Chief Philanthropy Officer
Reports to: President and CEO
Supervises: All Development and Marketing Staff, Volunteers, Interns
Schedule: Full time, salary
Wage Scale: $85,000 - $110,000 annual equivalent salary
FLSA Status: Exempt
PENCIL’S VISION AND CORE COMMITTMENTS:
PENCIL links community resources to Nashville Public Schools to help young people achieve academic success and prepare for life.
PENCIL exists to create a world where Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) students and teachers have equitable access to resources and opportunities, empowering students to succeed now and in the future. We will do this by creating a community that respects the unique perspectives and experiences of all stakeholders through proactive listening, continuous learning, and tireless advocacy for every student.
Our work is guided by the needs of MNPS, is student centric, and is achieved through intentional partnerships and tangible engagements.
As the PENCIL team, we will:
- Be collaborative and inclusive —By encouraging conversations that amplify and uplift the voices of all students and communities, especially those marginalized by inequitable systems.
- Act with transparency and integrity — By striving to continually educate ourselves, intentionally recruit and retain diverse staff and stakeholders, and encourage everyone to share their authentic perspectives and experiences to our work.
- Demonstrate kindness and gratitude— By valuing the unique experiences that each student, staff, and community member bring to our work.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Chief Philanthropy Officer is responsible for all activities related to conceptualizing and implementing a comprehensive donor development strategy for PENCIL to ensure that we achieve our mission and meet strategic plan targets. The CPO will also own all marketing and branding activities to assure overall team success at recruiting and onboarding a steady stream of new programmatic partners.
Specific responsibilities include development and implementation of a development and marketing vision; leadership in implementing those strategies and activities with a focus on financial sustainability; oversight of staff and volunteers to assure their engagement and productivity; development of productive relationships with key donors, potential donors, and community leaders; coordination with other senior PENCIL leadership for overall organization management.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Assure organizational success at annual budget targets for contributed revenue
- Support the CEO, board, and external consultant in executing the capital campaign that will fund PENCIL’s transition to a larger, long-term facility by the fall of 2027.
- Create compelling collateral for the Case for Giving used in donor visits
- Cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and prospects during the campaign and after PENCIL’s relocation to the new facility
- Manage and strengthen operational infrastructure to support the solicitation process
- Ensure revenue targets are met for Capital Campaign
- Manage a portfolio of 75-80 major donors, including individuals, corporations and foundations; maintain a pipeline of potential donors
- Collaborate with the CEO to manage the endowment campaign (and other special campaigns), including recruitment of annual campaign chairs; prospective donor visits; maintaining collateral; and overseeing communications
- Oversee overall execution of events to assure they achieve their respective fundraising and engagement goals
- Oversee the creation of compelling proposal documents to retain and acquire funders – individuals, corporations, foundations – both local and national
- Be a principal thought leader at PENCIL in growing opportunities for fiscal sponsorship & our Grant Making work with MNPS; share relationship management expertise, and provide oversight to assure best practices for fund development are followed
- Direct and guide compelling external communications, inclusive of first-person perspectives from students, teachers, volunteers, and donors
- Guide team members and board members to actively participate in the development and communications process and take ownership of individual components of the overall plans; guide the CEO as a key member of the team
- Supports the CEO’s ownership of a portfolio of most critical relationships, while working alongside this person as a subject matter expert, relationship steward, and thought partner
- Drive development strategy for all levels of appeals and events; both short term (annual) and long-term (5 years)
- Assure consistent implementation of all donor protocols (timely and multi-tiered thank yous; benefit fulfillment; engagement; etc.)
- Define and lead the communications strategy to assure all key targets can be achieved
- Fundraising
- Partnership recruitment and retention
- Recording of Community Investment time from individual volunteers
- Provide oversight and direction on data collection and maintenance to assure it is a powerful tool and key component of our development and communications work
- Regularly report to all constituent groups on incremental progress toward goals
- Actively participate in the community to assure recognition among donor circles and business leaders as a PENCIL leader
- Develop and manage departmental expense budgets to assure success at cost containment
- Creation and documentation of replicable systems and processes
- Document all activities in the designated customer relationship management tool (Salesforce) in a timely, accurate and complete manner to assure a full picture of all partnerships, ensuring that data is kept current at all times
- Perform other functions as assigned by the CEO
QUALIFICATIONS:
- EDUCATION – Minimum of a bachelor’s degree
- SKILLS –
- Ability to build and maintain strong personal relationships
- Demonstrable understanding of successful fundraising strategies and tactics
- Commitment to engagement of all team members (paid and volunteers) in development and branding work
- Ability to define, execute, and document high-quality programs with strong outcomes
- Mature interpersonal skills, sound judgment
- Passion for community engagement and PENCIL’s mission
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with keen attention to details
- Technology – wide knowledge of technology systems and how to use them to effectively to produce outcomes; strong knowledge of all Microsoft products; prior experience in managing substantial donor/CRM databases
- EXPERIENCE – A minimum of five years’ successful experience in achieving revenue goals; managing a dynamic team of professionals and volunteers; a demonstrated track record of success in guiding strategy, messaging, and related outcomes; CFRE preferred
- CONFIDENTIALITY – ability to manage sensitive information in a professional and confidential manner as outlined in PENCIL’s Confidentiality Policy
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS & PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
- Moderate physical activity performing somewhat strenuous daily activities of a primarily administrative nature.
- Manual dexterity sufficient to reach/handle items, works with the fingers, and perceives attributes of objects and materials.
- The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
- The employee is required to stand, walk, climb and balance.
WORK SCHEDULE & HOURS:
This position works 40 hours each week, typically Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., with occasional evening and weekend hours for special events. However, schedule flexibility is available on an as-needed basis.
DIVERSITY & EQUAL OPPORTUNITY:
PENCIL is committed towards developing a diverse staff that reflects the community we serve. Research shows that candidates from underrepresented communities often do not submit a resume if they do not feel highly qualified in all areas, therefore we extend an invitation to all candidates to apply, especially those from historically underrepresented communities, including but not limited to, those identifying as Black/African American, Indigenous/Native, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern/North African and other people of color; LGBTQ+ candidates; and candidates with disabilities.
PENCIL is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
This job profile is not intended to be all inclusive of tasks required, it is to provide a general description of essential job responsibilities.
