Regional Development Manager, Midwest- REMOTE

POSITION: Regional Development Manager, Midwest (candidates must live in the Midwest with a strong preference for candidates located in the Greater Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Columbus, Cincinnati or Louisville areas)

Reports to: Vice President of Development

ABOUT KESEM:

We are a nationwide community, driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer with innovative, fun-filled programs that foster a lasting community.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

The Regional Development Manager, Midwest plays an essential role in helping to bolster giving and engagement, at the chapter, regional and national levels on behalf of Kesem. This position also helps fortify relationships between the Development and Operations teams in a way that supports healthy and maximized fundraising, constituent engagement and stewardship as a whole across the organization. The Regional Development Manager, Midwest will have proven experience in fundraising and community engagement. They will bring a variety of knowledge and expertise across revenue streams including major gifts, grant writing, events, sponsorship, campaigns and grassroots/community. Reporting to the VP of Development and working closely with the national fundraising team, this position plays a critical part in broadening Kesem's footprint.

KESEM’S VALUES

The Regional Development Manager, Midwest must uphold and build a culture that continues to support and strengthen the following behaviors to help us realize our vision:

• Empathy - We seek to understand and appreciate other perspectives and experiences.
• Resilience - We empower and support each other through challenges while fostering a spirit of joy and hopefulness.
• Continuous learning - We operate with curiosity and a willingness to try new things, and we see our successes and setbacks as opportunities for growth.
• Accountability - We are individually and collectively responsible for advancing our mission.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Revenue Development (70%)

• Manages a portfolio of 25-50 current major donors and major donor prospects.
• Apply for grants locally or regionally.
• Support local, regional and national sponsorship and corporate engagement opportunities, including activations, for special events, national campaigns and Team Kesem.
• Solicits third-party fundraisers and give-backs to support chapters.
• Raises at least $250,000 in year one from new and upgraded revenue opportunities.

Community Engagement (20%)

• At a high level and in collaboration with Kesem’s Operations Department, supports work with Advisory Boards, including recruitment, communication, stewardship and succession. Strategize on building a regional Advisory Board pilot where applicable. Manage give/get expectations, foster a sense of collaborative asks within the region and/or with National. Make recommendations for struggling chapters.
• Arrange 3-5 Visitors Days experiences at camp or throughout the year for front-line fundraisers of CKN in specific markets of interest.
• Represent Kesem at applicable community events.
• Build relationships with local media and share Kesem stories frequently.
• Act as a conduit to Kesem alumni in the area, providing stewardship and engagement opportunities, both programmatically and financially. Provide Kesem alumni frequent communications, opportunities to connect and give and tangible ways to support mission delivery. Host quarterly alumni meet-ups. Make recommendations for National Alumni Leadership Board candidates.
• Provides all constituents and donors an exceptional Kesem experience by using high-touch and personalized stewardship thank you cards, calls and communications.

Administrative & General (10%)

• Maintains records, tasks and notes in Salesforce.
• Attends internal and department meetings.
• Supports dissemination of programmatic updates and statistics to the national development team.
• Supports chapter training and resource creation as needed.
• Other duties and special projects, including supporting the CEO and VP of Development, as needed.

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's Degree preferred.
• 5 years of proven experience and success in fundraising with a demonstrated understanding of major gifts, corporate sponsorships, peer-to-peer fundraising, and grant writing.
• Past success in foundation prospecting and proposal development.
• Incredibly detail-oriented and excellent follow-through.
• Must be able to multi-task and keep track of multiple projects, managing long-term deadlines against weekly, short-term recurrent needs.
• Aptitude for building trust among teams and driving toward collaboration, specifically when it comes to launching new initiatives among community members accustomed to revenue generation in silos.
• Excellent speaking and communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with an aptitude for making sound recommendations for improvement in moving toward an increasingly collaborative organization between CKN and the chapters.
• Demonstrated writing skills specifically when it comes to proposals and reports.
• Entrepreneurial, flexible, and adaptable. We are a small organization and often require innovative solutions from our team.
• Proficient with Salesforce, Microsoft Office, Google Suite and other systems tools.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• The role is a full-time position, with responsibilities that require at least 40 hours per week with frequent nights and weekends.
• It is expected that the Regional Development Manager, Midwest will be available for all staff calls, team meetings, and project meetings.
• Travel may include staff meetings, national fundraising events, community-based events, donor meetings, alumni meet-ups and other engagements. On average, the Regional Development Manager, Midwest should expect to travel 10-20 times per year, all within the United States, as well as be external-facing 50% of the time.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION STATEMENT

Kesem’s mission of supporting children through and beyond a parent’s cancer, and our vision of ensuring that every child impacted by a parent’s cancer is never alone, can only be realized through an ongoing, steadfast commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in every part of our organization. To that end, Kesem makes the following commitments:

• To continually expand the communities we support and work with - our camper families, volunteers, staff, alumni, partners, donors, and boards - with attention to engaging communities we are not currently reaching.
• To strive for equity in delivering a transformative, fun, and empowering community that recognizes and embraces our differences.
• To aspire to create shared spaces that are safe for every member of the Kesem community to feel valued and respected.
• Kesem will engage in continued meaningful learning in order to better support our mission and our growing Kesem community.

Kesem is an Equal Opportunity Employer.