The Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) of New City Kids, Inc. (NCK) reports to the President & CEO of NCK and is a member of the executive leadership team and advises the President/CEO on matters that affect the fundraising, philanthropic revenue stream, and communications and marketing.
The CAO is responsible for providing strategic vision and effective leadership as he/she executes all fundraising activities to generate the necessary philanthropic resources necessary to support the organization’s strategic priorities.
The CAO is charged with creating a programmatic fundraising model, inclusive of corporate and foundation relations, individual major gifts, annual giving, and donor communications. They will collaborate with colleagues across the organization to leverage existing organizational relationships as well as identify new potential sources of philanthropic support.
The Chief Advancement Officer has four primary areas of responsibility:
Fundraising Strategy Development and Execution
Fundraising Operations
Advancement & Communication Staff Management & Development
Executive Leadership Team Membership
Scope and Responsibilities
Fundraising Strategy Development and Execution
Develop NCK’s fundraising strategy including the optimal portfolio of income streams (e.g., donor-generated, grants, sponsorships, events, etc.) and channels (e.g., relationship-driven, direct mail, digital, etc.).
Determine NCK’s optimal positioning and narratives to tell the NCK story in a way that compels existing and prospective donors and other partners to support NCK.
Promote NCK’s mission, core values, and ministry to critical external stakeholders and networks (both existing and prospective) across the communities in which NCK operates and seeks expansion. This may include community organizations, churches, schools, elected/public service officials, foundations, major donors, key partners and sponsors, volunteers, etc.
Raise and contribute to raising of funds to meet NCK’s annual and ongoing income goals.
Oversee execution of fundraising strategy including ongoing monitoring of overall progress towards fundraising goals.
Establish strong relationships and connections with sites to maintain visibility to and understanding of daily operations (e.g., maintain an on-the-ground presence with leaders and staff by periodically visiting and/or working in NCK sites and locations, attending events, etc.).
Advancement Staff Management & Development
Provide for ongoing staff leadership, management, and professional development for Philanthropy leaders and staff to support team and individual effectiveness.
Work with Philanthropy leaders and HR to ensure Philanthropy staff are trained in the NCK Way; seek and provide professional development resources (e.g., conferences, books, workshops, and other learning tools) for both leaders and through them, their teams.
Provide regular meaningful feedback, coaching, and support to direct reports in alignment with NCK’s annual and long-term mission objectives, people plans, and the individual’s developmental needs.
Ensure appropriate staffing of the Philanthropy team by driving organization structure, recruitment, selection, onboarding, training, DEI, and retention efforts in collaboration with the HR team.
Collaborate with HR to provide organization-wide education on NCK’s philanthropy strategy and each staff person’s role in executing the strategy.
Provide spiritual leadership to direct reports (and their teams as appropriate), modeling what it means to follow Christ on a mission, reflecting our top core value of Journey with Christ.
Fundraising Operations
Establish fundraising capability standards of performance and the systems, platforms, and data needed to forecast, report, track, analyze, and interpret fundraising performance.
Ensure creation and sustainment of fundraising capability assets and tools (e.g., playbooks, Standard Operating Procedures, etc.).
Collaborate with the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to ensure that fundraising processes comply with relevant internal financial policies and controls, external requirements, and any income-specific requirements (e.g., grants reporting, etc.).
Executive Leadership Team (ELT) Membership
Own the vision of NCK, seeking to be used by God to bring transformation to youth.
Contribute to strategic plans and actions to ensure that NCK is positioned to achieve the NCK mission in alignment with the NCK way.
Act as one of the key influencers of NCK’s annual and long-term organizational, income, financial, fundraising, and people plans.
Collaborate with other members of the ELT to measure the ongoing effectiveness and performance of the organization in achieving the mission and determining appropriate course corrections as needed.
Requirements
A demonstrated commitment and passion to work for a Christian, mission-driven organization and enthusiastic embrace of NCK’s core values and statement of faith.
A successful track record in the cultivation, solicitation,and stewardship of donors and potential donors.
A working knowledge of donor database programs, Raiser’s Edge, NXT, SalesForce and skilled in the use of microsoft office.
Exceptional leadership & management skills to inspire, lead, and work collegially with members of the staff, leadership team, and board.
A persuasive communication style, with excellent written and oral communication skills. The ability to understand and translate information for all audiences; with the ability to utilize metrics as appropriate.
Strong track record of team and organizational leadership in a moderately complex setting (i.e., multiple cities, sites, programs, and/or services with varying levels of maturity in the organizational life cycle)
Non-profit ambassador and fundraising leadership experience including a broad portfolio of income streams and channels; 6+ years strongly preferred
Foster strong and collaborative partnerships across the footprint of the organization to identify opportunities to increase support for development efforts in furtherance of our strategic priorities.
Strong staff development and people management capability including 3+ years as a leader of leaders. Desire to build, lead, and retain diverse teams and to help NCK fulfill its DEI Policy
Business acumen including financial management / budgetary responsibility; 6+ years preferred.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Bachelor’s degree required.
This position is based in Grand Rapids, MI.