Chief Advancement Officer

Job Title: Chief Advancement Officer
Reports to (Title): President
Department(s): Communications and Development
Employment Classification: Full-Time
FLSA Status: Exempt
Base Annual Compensation Range: The full-time salary range for this role is between $175,000 - $263,000 with exact salary depending on experience, and new staff rarely start at the top of the range.
Location: Remote

About Borealis Philanthropy

From Black-led movement-building, to queer and trans liberation, to disability justice and inclusion, community organizers are working every day to bring about transformational change. Borealis Philanthropy exists to listen to, invest in, and support them. Our staff of experts come from the communities we serve, and bring their lived experiences, values, and visions to the work of supporting community-driven change through grantee and funder collaboration.

As a philanthropic intermediary, Borealis Philanthropy builds bridges between funders and organizers by creating opportunities for impact-driven investments. We team with funders to conceive, develop, and implement grantmaking initiatives that resource the many innovative organizations within each of our respective grantmaking funds. In partnering with philanthropy, we remove barriers to funding for grassroots organizations and invest in intersectional movements, building a future that serves all of us.

Where We Are

While Borealis Philanthropy has been quite public about what we believe it takes to fund transformational change as a social justice intermediary, we know the reality that it is rare for intermediaries like ours to consistently be set up for long term success and sustainability.

As Borealis Philanthropy enters our tenth year of partnering with funders and movement leaders and organizers to build the liberatory future we believe possible, we are leaning more deeply into our theory of change, and intentionally investing in the next decade of resourcing justice movements by building an infrastructure to actualize our organizational potential.

Our Values

Alchemy + Healing, Atrevida + Audacity, Accountability + Integrity, Ubuntu + Interconnectedness

JOB OVERVIEW:

The Borealis Philanthropy Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) will be charged with overseeing the development and implementation of an organization-wide fundraising and communications strategy that is grounded in our organizational vision and values. This individual will be responsible for ensuring that the organization not only meets its revenue targets, but is actively working to bring on new donors, with priorities to:

• Grow our individual donors and family foundation relationships,
• Strengthen and expand our institutional philanthropy portfolio, and
• Explore opportunities for corporate giving strategies.

This person will also be responsible for helping to implement strategic campaigns that amplify the work of Borealis and the intersections across our funds, collaborating with colleagues across the organization to leverage existing organizational relationships and identify new potential sources of financial support for Borealis’ funds. 

A key member of Borealis’ Senior Leadership Team, the CAO will work closely with colleagues, including the President, Chief of Programs and Chief Financial Officer to facilitate the design of a comprehensive development and communications strategy for the organization that supports the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of both individual and institutional donors, as well as partners, grantees, and community aligned with our mission and vision. They will lead a growing team of communications and development staff in operationalizing the organization’s fundraising and communications strategy.

The CAO will play a critical role in cultivating a culture of community-centric philanthropy across the organization – among staff, the Board of Directors, and with funding partners. They will partner with the President to identify opportunities to meaningfully engage staff and Board members in fundraising and communications activity and dialogue in service of increasing awareness of the organization and gifts. They will provide comprehensive support to the President, the Senior Leadership team and the development and communications team in service of building a community of donor organizers. This includes ensuring necessary coaching and guidance is available org-wide to increase individual confidence and impact in philanthropic conversations with prospects and donors. They will build relationships with supporters that value the work of Borealis and our funds while cultivating connections across communities and amplifying movement partners.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:  

The CAO will oversee the development and communications staffing of the following functional areas over time. To begin, priority will be given to the solidification of fundraising and communications strategy across the organization, effective operations, and the development of engagement strategies that support general operating and fund-specific fundraising.

The vision for this growing portfolio will ultimately include 15-16 staff across the Development and Communications departments. The CAO will have approximately four direct reports.

Fundraising Strategy & Operations 

• Partner with the President and Executive Team to define Borealis’ fundraising priorities as related to the organization’s strategic priorities.
• Develop and implement a multi-year organization-wide fundraising strategy that is reflective and inclusive of diverse revenue streams – including foundations, corporations, and high net wealth individuals. As part of this strategy, set, monitor, and report on measurable goals for revenue sustainability and growth.
• Work closely with the Finance team to forecast annual revenue goals, perform monthly revenue reconciliation, and manage donor reports to maintain accuracy and financial accountability.
• Supervise internal systems that increase transparency and integration of data across the organization. This includes the evaluation of existing technology and tools and our new Salesforce database.
• Recruit, hire, coach, and supervise a team of 5 development staff members and manage budgets related to the fundraising team.
• Live and foster a culture of philanthropy that follows the principles of Community-Centric Fundraising, including that:
  • Fundraising must be grounded in race, equity, and social justice.
  • Donors are partners, and this means that we are transparent, and occasionally have difficult conversations.
  • Everyone (donors, staff, funders, board members, volunteers) personally benefits from engaging in the work of social justice – it’s not just charity and compassion.

Individual Major Gifts

• Identify and prioritize individual major gift prospects, leveraging existing relationships and Borealis staff and Board member networks.
• With Senior Philanthropic Advisor, create and manage cultivation and solicitation strategies for the most promising individual major gift prospects, partnering with Borealis leadership and/or key staff members as relevant.
• Partner with the development team to build the organization’s major gifts infrastructure to bring on and steward individual and family foundation giving.
• In partnership with the President and Senior Philanthropic Advisor, manage a portfolio of the organization’s highest capacity major gift donors (current and prospective).
• Support and advise the President, the Board of Directors, and other senior staff on the cultivation and solicitation of major gift donors and prospects.

Foundation Relations + Corporate Giving

• Collaborate with colleagues across the organization to research and identify philanthropic potential within existing organizational relationships, and to identify new prospective corporate and foundation funders, with an emphasis on major national and international foundations.
• Supervise a Development Director, Associate, and Fund Directors in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for the most promising foundation prospects.
• Explore possibilities to grow the organization's corporate fundraising opportunities and the resources required to invest in building the required strategy.
• In partnership with the President and key staff, manage a portfolio of the organization’s highest capacity corporate and foundation funders (current and prospective).

Communications & Marketing

• Oversee the communications staff in the development and implementation of an organization-wide communications strategy that is culturally responsive and justice focused.
• Integrate fundraising and communications strategy to relay the importance internally and externally of a ‘One Borealis’ funding and communications strategy.
• Partner with fund leadership and communications staff to create case statements for fundraising priorities. Ensure staff and Board members have the necessary tools to communicate information consistently and effectively to external audiences.
• Stay up to date on communications trends, the best ways to communicate to our audiences.

Board Management

• Partner with the President in managing fundraising-related activities of the Board of Directors, including the creation of annual engagement plans for each Board member and managing additional vehicles for board engagement (i.e. development committee, etc.).
• Identify opportunities to enhance Board confidence and impact in fundraising conversations.

These key responsibilities are not meant to be all-inclusive and may be subject to change at any time.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS:

• Bachelor’s degree and ten years of related work experience preferred.
• 7 years supervisory experience leading staff
• A proven track record of developing and implementing values-aligned organizational development plans that include communications and fundraising strategies with clear and measurable outcomes and an ability to monitor success.
• Experience soliciting and receiving 8+ figure gifts, multi-year grants and managing complex sets of grant deliverables with excellent outcomes.
• Proven track record in fundraising from diverse sources, including experience applying moves management and facilitating leadership gift conversations with individual, foundation donors and/ or corporate giving.
• Experience launching and managing strategic fundraising campaigns, capital campaigns, new lines of business or other strategic initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage complex processes and projects for multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment in collaboration with others.
• Demonstrated experience with and knowledge of the grant-seeking process, including grant writing, submission and reporting. A record of successful grant awards from major national and/or international foundations preferred.
• Expertise in the practice and teachings of Community Centric Fundraising and Trust Based Philanthropy.
• Salesforce CRM experience or similar CRM use.
• Experience in a grantmaking organization is preferred.
• Proven track record of leading people and processes within complex organizations, including managing teams to successfully reach and/or exceed fundraising goals.
• Demonstrated success in remote and diverse work environments.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively, iteratively, and creatively with a diverse set of stakeholders, to co-create processes and solutions that meet the needs of the organization as well as donors and funders.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, energy, and enthusiasm with the ability to build long-term relationships and represent the organization to external audiences.
• Outstanding verbal and written communications skills, including the ability to write and present fundraising materials to a diverse set of audiences.
• Ability to engage and support leadership with their efforts in fundraising, consultation, and advocacy.
• Demonstrated flexibility, self-awareness, professional integrity, and cultural competence – including commitment to Borealis’ values, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to travel independently to attend meetings.
• Ability to converse verbally and in writing with donors, prospects, and other business partners.
• Ability to maintain a full-time position with some extended hours required to travel and attend donor events.

Commitment to Disability, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Borealis is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact hr@borealisphilanthropy.org. Borealis is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, or any other category protected by local, state, or federal laws. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive staff team. We strongly encourage applicants who are people of color, LGBTQ, women, trans and gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities, and/or formerly incarcerated people.

Application Instructions:

Whitney Herrington and McKenzie Midock of Ascend People are supporting this search.  Please apply through the below link. Applications should include a resume and cover letter, as well as the required information as described in the application link.  Priority will be given to applications submitted by April 19, 2024, though applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.