About City Year Chicago
City Year is dedicated to helping students and schools succeed.
City Year AmeriCorps members serve full-time in high-need urban schools, where they partner with teachers and school leaders to provide high-impact student, classroom, and school-wide support to help students stay in school and on track to graduate from high school, ready for college and career success. City Year has a Long-Term Impact (LTI) strategy, an exciting plan to scale its impact to dramatically increase the urban graduation pipeline and transform the future for thousands of students nationwide.
City Year (CY) is among the nation’s fastest-growing nonprofit social enterprises. The organization’s 800 staff and 3,000 AmeriCorps members work and serve in 28 communities across the country, including Boston – where City Year was founded in 1988 and is headquartered – as well as Chicago many other locations across the US. City Year also has international affiliates in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Specific to Chicago, City Year is working to address the lack of equitable access to educational opportunities. The City Year Chicago AmeriCorps members partner with teachers and schools to add more support and to help create learning environments where all students can build on their strengths and fully engage in their learning. City Year Chicago supports the community by:
- Accelerating academic growth in Chicago.
- Ensuring more students are on track to high school graduation.
- Supporting social-emotional needs.
- Partnering with teachers and principals.
A proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network, City Year (CY) is a public-private partnership, made possible by resources from schools and school districts; local, state, and federal governments; and philanthropic support from corporations, foundations, and individuals. City Year has been recognized by Charity Navigator as a four-star charity – its highest rating – for twelve consecutive years, placing City Year in the top 1% of non-profits nationwide for fiscal responsibility, financial health, organizational efficiency, and organizational capacity.
For more information on City Year Chicago please visit: http://www.cityyear.org/chicago
The Opportunity
City Year Chicago is seeking a top tier development professional to lead its development function during this period of growth and transformation. The Managing Director of Development (MDD) will be a visionary, seasoned, and strategic leader who will thrive working in a changing and fast-paced environment.
City Year has relied on its corporate, foundation and individual partners to create sustainable social impact, leveraging both private and public investors. With a wide range of support from some of Chicago’s philanthropic leaders, City Year Chicago has a strong fundraising track record and had an ambitious fundraising plan for growth the next 3 years. A focus on establishing multi-year contributions, identifying new funding sources and management of ongoing donors will be expected.
Reporting to the Vice President and Executive Director of City Year Chicago, the Managing Director of Development will serve as a key leadership team member and an active participant in making strategic decisions affecting City Year. In partnership with the Executive Director, this position is responsible for all fundraising and development activities.
The MDD oversees the function of the Development department. MDD will collaborate with the Executive Director on site financial priorities with a focus on prioritizing contributions and donations. The MDD will lead a team of 7 high performing development professionals to manage and implement the fundraising strategy for the Chicago office. A specific emphasis is placed on managing and building relationships with corporations and foundations, as well as with high-net-worth individuals and prospects in an effort to maximize financial resources to help City Year Chicago achieve its revenue and strategic objectives.
The role is responsible for ensuring the site meets its annual budget of $12 million, including over $4.7 million from private sources.
The successful candidate will help forge new relationships to continue building and elevating City Year Chicago’s visibility, impact, and financial resources. The MDD will design and implement a comprehensive plan for developing key external alliances by cultivating individual and philanthropic support. This leader will have primary responsibility for establishing and implementing the infrastructure needed to grow the City Year Chicago’s budget through the solicitation of major gifts, federal and state grants, special events, and corporate and foundation support. This will include strategy and execution of the City Year’s annual fundraising event.
Responsibilities:
Key to the success of the Managing Director of Development, they will be responsible for:
People Management:
- Hire, manage, and retain a team of high-performing and high-capacity development professionals
- Lead the performance management process and set goals that will further challenge and build the capacity of each development team member.
Relationship Cultivation and Fundraising Management:
- Build meaningful relationships that result in securing both monetary and in-kind multi-year support for City Year Chicago.
- Strong capacity and proven experience in cultivating transformational relationships with donors.
- Develop, implement, and monitor progress toward short- and long-term fundraising strategy and goals.
- Oversee and provide strategy to strengthen and expand Corporate Partnerships, Foundations and Major Gifts Development fundraising efforts.
- as a public representative of the organization, including cultivating relationships with community members, including prospective gift givers in order to build awareness of and commitment to City Year Chicago’s work.
- Maintain oversight over all fundraising activities including major giving, grants, special events, direct mail appeals, corporate partnership initiatives.
Board Management and Engagement:
- Participating in quarterly Board of Directors meetings and preparing monthly, quarterly and annual reports as requested by the Executive Director and Board.
- Working with the Board of Directors, including the Board fundraising committee, in development related projects.
Marketing and Communications:
- Experience crafting communication on behalf of the Executive Director with keen awareness of audience and impact.
- Collaborate with the Managing Director of External Affairs & Communications to execute compelling communication tools that drive people to support and champion City Year Chicago, including press releases, media advisories, social media communication and marketing events.
- Experience communicating with both internal and external audiences of varying levels of seniority.
Corporate and Foundation Management:
- Manage relationships and communication with current corporate and foundation funders.
- Manages the identification and cultivation of new corporate and foundation partnerships, as well as the grant proposal and reporting processes for corporate, foundation and government funders.
Major Gift and Donor Management:
- Develop successful identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship strategies to direct and monitor the progress of current and future donor relationships.
- Identify major donors’ philanthropic interests and provide them with an opportunity to realize an outstanding philanthropic experience through their charitable investment of time, advocacy and financial support to City Year Chicago.
- Ensure diversity and sustainability of site donor base.
Organization Management:
- Assist the Executive Director in shaping organizational strategy and lead the effective execution of the site’s strategic plan as a member of the Executive Leadership Team.
- Manage the process for implementation, review, and modification of City Year Chicago’s strategic plan to ensure departmental and site-wide progress is met and remains aligned with staff capacity, financial resources, and stakeholder support.
- Work collaboratively with other site departments regularly along with City Year Headquarters.
- Develop and manage the Development Department budget, detailing department revenue and expenses.
- Oversee accurate maintenance of donor records in Salesforce and use data to effectively drive strategic planning.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will have the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:
Expertise in Fundraising
This leader will work tirelessly to build rapport and promote the City Year with its many constituents and partners. The MDD will have the skills to articulate the vision of the organization to its supporting community, attracting new and diverse partnerships. This leader will have familiarity with a wide range of fundraising channels, especially individual giving and organizational funding partners. The MDD will cultivate and grow relationships to strategically increase the City Year’s funding and donor base. This leader will have an inspirational approach to building collaboration and buy-in and generating support for the organization, continually innovating to help expand brand and reach.
Inclusive and Strategic Leader
The MDD will be highly strategic, having the ability to set priorities decisively but collaboratively, delegate responsibilities, ensure accountability, and allocate resources to ensure results. This leader will bring experience affecting change in a complex organization and a proven record of converting strategy into effective execution, offering creative, practical ideas to achieve the City Year’s strategic direction. The ideal candidate will be an innovative and energetic individual who functions well in a fast-paced, team environment, which includes cross-department coordination. This leader will build bridges and engage colleagues interdepartmentally. A diplomatic, approachable and supportive professional, the MDD will be a catalyst for change and growth inspiring all to think entrepreneurially and welcome new ideas. Possessing a strong sense of confidence and a style that will resonate with all as they will help to develop and retain a talented staff.
Ambassador and Relationship Builder
The MDD will be skilled at building and sustaining excellent relationships at multiple levels with varied constituencies including the City Year’s Board of Directors, donors, senior team, corporate and community leaders, the development team and the staff. This leader will work in close alignment with the Executive Director and senior team to ensure that messages are consistent to all constituents, including donors and potential donors. They will bring a high level of intellectual horsepower and a curious, collaborative, and creative mindset to assist in the growth and development of City Year. The MDD will have an inspirational approach to building collaboration and buy-in and generating support from stakeholders. This leader will be a charismatic, high-energy leader who can communicate effectively with constituents from a variety of backgrounds and successfully convey City Year’s objectives. The MDD will build upon a team-oriented approach to strengthen the internal culture of philanthropy organization-wide.Passion for the Mission
The MDD will embody the values and mission of City Year and as a result, will inspire and motivate others to push the organization’s vision forward in a collaborative manner. An empathic, confident leader, the MDD will treat others with respect. The MDD will lead by example, understanding that at times, empathy is an essential quality. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in the social services and early childhood sectors and will have an eye consistently focused on the future and how to best adapt the organization to its changing environment. The MDD will be an individual of unquestioned integrity, ethics, and values; someone who can be trusted without reservation.
Compensation
Salary range: $150,000-$165,000 based on experience. City Year provides competitive benefits including health, dental, life, short-term disability, and supplemental insurance, 401(k) plan, Employee Assistance Program.
Contact
Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. To make recommendations or to express your interest in this role please email CityYearMDD@koyapartners.com. All nominations, inquiries, and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.…………..
City Year is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented identity groups.
About Koya Partners
Koya Partners, a part of the Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.
Koya is an equal opportunity employer fully committed to creating an environment and team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, styles, and experiences. We encourage all to apply because we believe a diversity of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone. Koya does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, genetic information, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.
