Overview

Shanti Project (Shanti) is a nonprofit organization that builds human connections to reduce isolation, enhance health and well-being, and improve quality of life for local community members. Through comprehensive, continuum-of-care programs, including in-home and onsite care navigation, emotional and practical support, and services to preserve the human-animal bond, Shanti strives to enhance the lives of aging community members and those living with terminal, life-threatening, or disabling illnesses or conditions.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) is responsible for building and growing fundraising, community engagement, and communications to advance the mission of the organization. This position reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer and is a member of the Executive Team. The CAO builds philanthropic tools and systems, engages with donors, and secures institutional funding, as well as leads all organizational communications, branding, marketing, and community engagement. The role supervises the development team and works collaboratively with staff and board leadership to ensure fundraising, communications, and outreach goals are met. In performing these duties, the CAO ensures industry best practices and maintains the highest ethical and professional standards.

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Audit past fundraising practices and develop a comprehensive analysis and recommendations for rebuilding a more resilient, collaborative philanthropy platform with systems and processes to support proactive donor engagement.
  • Develop annual and long-term plans to grow major and planned giving, corporate contributions, private foundation grants, community events, and consistent outreach, branding, and marketing.
  • Create, implement, and manage a robust major gifts program, using donor acquisition and cultivation best practices, and moves management, while identifying when to bring in the CEO, board members, and volunteers, as needed.
  • Lead and support development team in meeting fundraising, communications, and community engagement measurable goals and objectives and supporting staff in their professional development.
  • Serve as a vital member of the executive team and key thought partner and collaborator to senior leadership and the Board to vision and drive strategy and initiatives. Engage in leadership efforts to foster a positive, collaborative work culture and help facilitate change management with other executive leaders and key constituencies.
  • Participate in Board meetings and facilitate Board Development Committee meetings in partnership with the Development Committee Chair.
  • Oversee external and internal communications strategy and plan. Work collaboratively with senior staff to build a strong brand, enhance organizational messaging, and maintain consistent communications with donors, volunteers, key stakeholder, and the public.
  • Work with development and program teams to coordinate all foundation and corporate proposal development, tracking, and reporting, as well as support event planning and direct mail creation and acknowledgements. Assist in ensuring timely reporting, donor recognition, and database integrity.
  • Engage in strategic and financial planning. Manage, analyze and report on the annual development operating budget on at least a quarterly basis and make recommendations for changes when needed.
  • Represent Shanti in community events including galas, luncheons, meetings, conferences and more.
  • Adhere to fundraising best practices about policies and procedures.
  • Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATION/REQUIREMENT

Shanti seeks highly qualified candidates with as many of the following areas of knowledge, ability, skills, and experience as possible:

  • A minimum of five (5) years of experience in the nonprofit sector, preferably in a leadership capacity with previous board and community engagement work.
  • At least 3-5 years of fundraising and philanthropy experience, including identifying, cultivating, and making asks from foundations, corporations, and individual donors. Demonstrated experience meeting financial and strategic goals, with a history of raising at least $2 million and maintaining industry standards, best practices, and ethics.
  • Strong written and verbal skills and experience in marketing, communications, and branding.
  • Ability to build strong relations and engage diverse communities. Demonstrated experience representing an organization publicly and serving as a visible spokesperson.
  • A knowledge and understanding of the funding community in San Francisco and the Bay Area a plus.
  • Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to supervise and support a diverse team with a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ), as well as interact professionally across all parts of the organization.
  • Commitment to collaboration, learning, inclusion, and equity values and experiences. Sensitivity to diversity including, but not limited to, sexual orientation, gender identification, race, language, spirituality, and culture.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

  • Able to work on a computer, including sitting at a desk, for extended periods of time. Able to read a computer screen. Manual dexterity to operate a keyboard.
  • While performing job duties the CAO will regularly be required to navigate and travel around the city of San Francisco using public transportation.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: Shanti is an equal opportunity employer that supports and lives diversity in our staffing and values. Shanti complies with applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We actively encourage and seek qualified candidates of all backgrounds. We also will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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