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Managing Director of Advancement

About Slingshot Memphis
Slingshot Memphis is an independent assessor of poverty-fighting impact. Our mission is to create a demonstrable reduction in poverty by promoting a results driven poverty-fighting ecosystem in Memphis.

Unlike business, medicine, and many other sectors that have established objective processes for measuring outcomes, the poverty-fighting ecosystem simply doesn’t. This makes it nearly impossible to know which programs and services most effectively reduce the social and economic gaps in our city.

Slingshot has developed a new, standardized methodology to objectively measure the effectiveness of poverty-fighting organizations. Slingshot then works alongside these organizations to identify opportunities for growth to enhance their poverty-fighting capabilities and impact. Finally, Slingshot directly invests in these organizations, and influences investments from others, to help amplify high-impact programs and services. 

By providing previously unavailable insights about poverty-fighting outcomes, Slingshot empowers decision makers to allocate resources toward solutions that produce effective outcomes for our neighbors experiencing poverty. We believe that as our community embraces this new methodology—or “Poverty-Fighting Feedback Loop”—we can measurably reduce poverty and accelerate access to equitable opportunities for all Memphians.

Role of the Managing Director, Advancement
Slingshot seeks a Managing Director of Advancement to help accelerate the fight against poverty in Memphis, Tennessee. This role is part of Slingshot’s leadership team that oversees a group of skilled, passionate, and driven colleagues who are highly-motivated to achieve Slingshot's mission. 

The Managing Director of Advancement is personally responsible for securing investments while building out the advancement strategy, infrastructure, playbook, and team. The role will disrupt prevailing models of philanthropy by influencing an outcomes-driven approach to philanthropic giving. We need an influencer who embraces Slingshot’s mission and lives Slingshot’s core values.

Reporting Relationship: Reports to the CEO.

Measurement Fund and Impact Fund
Slingshot has a unique fundraising model with two separate, but complimentary, components:

  1. The Measurement Fund covers all of Slingshot’s annual operating expenses. This work involves securing investments of varying sizes from a relatively small and expanding group of close stakeholders. The historic standard ask has been $450,000 allocated evenly over a three year time horizon. For 2021, this requires investments of $1,750,000. This amount will increase annually as Slingshot grows.
  2. The Impact Fund is an aggregation of investments Slingshot invests in the organizations it works with that demonstrate poverty-fighting effectiveness. Each year, 100% of the funds raised through the Impact Fund are invested directly into these poverty-fighting organizations. For 2020, this required securing investments from over 500 unique investors ranging in size from $5 to $300,000, totaling $2,000,000. These varied from monthly recurring investments, investments obtained via events, and one-time annual investments, among other approaches. This amount will increase annually as Slingshot expands the number of organizations we work with.

The Managing Director of Advancement is responsible for securing investments for both the Measurement Fund and the Impact Fund. Slingshot’s CEO and Board of Directors will partner in these efforts; however, ownership for achieving fundraising goals lies with the Managing Director of Advancement.

Primary Responsibilities
Development & Fundraising

  • Achieve fundraising goals to support Slingshot’s expansion by attracting new investors and strengthening relationships with existing investors
  • Serve as Slingshot's principal fundraiser, securing investments, leading campaigns, and planning and managing events, among other activities
  • Develop and execute strategic fundraising plans, with input from the CEO and Board, to support Slingshot’s expansion within Memphis and across other geographies over time
  • Over time, hire and manage a development team to provide operational support and also build out a development board to assist with fundraising efforts in the community

Marketing & Messaging

  • Creatively and powerfully communicate the insights developed from Slingshot’s impact assessment work in order to influence change across the poverty-fighting ecosystem
  • Increase awareness and manage Slingshot's brand across target audiences through marketing efforts, public speaking engagements, social media, networking, etc.
  • Transform Slingshot’s website into a user friendly poverty-fighting tool that empowers greater poverty-fighting effectiveness in Memphis and beyond
  • Develop and execute a comprehensive marketing strategy that ignites a disruptive movement to embrace an outcomes-driven approach to dramatically reduce poverty

Administration & Management

  • Develop the advancement infrastructure to efficiently and effectively enable Slingshot to influence the poverty-fighting ecosystem and fund its expansion
  • Enhance Slingshot’s CRM capabilities (Salesforce) by adding important functionalities, introducing automations, and building out forecasting and other critical analyses
  • Maintain and further develop Slingshot’s investor database, including mailing lists, investor lists, investor profiles, and key reporting mechanisms
  • Manage fundraising operations, such as receiving, acknowledging, and tracking investments and pledges within Slingshot’s CRM tools

 Qualifications

  • Personal interest in alleviating poverty, being disruptive, and building equity
  • At least 5-10 years experience in roles responsible for achieving multi-million dollar business development/fundraising goals
  • Track record of closing large investments across various audiences
  • Experience working with CRMs (preferably Salesforce)
  • Self-directed with exceptional organizational skills and an ownership mindset
  • Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work with a team to meet objectives

Application:
To apply, send your resume and a brief statement of interest to Jared Barnett at careers@slingshotmemphis.org with Managing Director, Advancement in the subject line. Your statement of interest should describe why you are interested in working with Slingshot and how your skills and experience fit with the responsibilities for this role. Slingshot will follow up with selected applicants to schedule an interview, at which time professional and personal references will be requested.

Slingshot is an equal opportunity employer.

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