Chief Development Officer

About State Voices

State Voices is a national network – built from the states up– that helps grassroots organizations win civic engagement victories and build long-term political power. Since 2008, we’ve employed the principles of collective impact, bringing a racial equity lens to capacity building and providing the data, tools, and support needed to create a healthy and thriving multiracial democracy. We advance this work through three national programs: Civic Engagement (voter education, registration and turnout, issue advocacy and constituency engagement), Civic Access (voting rights, voter protection, and election administration), and Civic Representation (census and redistricting).

State Voices works year-round to create a more accessible, inclusive, and representative democracy. We center the leadership, experiences, voices, and votes of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AANHPI, and all communities of color (BIPOC,) young adults, LGBTQ people, women, low-income, and all oppressed people. We sustain a dynamic ecosystem of 25 State Tables, 9 emerging tables, and organizations in every state, comprising over 1,200 partner organizations. Together, we are fighting for a world where every vote is counted, every voice is heard, and every need is met. Learn more about our network here.

State Voices believes that a joyful and equitable workplace makes it possible to build power in our communities. Our workplace policies center equity and justice and strengthen the professional development of our 50+ person team. We provide a professional development stipend, ongoing training opportunities, and for our director-level positions, one year of executive coaching services. To learn more about our commitment to our core practices—Caring for our people; Learning and growing together; Committing to racial and gender justice; Changing hearts and minds through art; Safeguarding for safety and security—please visit State Voices’ Our Culture webpage.

Details

Full-Time

Remote; Must be based in Metro D.C or NYC area

Position Overview

We are looking for a strategic and highly relational leader with a deep commitment to social justice to join the State Voices team as Chief Development Officer (CDO.) Reporting directly to our CEO, Alexis Anderson-Reed and serving as a critical thought partner to her and leaders across the organization, the CDO will be a member of our executive leadership team. The CDO will lead our efforts to raise and steward resources by building relationships and educating supporters about the role of State Voices’ network in realizing a multiracial democracy. Partnering closely with others across our teams as well as with leaders from our network, the CDO will ensure that our development function is strategically aligned with our mission priorities and is properly supported by well-designed systems and processes. The CDO will manage our development team, modeling our organizational culture by leading with a spirit of collaboration, collective care, and continuous learning.

State Voices is a 501(c)(3) with a sister organization501(c)(4) State Democracy Action; together, the organizations have a combined annual budget of $25 million and a team of 50+ staff. We are a leaderful organization with a broad network of supporters; our CEO Alexis Anderson-Reed, and executive leadership teamwork closely with our talented Board of Directors and our highly skilled development team to foster a community of generous philanthropists who support our vision for a healthy multiracial democracy. As a key collective impact strategy, our development team builds fundraising capacity alongside our state table leaders (our full network raises $100M annually,) providing mentorship and strategic guidance to partners on their fundraising strategies.

Primary Functions

The responsibilities of the Chief Development Officer will include:

Serve as an organizational leader who is an engaged member of the executive leadership team, supporting the overall organizational health, strategy, and culture of State Voices.
Collaborating with the CEO, senior staff, and the Board of Directors to help envision and execute a fundraising plan that includes goals and strategies for all aspects of our development program.
Leading the day-to-day management of all fundraising activities, including prospect research, cultivation, and stewardship across a portfolio that includes foundations and major individual gifts.
Oversee the development team, providing leadership, strategic direction, and efficient coordination for the staff to execute the development plan. [Currently this team has five members, three of whom directly report to the CDO (Foundations Giving Officer, Individual Giving Officer, and Senior Grants Manager)] Build a strong team culture of excellence and accountability that is grounded in our organizational values of collaboration, collective care, and continuous learning. Foster the professional growth of staff, identifying opportunities for learning, skill-building, and leadership development.
Close coordination and partnership with the CEO in cultivating and stewarding a community of new and existing supporters across revenue types to unlock their full philanthropic potential.
Develop strategies to engage core donors and educate broader donor networks across the ecosystem about the role State Voices and our network partners play building capacity for a multiracial democracy, working closely with the programs and communications teams to create materials designed to engage our supporters.
Manage and grow a portfolio of over 30 current foundation supporters across the development team, providing executive-level stewardship for those giving five- and six-figure annual gifts.
Oversee operations of the development program, adapting existing and adopting new systems, tools, and technologies to support efficiencies and ease of communication across teams with the support of the COO, IT, and finance leaders and other teams as needed. Utilize EveryAction CRM to plan, implement, and evaluate fund development.
Track and prepare monthly analysis of income and progress, including qualitative and quantitative results to ensure that executive leadership is informed of progress on goals and any potential challenges or opportunities, working closely with leaders from programs and finance to inform processes.
Prepare and deliver fundraising presentations to the Board of Directors at least three times a year and engage with the Development Committee on an ongoing basis.
Collaborate with the finance team to ensure adherence and timely tracking and reporting on income and expense projections.
Seek out and participate in external events and networking opportunities and work closely with the CEO to develop thematic narratives that position the organization and leverage movement spaces.
Support the CEO in her public presentations, helping her to strategically prepare her remarks and represent the organization on her behalf as needed in funder briefings, presentations for supporters, conferences etc.
Participate in State Voices national staff activities, including staff and network retreats, convenings, check-in calls, and other all-staff activities as requested.

Qualifications

10+ years progressively responsible experience in fundraising roles for nonprofit social justice organizations with at least 5+ years of team management experience. Bonus if you have experience working in an aligned area, e.g. civic engagement, democracy, racial justice, community organizing, advocacy, collective impact, coalitions, movement building etc.
● Deep understanding of how philanthropy works, its potential and challenges, and an interest in mobilizing philanthropy as a tool for BIPOC power building. Familiarly with the national philanthropic ecosystem and contemporary conversations around emerging models for giving strategies, e.g. pooled funds, trust-based philanthropy, participatory grantmaking etc.
Skilled manager with a coaching and mentoring approach to management and a genuine enthusiasm for building thriving teams and developing individuals as leaders.
Personal and professional commitment to an ongoing anti-racist learning journey that informs your approach to leadership.
Strong project manager and planner who is adept at managing the immediate details of projects while also progressing towards longer-term strategies.
Strong operational and organizational skills with a hands-on work style and an eagerness to roll up their sleeves.
Experience and ease with donor CRM databases, nonprofit 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) compliance, donor privacy policies, and maintaining development-related files.
Continuous learning practice: seeking to grow in knowledge of your craft and understanding of our work as an organization.
Creative and curious with a problem-solving orientation; a capacity to pivot, change, and move through potential obstacles. Comfortable with ambiguity and managing under various circumstances; appropriately patient and persistent.
Ability to present and communicate persuasively, both verbally and in writing, across various audiences.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse constituencies and communicate across differences, e.g., gender, race, geography, etc.
Highly relational and collaborative leader who centers respect, trust, and integrity in their approach to building relationships.
Culture and mission-driven: genuine appreciation for our work and an enthusiasm for participating in our organizational culture.

To Apply

We have retained nonproﬁt talent agency People Power as our search partner for this hire. To apply, please upload a cover letter, resume, and a writing sample of any kind or length to our online system at this link.

Note: For those candidates who would like to include additional relevant work samples as part of their application (e.g., written reports, links to web-based publications, grant proposals, LOIs, podcasts, pitch letters, press releases, videos), we welcome you to do so and have provided space for you to upload those ﬁles.

Terms of Employment:This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location: This is a remote position. Staff must reside in the DC Metro area or NYC area. The travel for this position is estimated at up to 30%. This includes in-person executive leadership meetings, board meetings, staff and network retreats, convenings, funder meetings, and conference travel as needed.

Compensation: The annual salary range of $200K-$220K. Compensation includes a generous benefits package of: health, dental, and life insurance; paid vacation and sick leave; 401k and match; FSA funds; home office stipend. In addition to 15 days paid vacation and 10 paid sick days annually, we also make space for rest, wellness, and development.

We appreciate your time and interest in contributing your talents to State Voices mission. Thank you! You will receive an email auto-reply to your application. We wish we could respond personally to all applicants, but only those chosen to interview will be contacted.

We welcome your interest, feedback, and *conﬁdential* inquiries. If you have questions regarding your qualiﬁcations for this position, compensation or beneﬁts, our process or internal timeline for hiring, or suggestions for how to improve this announcement or the opportunity itself, please email Kate Brumage at People Power: kate@peoplepowerproject.org

Please do not contact State Voices directly to inquire about the status of your application.

State Voices is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified individuals are encouraged to apply without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as established under law.