The Craft Emergency Relief Fund, more commonly known as CERF+, seeks an experienced, organized, and motivated individual to be the Director of Development and Outreach beginning May 2023. This individual will drive CERF+’s fundraising strategies and activities that contribute to financial sustainability and organizational growth. The Director of Development and Outreach will provide leadership, supervision, and direction for the Development staff and work collaboratively with the board and staff.
The Director of Development and Outreach will report to the Executive Director and supervise one staff member (Development and Outreach Manager). Working with the Executive Director, this position will have primary responsibility for planning and executing a development plan that includes individual donors, grants, and strategic partnerships. The selected candidate will work to create strategies to grow the donor base and sustainable fundraising strategies with an overall focus on building and expanding CERF+’s financial stability through donor stewardship and the cultivation of new funding sources and relationships.
The ideal candidate will:
● Be an experienced fundraiser who has the strategic vision to lead and improve the development program.
● Demonstrate experience with all major fundraising strategies, as well as an understanding of how an organization’s marketing, communications, and earned income streams must be aligned in a comprehensive development program.
● Offer expertise in major giving and stewarding authentic donor relationships, with excellent interpersonal skills and a proven ability to effectively build rapport and engage donors in meaningful ways.
● Exhibit skills to successfully coach and mentor the development team and the board of directors, and be an engaged and responsive collaborator with the Executive Director.
● Be a big-picture strategic thinker and problem solver who is adept at handling the many deadlines and details that development work inevitably requires.
CERF+ is an inclusive organization that focuses on supporting craft artists in times of disaster and emergency. We are a fully remote staff that supports balance in work and life because of the nature of our organizational structure. We are committed to working together and being genuine, respectful, and supportive of each other. We honor collective rest and pitch in when episodic work peaks during various times of the year. We love working with artists and doing our best to provide timely, relevant, and needed support. We value relationships in the arts and culture field, with national service and grant partners as well as organizations that work with craft artists or that are part of the craft discipline network. We also value the local connections we have by being a remote staff which allows us to be connected and inform the national conversation. While we have a hierarchical structure, we work in a shared space contributing to the ideation, evolution, and connection of the work. We honor each other’s humanity. We push against supremacist work culture. We are works in progress.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES
Fundraising and Donor Relations:
● Designs, manages, and works with fundraising staff to execute all fundraising activities.
● Leads the planning and execution of annual fundraising and donor stewardship efforts.
● Supports Development and Outreach Manager’s focus on individual giving
● Develop and articulate a strong case for support of the organization.
● Works with the Executive Director on development strategies and long-term cultivation plans.
● Strategizes and orchestrates methods of approach to foundation and corporate donors.
● Develops special recognition opportunities with the intent to retain or upgrade donors.
● Works with the Director of Emergency Relief and Recovery Services and the Executive Director to develop new or deepen existing strategic partnerships
● Works with Communications staff, contributing to and providing guidance for the annual impact report and related communications plans and documents
● Works with the Development and Outreach Manager to secure major gifts from current donors/prospects and activate new funding sources.
● Engages and cultivates major corporate and foundation donors.
● Locally, engages with relevant artists, arts organizations, and arts service organizations to deepen connections and increase awareness of CERF+ among craft artists and partners.
Grants Management:
• Researches foundations and corporations to identify sources of funding
● Working collaboratively,
o Manages the development of grant proposals in accordance with funder guidelines
o Monitors current grants to ensure that anticipated outcomes are achieved
o Provides timely reports and evaluations to funders in accordance with grant agreements
● Works with the Executive Director and Deputy Director to project, track, and report on organizational and project budgets.
● Works with the Development and Outreach Manager to reconcile donor records and financial records, and prepare financial statements as needed for grant proposals and reports.
Board Relations and Community Engagement:
● Serves as primary point of contact for the Cultivation/Communication/Outreach Committee.
● Works with Board members on identifying and cultivating new donors and strategic partners.
● Be an active representative of CERF+ with the local arts and culture community, paying particular attention to craft artists and the craft discipline to inform, share and contribute to knowledge building with staff.
Financial and Administrative:
• Develops systems and procedures for data and deadline management for all fundraising activities.
● Manages and maintains the organization’s CRM system; review and analyze donor data and metrics, regularly.
● Maintains reporting mechanisms to monitor contributed income, and provide analysis of status toward annual goals.
● Creates and manages income and expense budget for department.
● Provides regular fundraising updates, and analysis to the Board and Cultivation Committee.
● Provides all contributed income reports and documentation to Deputy Director.
● Evolves and monitors office systems to support all Development projects and operations.
● Supervises donor and gift record-keeping and acknowledgment processes.
● Oversees the management of databases and all records, files, and gift processing; works with staff to ensure consistency and accuracy.
● Works with the Deputy Director to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations and laws, code of ethics, and standards of conduct for fundraising professionals.
Staff Management and Supervision:
● Supervises, mentors, and supports members of the Development and Outreach team with a focus on their growth and professional development.
● Supports shared learning on team and throughout the organization through coaching relationships, peer mentoring, and talent development
● Supports hiring processes for related team members.
● Participates in the onboarding process for new hires in the organization.
● When needed, assists in training and supervising the work of temporary employees who provide assistance to the program team.
Ideally, candidates will demonstrate:
● A commitment to values of anti-racism and anti-oppression and personal and/or professional experiences advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
● A commitment to working collaboratively with a range of constituent groups, including staff, board members, donors, and program partners
● Strong communication skills.
● A solid ability to work, storytell, and build relationships through a collaborative style.
● At least 7 years of experience demonstrating increasing levels of responsibility across a variety of development disciplines with an emphasis on grant management, foundation and corporate giving, and major donor cultivation.
● Knowledge of and experience with the arts funding landscape; knowledge of craft artists and disciplines will be helpful.
● Knowledge of disaster preparedness, relief, response, and recovery cycles.
● Experience maintaining grant records, timelines, and reporting requirements.
● Experience with management of funders and benefits, and identifying potential funders.
● Experience working with organizational and project budgets including projecting budgets, tracking, and reporting on expenses.
● Grant writing experience that includes proposals and reports.
● Advanced project management skills including the ability to monitor progress against a work plan and to manage and motivate multiple project participants.
● Proven ability to work with foundation and corporate funders.
● An understanding of The Carver Method for board governance.
● Comfort and proficiency with our most used technology including Zoom, Microsoft Office proficiency, proficiency with Salesforce preferred.
● Comfort working in a fully remote work environment.
● Ability to travel as needed.
WORK HOURS AND COMPENSATION
This full-time Exempt (37.5 hours per week; up to an hour unpaid lunch) position will receive compensation in the range of $85,000 to $100,000 annually. This is a fully remote position. This position will include occasional required after-hours, weekend work, and travel.
Benefits of Working at the CERF+:
● Medical Insurance
● Health Savings Account
● Health Reimbursement Account
● Dental Insurance
● Vision Insurance
● Life Insurance
● Long-Term Disability Insurance
● 403(b) Retirement Plan & 3% company contribution after 1000 hours of work
● Vacation Time – 17 Days for the first 3 years and 23 days after
● Sick Time – Accrue up to 12 Days per year; Save up to 30 Days
● Fourteen holidays
● Winter break office closure
● Cell Phone Reimbursement
● Home Office Set-Up Support
● Health and Wellness Stipend
CERF+ will intentionally consider candidates from historically underrepresented communities including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color)/ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native-American), Disability, and LTGBTQIA+ communities. If you believe that you will excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. Candidates should
follow the instructions below.
HOW TO APPLY
Please email the following two items to jobs@cerfplus.org with Subject Title: Director of
Development and Outreach
1. Resume
We do not need or want a cover letter, writing samples, or letters of recommendation.
2. Instead:
3. Answers to the following questions, which can be written or can be submitted as an audio or video file – please use whatever format you feel best facilitates your self-expression.
● What does mutual aid mean to you and/or your practice?
● How does racial equity and inclusion guide your work?
January 17 – February 24: Open to receiving submissions
February 27 – March 17: Applications reviewed by Executive Director, and Deputy Director.
Notifications sent to all applicants by end of the day on the 21st.
March 27 – March 29: First round of interviews. 30 min slot between 11:30am – 4pm EST
(8:30am-1pm EST)
April 3-4 and/or April 10-11: Final Interview with all staff. One hour slot between 11:30am –
4pm EST (8:30am-1pm EST)
Week of April 17: Initial offer sent to the candidate; References checked
May 15: Desired start date
CERF+ is an equal-opportunity employer and is committed to a diverse workplace. People from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and persons with disabilities are highly encouraged to apply. CERF+ does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law.
Have questions? Please contact jobs@cerfplus.org