCATION REQUIRED: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of training and experience. Master’s degree in business or public administration and management, preferred.

LEADERSHIP COMPENTANCIES

• Accountability: Effectively manages own work, and work of teams when relevant, ensuring delivery of high-quality work.
• Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with internal staff, teams and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening. Exhibits high degree of comfort with public speaking.
• Critical Thinking: Consistently identifies, gathers, and applies relevant information to his/her work.
• Customer-Service Orientation: Recognizes needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service-orientation, to ultimately maximize impact.
• Growth Mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if change is required.
• Development Planning: Breaks down projects and tasks into process steps, while considering appropriate stakeholders, and executes them effectively; adjusting timelines and prioritizing as necessary.
• External Relationship Builder: Invests in and builds strong, trusted relationships with partners. Builds market position by locating, developing, defining, and closing business relationships.
• Strategic Thinking: Considers the future of the organization proactively and responsively; weighs diverse inputs to inform strategies; identifies innovative opportunities when relevant.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: This position involves work in a downtown Chicago office environment as well as time out of office at events and donor meetings.

WORK SCHEDULE: HYBRID – Work from home 2 days a week, in office 3 days a week. Normal working hours are Monday – Friday, 8:30AM – 4:30 PM. This position may require work on some evenings and weekends. Schedule can vary depending on the needs of the agency.

BENEFITS OVERVIEW:

• Generous amount of PTO & Sick Leave,12 Observed holidays, & Floating Holidays
• Health, Dental, Vision, Life, Short & Long Term Disability Insurance, & 401(k)
• Flexible Benefits - employee, dependent, commuter & HSA
• Employee Assistance Program (24/7)
• YWCA Retirement Fund (after completion of 2 years of service)
• Pet Insurance

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. YWCA Metropolitan Chicago will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

***This job description is not intended to represent a complete list of all duties and responsibilities. There may be unplanned activities and other duties assigned.***