Chief Development Officer (CDO)

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Alliance for Children’s Rights has an exciting opportunity for a seasoned development leader to provide oversight and execution of all the fundraising activities for one of the most well-regarded nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles. The Chief Development Officer (CDO) will be a hard-working fundraiser with a proven track record of successfully building and sustaining relationships and raising funds from a diverse pool of funding sources.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE:

The Alliance for Children’s Rights protects the rights of impoverished, abused and neglected children and youth. Our lawyers, advocates and social workers, together with hundreds of pro bono attorneys and community volunteers, ensure that children have safe, permanent homes and can access the healthcare, education and financial supports that they need. We also help transition-age youth achieve independence and work statewide to improve child welfare practices and policies in order to remove the many barriers our clients face. Since 1992, we have helped over 150,000 children.

The breadth of the Alliance’s work is impressive, and it keeps the CDO job interesting and fulfilling. It includes foster care adoption; legal guardianship; education; benefits; healthcare; removing barriers for transition-age youth; policy and system-wide reform; and community training and education. In addition, the Alliance is the backbone of the Opportunity Youth Collaborative, which brings together community leadership and resources to improve pathways to education and employment for transition- age foster youth.

Charity Navigator has awarded the Alliance its highest 4-star rating for the past nine years in a row. This puts the Alliance in the top 2% of charities in the U.S. rated by Charity Navigator. The 4-star rating reflects the Alliance’s sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency.

The Alliance is well known in the child welfare community for its knowledge, expertise, and accomplishments. Alliance staff members find that being a voice for children who often have no voice, and otherwise could be forgotten, is incredibly rewarding.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a key member of the Executive Team, the CDO responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

•             Overseeing all fundraising initiatives and activities of a $6 million budget

•             Growing and diversifying the Alliance’s funding base

•             Engaging and cultivating new and existing relationships with key supporters, prospects, and members of the Board of Directors

•             Identifying new corporate sponsorship, individual gifts, planned giving, key partnerships, and cause marketing opportunities through effective research and networking

•             Maintaining an active volunteer corps of two auxiliary groups: Friends of the Alliance and the Alliance of Moms

•             Producing successful and effective fundraising appeal campaigns

•             Overseeing and leading the production of several annual fundraising events, developing event plans, and working with Board event committee members and consultants

•             Working with Board members, including newly formed Development Committee, senior management, and staff to create, implement, and execute most effective development strategies

•             Monitoring weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual data to ensure that the Alliance achieves its short and long-term fundraising goals, and developing actionable strategies for meeting and exceeding those goals through grants, corporate sponsorships, major and individual gifts

•             Supervising, coaching, and providing leadership and direction to development staff

•             Working closely with the Communications Department to ensure messages appeal to donors and print and electronic marketing materials maximize fundraising opportunities and meet development needs

QUALIFICATIONS:

The successful candidate will have a track record for successfully raising funds and managing the day-to-day development operations. Must be energetic, strategic, goal oriented, enjoy a fast-paced environment, and have excellent relationship building skills and follow through.

Other qualifications include:

•             Outgoing, talented communicator who enjoys and has demonstrated success in major and individual donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship

•             Knowledge of strategies for successful fundraising initiatives

•             Demonstrated leadership to a range of constituents and Board committees

•             Excellent management of time and talent

•             A team-builder who will thrive in a collaborative environment with open communication

•             Very well organized with good multi-tasking ability

•             Knowledge of fundraising communications best practices

•             A passionate advocate with a genuine appreciation for protecting children’s rights

•             Currently living in and very familiar with Los Angeles’ philanthropic communities

•             Availability for some evening and weekend activities

•             Must be highly resourceful and flexible with demonstrated ability and innovation in setting priorities

•             Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite required (Word, Excel, Outlook); knowledge of and skilled in working with a relational database

•             7+ years of experience in high level non-profit development

•             Successful management and support of development staff preferred

The Alliance for Children’s Rights believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunities and does not discriminate against its employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, or marital status.

The above statements are of a general nature and are intended to describe level of work being performed by people assigned to comparable positions. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required of personnel so classified.

The Alliance for Children's Rights offers a competitive salary and a generous benefits package. For more information, visit kids-alliance.org.

TO APPLY:

To be considered, you must submit a resume, along with a cover letter that outlines your interest in joining the Alliance, relevant work experience, and how you heard of the position to: t.rodriguez@kids-alliance.org (E-mail submissions only/no phone inquiries). Responses will be sent only to individuals meeting the outlined qualifications of the position.

Please note that if selected, an offer of employment is contingent on the successful completion of a background check, however, negative information will not automatically eliminate any candidate from consideration.