Chief Development Officer

Location:

St. Louis or willing to relocate

About WEPOWER:

WEPOWER is building a team full of dreamers and doers. In our first five years, WEPOWER has activated nearly 400 community leaders, won a historic ballot measure that guarantees millions in public funding annually for early childhood, supported 100 Black and Latinx-owned businesses with access to capital, coaching, and connections, and launched a one-of-a-kind investment fund. We envision a future where systems are accountable to powerful communities that have been historically oppressed and nurture our freedom, well-being, dreams, and joy.

We are building a powerful movement led by everyday people, and we have bold plans to get us there. Join us!

Our team is:

• Fun
• Focused
• Values-driven
• Community-centered
• Creative:
  Lots of brainstorming and imagining what’s possible and then chasing each possibility until it is reality!

Responsibilities:

• Build and optimize comprehensive fundraising plans, especially with a focus on institutional grants and major gifts, in partnership with the Chief Executive Officer.
• Track and analyze development data to set and assess progress towards ambitious yet achievable goals and benchmarks that align with annual budget projections.
• Consistently forecast progress toward fundraising goals and pivot when necessary to achieve annual goals.
• Cultivate, develop, and steward strong, trusting partnerships with donors to increase and retain the donor base.
• Use donor research tools to identify, pitch, and close prospective donors.
• Ensure consistent cultivation, follow-up, and reports for ongoing donor engagement by efficiently tracking and monitoring donor activity in Every Action.
• Work closely with staff to create compelling, effective, and reusable fundraising materials that clearly explain WEPOWER’s impact and vision.
• Work with the CEO to manage the Board’s Development Committee effectively to increase fundraising opportunities.
• Leverage the expertise of partners and teammates effectively in funder meetings by coaching them on how to represent their work effectively.
• Own the project management and systems for relationship management and funder reporting, ensuring grant requirements are met and tracked against the budget.
• Build a high-performing development team, ensuring quality submission of grants and grant reports.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A background in fundraising for nonprofits with demonstrated success cultivating and securing grants and/or major gifts for annual budgets of $3M or more.
• A track record of securing major gifts from high net-worth donors.
• Strong examples of setting, adjusting, and achieving fundraising growth goals.
• Experience communicating and amplifying compelling stories that drive people to commit to the mission and vision of the organization.
• Excellent relationship-building skills with a deep understanding and comfort with cultivating authentic relationships with funders or donors.
• A clear approach for donor research to identify new opportunities and tailor pitches accordingly.
• An analytical mindset with a track record of using data to identify what is working and what isn’t working.
• Deep commitment to racial equity, with self-awareness around privilege, bias, and oppression.
• Experience developing donor management systems with a CRM, ensuring compliance with external and internal requirements with high attention to detail (WEPOWER uses Every Action).
• Experience working with a board of directors to drive fundraising outcomes.

More Information:

Reports to:

Charli Cooksey, CEO

Manages:
Development consultants to start, with potential to hire full-time staff

Travel:
Up to 15% of the time

Salary: $110,000-$120,000 annually. This is a full-time exempt position.

Benefits include:

• Comprehensive Health Insurance: medical, dental, vision benefits and affordable family coverage.
• 403b Plan:
  To save for retirement.
• Paid Time Off: 10 days of vacation, 8 sick days, 2 weeks off at the end of December, and 8 holidays each year.
• Paid Parental Leave:
  New parents get this time to spend with their family - 10 weeks if you've been here a year or more.
• Child Care Stipend:
  Stipend to support childcare for children aged 0 to 5.
• Cell Phone Reimbursement…