Director of Development

June 2023 | Washington, D.C., USA
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National Council of Jewish Women seeks an accomplished and enterprising Director of Development to lead an ambitious and high performing national fundraising program.

About National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)

For 130 years, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has boldly imagined a world that values and supports women, children, and families and has had a role in the passage of every major piece of civil rights and economic justice legislation in the United States. Today, NCJW advances its mission across four core pillars of work: advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice; achieving economic justice; ensuring fair, independent, diverse, and qualified federal judges; and building the feminist field in Israel.

Today’s Impact

NCJW is a faith-based, grassroots, nonpartisan organization that combines community organizing, education, direct service, and advocacy to make change. The organization has over 50 local 501c3 sections in 30 states, and more than 210,000 advocates. NCJW is the fastest growing Jewish legacy organization in the country because of the Jewish and feminist framework used to respond to the greatest challenges facing women and children today. NCJW proudly holds lead roles in many diverse coalitions and networks nationally and locally.

About the Position

National Council of Jewish Women seeks a Director of Development to design and implement a bold fundraising growth strategy that will more than double NCJW’s philanthropic revenue over the next few years. The successful candidate will lead a development team and empower an energetic lay leadership to complement and enhance their work. NCJW is the leading Jewish women’s organization fighting for equal pay, affordable child care, paid leave, abortion access, and more. With these issues all under attack, this is a pivotal time to grow our impact through increased revenue.

Reporting to the Chief Policy Officer, Jody Rabhan, and working regularly with the Chief Executive Officer, Sheila Katz, the Director of Development will serve as a key member of the senior management team of NCJW. The Director of Development is responsible for creating and implementing a comprehensive development strategy that will sustain the organization for the future. The Director of Development will manage a team of five development professionals and oversee individual, foundation, corporate, and legacy giving.

The Director of Development will be a hands-on leader who is excited to apply their fundraising and donor engagement skill set to an organization that drives justice and equity for women, children, families. The ideal candidate will be a changemaker, unafraid of bold and ambitious goals, with a successful track record of closing six and seven figure gifts. They will be a values-driven, agile, curious, and approachable executive who fosters an environment of joy and collaboration. Preference will be given to candidates based in the Washington DC area. All candidates must be willing to travel and make in-person solicitation meetings. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead all fundraising activities to support NCJW’s growth, including but is not limited to: development of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for major donors including six and seven-figure giving, to achieve ambitious annualgoals.
• Enhance cross-functional fundraising across NCJW departments; including effective partnership building with the Marketing and Communications team to share consistent messaging to all donors and stakeholders.
• Map and leverage the philanthropic contacts of the Board of Directors and other key leaders in the NCJW network.
• Foster a culture of stewardship and donor gratitude across the organization.
• Oversee the Direct Response program and develop a comprehensive strategy for donor appeals to ensure that all solicitations incorporate consistent and compelling messaging.
• Develop a strategy and implementation plan to support the joint fundraising efforts of NCJW local sections.
• Create and lead fundraising efforts for NCJW’s in-person gala and related activities for Washington Institute 2024.
• Expand and enhance NCJW’s planned giving program.
• Manage and mentor a growing development team to achieve excellence.

Team Management

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  Develop clear roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures for development team members to maintain a strong, accountable, and high performing team culture.

• Set department goals and create and implement realistic and actionable departmental work plan and team calendar in coordination with other NCJW departments.
• Work with department staff on individual goal setting and regular evalutions in accordance with the organization’s HR process.
• Serve as expert advisor to the CEO and senior management team; provide mentorship to all NCJW colleagues on fundraising matters.
• Cultivate and promote a culture of collaboration, transparency, accountability, and empowerment.
• Guide department’s role in fundraising for NCJW’s national meetings, including overseeing fundraising events at in-person and virtual gatherings.

Board Development

• Serve as staff lead to NCJW’s Development Committee, guide and support them in goal setting in order for committee to achieve its stated efforts.
• Cultivate board members as donors and networkers, including setting individual commitments or fundraising strategies.
• Ongoing support, touchpoints, and cultivation of board directors.

Key Qualifications

• Strong commitment to, and passion for, the mission of NCJW.
• An ability to articulate the importance and impact of the NCJW’s work to prospective and current donors.
• Minimum of 8 years of increasing responsibility in development and fundraising within a fast-paced, nonprofit environment.
• Proven track record of increasing an organization’s philanthropic revenue.
• Successful track record in soliciting major gifts from existing and new prospects; demonstrated ability to develop, foster, and sustain donor relationships.
• Ability to rapidly transition from the highly innovative and strategic to the tactical.
• Significant experience securing funding from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
• A strong relationship manager able to work with diverse individuals at all levels within the organization, including board members, donors, local section leaders, and volunteers.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; comfortable presenting in front of groups of various sizes.
• Effective and inspirational manager with experience managing teams of people with demonstrated success achieving ambitious goals.
• Strong organizational, time, and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, short-term needs, and long-term planning.
• Willingness and appreciation for traveling 30-40% of the time to key areas (including but not limited to NY, NJ, and FL) where NCJW donors, prospects, and partners are located.
• Strong attention to detail, intellectual curiosity, and receptivity to feedback.
• A commitment to the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and passion for social justice and the organization’s mission.

For more information about National Council of Jewish Women, please see www.njcw.org.

Compensation: The salary range for this position is $150,000 – $175,000; the successful candidate’s starting salary and benefits are competitive and will be determined commensurate with experience, competencies, and skillset.

NCJW provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, alienage or citizenship status, creed, genetic predisposition or carrier status, national origin, disability condition, marital status, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.

If you are interested in being considered for this upcoming search, please use the form below or email your cover letter and resume in confidence to: ncjw@developmentguild.com.

Tracy Marshall

Senior Vice President, Principal

Development Guild DDI