Chief Development Officer

Chief Development Officer

Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston

Newton, Massachusetts

The Search

The Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Boston (JCCGB), a forward-thinking leader among Jewish Community Centers nationally and one of the largest Jewish organizations in New England, seeks an accomplished, strategic, and innovative chief development officer (CDO) to expertly lead all fundraising and development efforts on behalf of the organization. Reporting to the incoming president and chief executive officer (CEO), Dr. Lily Rabinoff-Goldman, and serving as a key member of her senior leadership team, the CDO is responsible for elevating and enhancing the fundraising capabilities of the organization during an exciting and transformative moment in JCCGB’s history.  

The JCC movement was established in 1917 to foster and develop the highest values of Jewish spiritual and cultural life through social, educational, benevolent, and recreational activities. JCCGB was founded in the 1940’s with roots in the earlier Settlement Houses and Young Men’s Hebrew Associations around Boston, and today it is a vibrant, $25 million nonprofit organization that serves more than 50,000 individuals annually who represent 98 communities throughout the region. The JCCGB is a member of the JCC Association of North America (JCCA).

JCCGB’s current programs include family engagement, early learning, camps, Jewish life, and family & adult wellness and health. For over a decade, JCCGB has been an innovator and national leader in Jewish family engagement, and through its regionalized program delivery model, it serves many towns and communities across Greater Boston. The Leventhal-Sidman building, JCCGB’s Newton headquarters, abuts 25 acres of conservation land, and recently underwent a $15+ million renovation to create innovative and adaptable learning and wellness space to meet the evolving needs of its increasingly diverse community.

While JCCGB reaches more Jewish individuals and families than almost all other Jewish organizations in the Greater Boston area combined, it also serves a diverse cross section of non-Jews. The JCCGB is deeply committed to fostering a diverse community that values and celebrates the uniqueness of every constituent. According to the Pew Research Center (Jewish Americans in 2020), the Jewish community in the United States has been dramatically evolving. Today, 72 percent of non-orthodox Jews are part of an interfaith marriage and, of those families, more than half raise their children Jewish in some way. In response, the JCCGB has embarked on a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative to ensure that JCCGB services and programs support the needs of this increasingly diverse Jewish and non-Jewish community, including people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and those from other religious and cultural backgrounds. More than half of JCCGB’s staff do not identify as Jewish, and it is estimated that 12-15 percent of Jews in America today are Jews of Color (Jews of Color Initiative, 2020).

The CDO will join JCCGB at an exciting and transformative moment in the organization’s history. This position offers the opportunity for a seasoned development professional to partner with a dynamic and visionary new CEO at the outset of her tenure.  The CDO will guide and support the CEO in her role as chief fundraiser, taking leadership in cultivating and soliciting transformative gifts and in operationalizing bold new ideas as well as time-tested techniques that will lead the JCCGB to even greater levels of funding. This individual will also forge collaborative relationships with colleagues across the organization to coordinate and execute philanthropic initiatives. With management responsibility for a team of four development professionals, the CDO will further enhance the organizational structure to maximize efficiencies and stimulate collaboration among the various functions of the division. The CDO will inspire and motivate staff members to meet ambitious goals across annual, major, endowment, and planned giving; foundation and corporate giving; and capital campaigns. Additionally, this individual will personally engage a portfolio of prospects and donors. With a sharp eye for operational efficiency and the best use of resources, the CDO will possess a demonstrated understanding of budgets and the ability to set and manage them.   

JCCGB seeks a CDO who is entrepreneurial, proactive, and capable of articulating an overarching strategy while recognizing the importance of the details that are often the difference between success and failure. The successful candidate will be a highly organized and versatile team leader, who brings intellectual rigor, and extraordinary oral and written communication skills. With at least eight to ten years of leadership experience in development, the ideal candidate must possess strong strategic planning and managerial skills; a keen understanding of fundraising best practices; a comprehensive knowledge of all major development functions, including substantial experience with all phases of a successful comprehensive campaign; and a track record of significant personal success in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship at the major and principal gift levels. The CDO will be a lifelong learner with a passion for and commitment to the mission of the JCCGB.

The JCCGB has retained the services of Isaacson, Miller, a Boston-based national executive search firm, to assist in conducting this important search. All inquiries, nominations/referrals, and applications should be submitted to the search team at the link below.

Rebecca Swartz and Becky Piper

Isaacson, Miller

http://www.imsearch.com/8548

The JCC is an equal opportunity employer. It is our goal to provide equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants for employment. The JCC does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, physical or mental disability or handicap, national origin, ancestry, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other legally protected status. Religion will not be considered a factor except where it is a bona fide occupational qualification and necessary to fulfill the organization’s mission.