Chief Advancement Officer/ Vice President, Advancement Reports to – President/ Chief Executive Officer
Organization Overview
United Friends of the Children empowers current and former foster youth on their journey to self-sufficiency through service-enriched education and housing programs, advocacy, and consistent relationships with a community of people who care.
UFC has been an integral part of the Los Angeles foster care community since our founding by Nancy M. Daly in 1979. Our early advocacy efforts helped establish the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and pass the Foster Care Independence Act. Innovations in direct services span from co-founding the first transitional housing program in the nation for former foster youth to the creation of an 11-year education support continuum that follows foster youth from the seventh grade through the completion of a bachelor’s degree.
Position Overview
Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Advancement Officer is responsible for leading a multifaceted Advancement Department, which obtains funds from both public and private sources to help meet United Friends of the Children’s annual operating budget. As a member of the senior management team involved in setting the direction of the overall organization, the Chief Advancement Officer will be committed to United Friends of the Children’s mission and be a key leader in sharing and promoting UFC’s mission and its work with donors, volunteers, community members, staff and youth. With an annual budget of over $7 million, United Friends of the Children has a development goal of nearly $6 million dollars in private funds and in addition, the Advancement Team helps raise $1.2 million in public funds.
The Chief Advancement Officer directly supervises the Associate Director, Marketing and Communications, Foundation and Grants Relationship Manager, Corporate and Community Engagement Manager, Special Events and New Initiatives Manager and Development Assistant. In addition, the position provides leadership and functions as senior staff to the United Friends of the Children Board of Directors. United Friends of the Children’s annual Brass Ring event brings in over $1.25 million for the organization’s education and housing programs. Other UFC signature events include Cultivate LA and Stone Canyon Crawl.
The Chief Advancement Officer will be charged with implementing and managing a major gifts program and launching a planned giving program and will work toward ensuring sustainability of increased philanthropic goals beyond this campaign. The CAO will also be tasked with envisioning and managing a new evolution of the organization’s Advancement team and exploring new opportunities for impact which could include but are not limited to capital campaigns and new volunteer support groups.
Duties and responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities
- To lead a multifaceted Advancement Department and further develop its programs in foundation and public grants, fundraising events and community or third-party events, major gifts, corporate sponsorship, public relations, marketing, volunteer leadership and communications.
- To develop and implement plans for the financial support of UFC and to involve the Advancement Team, CEO, and Board of Directors in this work.
- To develop, plan, direct, manage, implement, and evaluate UFC’s Advancement program including annual giving, public and foundation grants, major gifts, corporate giving, planned giving, endowment gifts, multi-year campaigns, special events, and volunteer services.
- To oversee UFC’s short term and long-term communications programs, including marketing, public relations, and media relations programs.
- To identify, cultivate, solicit, recognize and steward a portfolio of major donors with capacity to make gifts of $100,000 or more.
- To work with major donors toward successful solicitations.
- To create and oversee the development of a vibrant, high-level volunteer program which supports the development program and creates an ongoing source of volunteer leadership and community involvement.
- To hire, train, supervise and evaluate Advancement staff.
- To ensure that effective and user-friendly support systems are developed and implemented for tracking donors, grants, and other fundraising activities to support the fundraising and volunteer efforts of the Board, CEO, staff, and support groups.
- To develop and review with the CEO and Development Committee all policies related to Advancement.
- To ensure the Advancement Department collaborates with and ensures integration with programs and services of United Friends of the Children to successfully achieve goals.
Specific duties include the following:
- Plan and develop the fundraising program and fundraising strategies for United Friends of the Children.
- Present information and updates on development activities to the Development Committee, CEO, Board of Directors, and other constituencies.
- Develop, implement, and evaluate UFC’s Marketing and Communications program, including media relationships, branding, website, public relations, social media, annual communications plans and all external and internal collateral.
- Develop and supervise major fundraising efforts, community and foundation support for annual operating budget and in-kind contributions. Develop and supervise capital and major gift campaigns or special initiatives as needed.
- Monitor progress toward fundraising goals for all campaigns and work with Advancement team to organize and share regular updates with key constituent leaders including senior staff and board.
- Develop, implement, and evaluate UFC’s Development program, including annual giving, public and foundation grants, major gifts, corporate sponsorships, planned giving, endowment gifts, multi-year campaigns, and special events.
- Initiate and cultivate donor contacts and identify potential donors.
- Work directly with major donors toward successful solicitations.
- Work with CEO and Development Committee to establish Advancement policies and long range planning for Development.
- Work with Development Committee and CEO to implement Board policies.
- Supervise Advancement staff and key volunteers.
- Oversee the development of a high-level volunteer program which supports the Advancement team and creates an ongoing source of volunteer leadership and community involvement.
- Directly supervise the Associate Director, Marketing and Communications, Foundation and Grants Relationship Manager, Corporate and Community Engagement Manager, Special Events and New Initiatives Manager and Development Assistant to create goals and strategies to meet the objectives set for United Friends of the Children through its Strategic Plan and other work plans.
- Oversee the planning, implementation, and evaluation of in-kind giving programs.
- With CEO, Controller and senior management team determine revenue goals and monitor revenues.
- Select honorees for Brass Ring Gala in partnership with Gala Committee and Advancement team.
Other
- Other duties as assigned.
Traits and Characteristics Desired:
The successful candidate will be eager to partner with the CEO and board to elevate UFC’s fundraising goals (and is excited to have a blast on the journey). The successful candidate is an innovative, forward-thinking development professional with exceptional interpersonal skills and a high degree of professionalism and integrity. S/he will be a compelling, mature, charismatic leader with the ability to move a team forward by inspiring and motivating people with creativity and energy. As such, the Chief Advancement Officer should not only possess excellent verbal and written communication skills, but should also be able to create a collaborative environment that is conducive to open and direct communication with individuals of varying degrees of involvement with United Friends of the Children and its work. S/he should be a resourceful, results-oriented leader with the ability to think strategically, generate new ideas, prioritize, plan, multitask, and set goals and objectives, as well as implement and follow-through while meeting financial goals and deadlines. The ideal candidate will be both a skilled manager and an individual contributor who works and thinks independently yet can also build on group dynamics and set high expectations with the Development team. S/he will be an effective delegator who can empower staff, set agendas, lead meetings, document activities and measure progress. A commitment to serving and supporting foster youth and former foster youth and the ability to passionately communicate United Friends of the Children’s mission, accomplishments and the socio/economic benefits of its work are essential.
Career Track Leading To This Position:
The Chief Advancement Officer should have a minimum of seven years of progressively responsible and successful fundraising experience, management experience of diverse development professionals, and experience staffing board committees. Leading candidates will have a proven track record of raising significant support and proven success with annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, corporate giving, contracts and grants, special events, capital campaigns and other campaigns, plus a working knowledge of information systems and databases that support fundraising. Candidates will be expected to have experience leading and articulating a vision as well as the demonstrated ability to make and execute plans, reach goals, and develop staff and volunteers into a highly functioning team. Knowledge of the Los Angeles philanthropic community is preferred. Prior experience working with a sophisticated, engaged board is essential.
Education
A bachelor’s degree is required; a graduate degree is preferred. Direct reports
Direct Reports
Associate Director, Marketing and Communications, Foundation and Grants Relationship Manager, Corporate and Community Engagement Manager, Special Events and New Initiatives Manager, and Development Assistant
Compensation
A competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience and excellent benefits will be provided.
How To Apply
To apply, submit resume and cover letter, including three to five tweet-length bullet points highlighting your most relevant accomplishments or experience, to [email protected]. Please note “Chief Advancement Officer” in the subject line.