Overview

Larkin Street Youth Services is a nonprofit empowering young people to move beyond homelessness. Founded in 1984, we’ve helped over 75,000 young adults in San Francisco by providing a continuum of healthcare, housing, employment, and education services. Three out of four youth who complete our programs exit to stable housing. We’re also part of the movement to end youth homelessness nationwide through policy partnerships with national organizations and fellow nonprofits. Being part of Larkin Street means bringing compassion and integrity to ending youth homelessness. We celebrate diversity, stand for equity, and create pathways for individual and community growth. For more information about Larkin Street, visit our website and our Culture Guide.

LOCATION AND SCHEDULE

This full-time, hybrid position will require working onsite (711 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco) for a minimum of three days/week, depending on job duties and agency requirements. May also include occasional local travel to and from various partner organizations, businesses, and donors. Depending on the events schedule, it may occasionally require working evenings or weekends.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Senior Director of Individual Giving is responsible for creating and implementing annual and long-term strategies to support Larkin Street’s individual and event fundraising goals, as well as marketing communication efforts. The Senior Director supervises a team of five full-time staff and one part-time volunteer, and they work closely with the Chief Development Officer (CDO) and an active 29-member Board of Directors. In FY2122, the individual and events fundraising team raised $4,714,744, and in FY2223, we have set a goal of $5,100,000.

  • Individual Giving: Supervises all individual annual giving, including major gifts, direct response, online giving, and in-kind donations. Specific FY 2223 annual objectives include growing the agency’s monthly sustainer’s program and major gift efforts.
  • Special Events: Supervises all fundraising special events, including two major annual galas, third-party fundraisers, and donor stewardship activities. Responsible for sponsorship solicitations.
  • Marketing Communications: Supervise all agency external marketing and advocacy efforts.

Qualified candidates have a strong track record of relationship-oriented fundraising, senior-level project and team management success, a good understanding of data-based fundraising tools and predictive analytics, and the cultural competency needed to work in a diverse work environment. Larkin Street’s FY2223 annual operating budget is over $33M. As a department, the Development team is making strategic investments in people and technology to sustain our revenue growth and mission impact.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Major Gifts

  • Coordinate major donor portfolios managed by staff (Executive Director, CDO, Major Gifts Officer, and others), facilitating regular strategy meetings and using data and moves management techniques to secure meaningful investments and build long-term and authentic relationships with donors.
  • Serve as the lead relationship manager for a personal portfolio of major donors.
  • Manage individual donor and prospect research, serving as the primary user of research tools and providing data, analysis, and recommendations to key staff and board solicitors.

General Donors

  • Supervise and manage Larkin Street’s direct response and online fundraising (direct mail, online giving, monthly sustainers, and in-kind donations).
  • Supervise Larkin Street’s special events, including two signature annual galas, third-party fundraisers, and donor stewardship activities.
  • Produce reports and analyses of campaigns to inform and improve fundraising performance.

Marketing Communication & Donor Stewardship

  • Supervise and manage Larkin Street’s marketing communications efforts to protect and build brand identity and effectiveness of community advocacy efforts.
  • Lead donor stewardship and engagement efforts to properly recognize donors’ contributions and achieve and maintain high levels of donor satisfaction.
  • Train and engage the Larkin Street staff in stewardship activities, building fundraising savvy across the organization.

Legacy Program

  • Partner with the CDO to strengthen the existing legacy program.
  • Support the Board’s, Executive Director’s, and CDO’s solicitation of new planned gifts by providing data, research, materials, and follow-up.
  • Supervise Manager of Marketing Communication to develop and execute a legacy-specific communications plan.

Team Management & Cross-Team Collaboration

  • Manage and mentor development team members who support individual fundraising.
  • Stay informed and knowledgeable about programmatic activities, maintaining the capacity to converse authentically and compellingly with donors about our work.
  • Promote a work culture of high performance, continual learning, and commitment to excellence, as well as inclusion, diversity, equity, and belonging, are centered.

CANDIDATE PROFILE & QUALIFICATIONS:

The incoming Senior Director of Individual Giving will be driven by their belief in and commitment to Larkin Street’s vision and mission. Through their track record and expertise as a development professional, the successful candidate will lead individual donor fundraising approaches that generate the resources necessary to elevate the work of Larkin Street to our next levels of impact. The Senior Director builds authentic and lasting relationships with donors, listening to their interests and philanthropic goals and engaging with them as partners in Larkin Street’s mission.

The incoming Senior Director joins a fast-paced team that operates with a sense of urgency and a track record of excellence in execution. The Senior Director is entrepreneurial and has experience in growing/scaling a successful development program. Larkin Street has the opportunity to take our development program to the next level and seeks a Senior Director with drive, determination, and the ability to instill confidence, trust, and inspiration.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

The selected candidate will also possess the following qualifications:

EDUCATION:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in lieu of the educational qualification.

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE:

  • At least 7 years of increasing responsibility in nonprofit fundraising, with a proven track record of success in securing major gifts ($10K+), producing special events, managing campaigns, and engaging a community of motivated supporters.
  • Experience engaging a Board of Directors or other fundraising volunteers in revenue generation.
  • Demonstrated planning, budgeting, and reporting abilities.
  • Demonstrated marketing and communication experience.
  • Outstanding oral and written communications skills with an understanding of how to convey a compelling story about Larkin Street’s work and impact.
  • Experience designing and executing effective donor engagement strategies that generate deeper satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Experience with Salesforce or another donor database, prospect research and predictive analytics tools, and MS Office Suite (especially Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams).
  • Preference for experience using Asana, HubSpot, iWave, Gravyty, or similar project management and fundraising platforms.
  • Preference for past experience working for health and human service, affordable housing, homeless service, racial justice, and/or LGBTQ organization.
  • Proof of an up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination.

CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Passion for the agency’s mission to end youth homelessness
  • Cultural humility working with youth and individuals experiencing homelessness
  • Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism best practices.
  • Outstanding relationship-building skills with the ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds.
  • Ability to inspire trust and galvanize support for Larkin Street’s mission with a balance of diplomacy and tenacity that is required to pursue top prospects.
  • Highly collaborative work style with the ability to operate as a peer and thought partner to the CDO.
  • Self-driven ambition and an innate understanding of how to manage through influence.
  • Highly organized, flexible, and comfortable in a fast-paced environment with excellent attention to detail and follow-through.
  • Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment and maintain confidentiality at all times.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. For details on how it is applicable to your employment, please click here.

Larkin Street Youth Services is an equal opportunity employer. Larkin Street Youth Service seeks qualified candidates with an interest in the non-profit sector. We are committed to embracing diversity and consider all applicants for all positions without regard to color, ethnic background, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, HIV/AIDS status, veteran status, or any other legally protected class. We encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply for any open position in which they feel qualified.

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