About Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc.
The mission of Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc. (“Ada S. McKinley” or “Ada”) is to empower, educate, and employ people to change lives and strengthen communities.
The agency was founded as a settlement house in 1919 by Ada Sophia McKinley, a schoolteacher and social reformer, who saw the need to assist veterans returning from World War I and African Americans migrating from the South. Currently celebrating its 100th year anniversary, Ada S. McKinley is one of the largest human services organizations in the country with an annual operating budget of nearly $40 million, nearly 600 employees, serving more than 7,000 people annually at over 70 locations. Services are provided 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, primarily in Illinois/Chicago with additional sites in Indiana and Wisconsin.
Ada S. McKinley has three primary areas of service: Child Development & Youth Services, Employment & Community Support, and Behavioral Health & Clinical Services rendered daily include:
- Tutoring, mentoring and college placement;
- Family support and stabilization programming;
- Foster care;
- Housing opportunities;
- Youth and family counseling;
- Mobile crises response
- Employment training and placement; and
- Head Start and Early Head Start programing.
The vision of Ada S. McKinley is for all people to have the opportunity for education and employment. Under the leadership of CEO Jamal Malone, Ada continues to focus its resources and activities on improving and expanding opportunities for Chicago’s most vulnerable communities. The agency entered its 2019 Centennial year on a viable path into the next century and prepared for another century of growth and leadership as one of Chicago’s leading human services organizations.
To learn more about Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc., please visit their website.
The Opportunity
The Senior Director of Development will lead and execute fundraising activities for the agency and assist the CEO in increasing corporate and foundation awareness of and investment in agency programs. Reporting to the CEO of Ada S McKinley, the Senior Director will serve as a senior leader and an active participant in making strategic decisions affecting fundraising at Ada S. McKinley.
The successful candidate will help forge new relationships to continue building and elevating Ada’s visibility, impact, and financial resources. The Senior Director of Development will design and implement a comprehensive plan for developing key external alliances by cultivating philanthropic and foundation support.
This Senior Director serves on the Ada S. McKinley Leadership Team and participates in all functions included in being a member of this team. The position ensures all program elements align with the organization’s mission and strategic plan strategies.
It is required the person in this position maintain strong interpersonal and communication skills, develops a strong team approach and leads from both a position of accountability and compassion.
Key to the success of this role, the Senior Director will be expected to:
- Lead the planning, organization, implementation, and the evaluation of fundraising activities to meet the goals of the organization’s fundraising campaigns in addition to the general operations goals.
- Create, implement and be responsible for the annual development plan and strategy. Including developing a marketing strategy and plan for annual fundraising and events.
- Cultivate and nurture relationships with current and potential corporate and private foundation sponsors as well as individual donors, with the intent to solicit sponsorships, donations, and corporate matching gifts.
- Strategize and collaborate with Chief Executive Officer, Program Directors, and Senior Management in identifying new grant opportunities for donors to advance the organizations’ impact in the lives of clients and as lead agency in human service networks in the city, state, and region.
- Write for grants with input from program leaders. Submit proposals, applications, and reports. Manage and maintain a calendar of grant proposal and report submissions.
- Lead partnerships with corporate and foundation community service volunteer events.
- Identify new foundations, corporations, and opportunities to cultivate as prospective donors.
- Supervise the maintenance and data integrity of the donor database in Salesforce and prospect management process to guide cultivation and solicitation activities.
- Track and monitor development activities and accomplishments including development pipeline report, and submit timely reports to the CEO and others as required.
- Build the agenda for fundraising and external affairs committee meetings in collaboration with Board committee chair.
- Develop and implement fundraising and marketing documents including presentations, videos, and other assets as needed.
- Prepare/recommend/administer annual Development budget.
- Support the CEO in staffing the board level Development Committee.
- Assure organizational compliance with generally accepted fund-raising principles, financial reporting requirements and ethical codes of professional conduct.
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 Ada with its many constituents and partners. The Senior Director of Development extract and analyze data to make effective, efficient decisions about donor strategy and process. This leader will bring a particular degree of expertise in the area of grant writing, however, they will have familiarity with a wide range of fundraising channels, including individual giving, organizational funding partners and foundation support. The Senior Director of Development will cultivate and grow relationships to strategically increase Ada’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 Senior Director of Development will be highly strategic, having outstanding organizational and analytical skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects with excellence and strong attention to detail. This leader will have a proven record of converting strategy into effective execution, offering creative, practical ideas to achieve Ada’s strategic direction. The Senior Director will ensure effective processing and monitoring of all grants and utilization of grants management database to further the reach and capacity of Ada’s fundraising strategies. This leader will build bridges and engage colleagues interdepartmentally. A diplomatic, approachable and supportive professional, the Senior Director of Development will be a catalyst for innovation, and growth, inspiring all to think entrepreneurially and welcome new ideas.
Passion for the Mission
The Senior Director will embody the values and mission of Ada S. McKinley and, as a result, will inspire and motivate others to push the “One Ada” culture of Teamwork, Innovation, and Excellence forward in a collaborative manner. An empathic, confident leader, the Senior Director will treat others with respect. The Senior Director will lead by example, understanding that at times, empathy is an essential quality. The ideal candidate will understand the social services landscape and will have an eye consistently focused on the future and how to best adapt the approach to the changing environment of social services. The Senior Director will be an individual of unquestioned integrity, ethics and values - someone who can be trusted without reservation.
Contact
Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Marissa Delgado & George Theotokatos of Koya Partners are leading this search. To express interest in this role please submit your materials here or email ada@koyapartners.com.
Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ applicants.
Koya Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email NonprofitSearchOps@divsearch.com. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
About Koya Partners
Koya Partners, a part of 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.
For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.
