Senior Manager, Strategic Philanthropy - Remote, USA

ABOUT WFN: We believe that when philanthropy invests in women’s foundations and gender justice funders, we empower a deeply intersectional movement that fights for policies and standards across lines of race, class, and gender. WFN is the largest philanthropic alliance in the world dedicated to advancing the essential role of these funders in the unwavering fight for gender equality and justice. Our mission as a global alliance is to provide strategies, research, and resources that support the critical agency and influence of women’s foundations and gender justice funders in the movement for equality, justice, and power for all. Our guiding values include relationships, solidarity, integrity, impact, abundance, gratitude, and courage.

Overview

The Senior Manager, Strategic Philanthropy is responsible for 1) leading strategy, development and execution of annual and long-term development plans to secure funds for general operating support, pooled funds, and campaigns. Development plan includes planned giving, private donors, corporations, foundations, donor advised funds, and other sources. 2) managing foundation grant portfolio to ensure WFN is meeting deliverables and impact; 3) overseeing the growth and expansion of leadership-level donors and working with donors to achieve their philanthropic objectives, 3) launching WFN annual giving campaign; the role will entail providing leadership in campaign strategy development and execution, and 4) engaging volunteers in fundraising priorities.

The incumbent should demonstrate initiative and a solution-focused attitude while positively contributing to our team environment, have strong knowledge of principles, ethics, and practices of effective fundraising, and current tax law and planned giving vehicles, and be able to develop and implement marketing plans and processes for planned giving and major gifts programs. This role is a key member of the WFN leadership team, including strategic input on organizational efforts, management of programming budgets, and contributions to learning and evaluation.

VALUE THIS ROLE DELIVERS

• Provides leadership to identify, cultivate, and steward a broad range of donors and funder partners to deliver meaningful opportunities for collaborative investment in WFN’s core work.
• Works collaboratively with members to offer deep support for their fundraising and development efforts towards a shared Generation Equality commitment to raise $300 million in support of gender and racial equity within our network by 2025.
• While being responsive to the diverse goals and needs of the funders and partners that comprise various collaborative efforts, this role will also shape collaborative work among philanthropic partners for positive social impact.
• Supporting the organization in meeting its mission to deliver high quality member experience and to nourish the ecosystem of gender-lens philanthropy by executing strategies to amplify the impact and value of our member organizations.
• Cultivate programmatic partnerships that bring new funding, resources and opportunities back to WFN members; manage programmatic work with current key partners such as CHANGE Philanthropy.
• Successfully develop and monitor department budget; develop annual goals and budgets, as appropriate, instilling strong financial management discipline.
• Communicating fundraising goals, strategy, and progress to the President & CEO and Board of Directors when required and work across departments for greater cross learning and development.

SKILLS NEEDED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

• Project management. Highly organized, with the interpersonal and tangible skills to motivate others to achieve shared goals on time and on budget.
• Passion and experience. Lived experience as a person of the global majority and institutionally marginalized gender, or other identity that connects you to a personal urgency for material solutions and innovations that respect the dignity and liberation of all people. A deep understanding for the need to move systems and structures towards gender and racial equity and justice. The ability to translate this expertise into philanthropic strategy and messages.
• Execution and implementation. Working closely with senior staff to create and execute ideas. This person should be inclined to boldly take on issues and challenges; to comfortably work collaboratively with a remote team; and to communicate messages without hesitation. They should be self-aware; responsive to feedback; and, flexible, adaptable and thrive in a dynamic environment. The role will have to be actively engaged (in person whenever safely possible) with partners and stakeholders to develop trusted relationships that results in intel and influence that helps drives successful strategy. They should have the ability to work on various projects simultaneously, requiring strong organizational and time management skills.
• Decision Quality: makes good decisions; most of their solutions and suggestions turn out to be correct and accurate when judged over time; sought out by others for advice and solutions
• Stakeholder Focus: is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external stakeholders; acts with them in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships and gains their trust and respect
• Presentation Skills: is effective in a variety of formal presentation settings: one-on-one, small/large groups, with peers, leaders, etc.; commands attention and can manage group process during the presentation.
• Innovation/Creativity: generates and applies new and original ideas, creative approaches, methods and solutions to daily work
• To be successful, candidate will need a high degree of expertise and comfort with new technology including Microsoft Office 365 suite of apps, print/web publishing, DocUSign, Zoom, Salesforce, Adobe, Asana, Mural, and conferencing software.

Desired experience

• Seven or more years of experience in a senior fundraising role with proven track record of securing major and planned gifts and achieving budgeted revenue goals. Successful experience making asks for six and seven-figure gifts; successful experience writing grant proposals.
• Experience in social justice nonprofit field, gender and racial equity experience a plus.
• Excellent leadership and management abilities
• Experience working with national teams and state affiliates/members
• Guided by a personal integrity that reflects WFN’s core intersectional feminist values and commitment to our stakeholders
• Record of maintaining the highest personal levels of ethical conduct, confidentiality, and integrity
• Professional, diplomatic demeanor with the ability to represent a global organization and interact and collaborate with colleagues from a range of nationalities and backgrounds, including experience and comfort working with transgender and gender non-conforming people and people with disabilities.
• Impeccable verbal and written communication skills – grammar nerds with the ability to write eloquently and professionally; meticulous attention to detail, driven by excellence, and the spirit of service leadership.

Location: Remote/telecommute. New York City or San Francisco area preferred. U.S.-based candidate only. WFN is headquartered in San Francisco; travel may be required post-pandemic restrictions. To support fully remote staff and sustainable work schedules, candidate must be available to collaborate online between 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. ET Monday – Friday and can adjust work week to include evening hours for special events or travel.

Compensation: $85,000 – $105,000. 100% paid employee health/dental/vision/long-term disability/FSA, 401k match, generous paid time off and flexible work schedule.

How to apply: Submit a cover letter, text-only resume, and the contact information for three professional references in .docx format, to info@womensfundingnetwork.org with Senior Manager, Strategic Philanthropy in the subject line. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and accepted until position is filled. Due to the high volume of applications, only those selected for further discussion will be contacted. Please, no phone calls.

Women's Funding Network is 501(c)(3) organization and an equal employment opportunity employer. We are committed to creating and evolving a work environment that attracts the full spectrum of races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, religions, faiths and ideologies, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds, levels of physical ability, parents and caregivers.