Chief of Development

ABOUT NYC KIDS RISE

NYC Kids RISE, through the Save for College Program, is building a universal community-driven wealth building platform for all New York City neighborhoods. Drawing from multi-disciplinary research and experience across fields, sectors and neighborhoods, the Program is groundbreaking and unequaled in its audacious vision and scope. The platform provides a way to expand access to mainstream financial products; build individual, family, and collective financial assets; provide financial education for families and students; and bring schools and communities together to support all their children’s futures. The platform opens creative opportunities for community-driven, progressive wealth building that can combat wealth disparities and legacies of exclusion from the financial mainstream, all while visibly engaging the institutions that impact neighborhood-level opportunity and supporting children’s expectations of success from an early age.

In NYC Kids RISE’s fourth year operating across the five boroughs, more than 200,000 elementary school students (nearly every first, second and third grader in public school) now have a financial asset for college and career training with funds that collectively amount to more than $35 million. Approximately 65,000 additional kindergartners will join the Program in January and each year moving forward.

Read more about NYC Kids RISE and the Save for College Program and listen to stories from partners who helped build the platform during its pilot phase from 2017 to 2022. You can also view recent articles in the New York Times, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and the NYCHA Journal; and read more about NYC Kids RISE theory of change in a report by the Urban Institute.

Learn more about NYC Kids RISE at nyckidsrise.org

CHIEF OF DEVELOPMENT

NYC Kids RISE seeks its inaugural Chief of Development. This is an extraordinary opportunity for an innovative and effective fundraiser who is passionate about New York City communities, committed to measurably building the financial and social capital of all children, and looking for a legacy-building next chapter.

Reporting to and partnering with the Executive Director, and working in close collaboration with the NYC Kids RISE Board of Directors and other Executive Team leadership, the Chief of Development will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and overseeing the development, ongoing refinement, and implementation of the organization’s comprehensive fundraising strategy. The Chief of Development will build and lead a team of high-performing development leaders, with an expectation of approximately 2-4 staff hired in the first year. The ideal Chief of Development is a leader, relationship builder, connector, has a track record of standing up new systems, and is able to toggle between the big picture and daily details. The Chief of Development is critical to the future and success of NYC Kids RISE and the Save for College Program and will be ready for their next big challenge to make a lasting impact for all New York City kids across generations throughout the five boroughs. The candidate will be motivated and adept at building fundraising infrastructure that is embedded into the ecosystem of New York City.

KEY OBJECTIVES

NYC Kids RISE is creating a multi-pronged fundraising strategy to secure both the sustained public funding and sustained private funding required to continue and expand the Save for College Program across the city and ultimately reach all 1.1 million NYC public school students.

The development team, led by the Chief of Development, is expected to help create the strategy and raise funds against the following anticipated objectives:

• Raise $15 million annually to support and strengthen program and partnership operations in private funding to supplement public funding
• Launch and manage a significant endowment ($100M+) over FY25 and FY26 to support long-term organizational sustainability.
• Meet the annual per-student target for Community Scholarships as the Program expands over time (not immediately) with a target of $25 per NYC Scholarship Account on average.

To succeed in both meeting the annual revenue goal and building towards every NYC public school student’s educational future, the organization’s current development priorities include:

Building Fundraising Infrastructure and Capacity:

• Establish strong donor management systems, and define clear roles and workflows for effective collaboration and execution on development efforts.
• Recruit and retain a strong and cohesive development team, with productive collaboration across internal departments and external resources within communications, public relations, etc.
• Create strong pathways with compliance, finance, and other programmatic and administrative teams to support the smooth handling of ongoing relationships and grant management.

Cultivating donors and managing partner relationships:

Cultivate and maintain strong, long-term relationships with individual donors (including high-net-worth individuals,) philanthropies, corporate funders and other stakeholders while leveraging networks to expand support for the Save for College Program.

Launching an Endowment:

Lead the creation of an endowment to support the long-term sustainability of the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program.

Managing and growing individual giving campaigns:

Lead the management, growth and continuation of major recurring individual giving efforts including the NYC Public School Alumni Community Scholarship campaign.

Engaging corporate partners:

Recruit corporate partners to participate in fundraising campaigns at citywide, neighborhood, school levels, such as “Donate the Change”, or committing set contributions to local students’ NYC Scholarship Accounts, and other collective impact campaigns.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Fundraising & Strategic Leadership

• Working with the Executive Director and Board, design and execute $15 million+ annual fundraising plans targeting diverse donor pools
• In collaboration with the Executive Director, Board, and the Executive Team, create and implement an endowment, including strategy development, donor cultivation, and management of initial contributions to ensure long-term financial sustainability of the Program.
• Working with the Chief of Communications, develop and refine material to best tell the story of the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program and impact, including corporate audiences seeking high-profile philanthropic opportunities.
• Lead effort to steward, tailor, and operationalize fundraising strategies to reflect NYC’s cultural and economic environment, emphasizing partnerships with local businesses, corporate partners, and government.
• Plan and execute fundraising events (including signature event), in collaboration with other internal and third-party teams where appropriate, to engage different stakeholder groups.

Donor Relations & Infrastructure

• Establish and refine systems for donor management, tracking, and stewardship.
• Build relationships with a cross-section of funders/donors with a focus on repeat and ongoing commitments.
• Make ongoing improvements to development operations, including tracking, data management, and workflows.
• Codify systems and processes, and roles and responsibilities for internal collaboration and execution on public/private grant management and fundraising efforts, including End of Year Appeal, Alumni Community Scholarship, endowment, Concert for College and other events.
• Represent NYC Kids RISE with public, private, community-based and nonprofit leaders and other stakeholders.

Team Management & Organizational Leadership

• Build and lead a high-performing development team, including effective hiring, onboarding, supervision, and support to meet organizational goals while scaling.
• Build out the development function and team at NYC Kids RISE including infrastructure for individual (high net worth and small dollar donors), corporate, and foundation fundraising.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with key stakeholders and partners.
• Adapt benchmarks and performance indicators to reflect the competitive fundraising landscape in NYC, focusing on donor acquisition, retention, and engagement rates.
• Regularly report to and engage the Board on fundraising progress and adjust strategies based on data and feedback.
• Act as a thought partner to Executive Director, and board members, proactively identifying opportunities and challenges to advance the work and mission.
• Along with all NYC Kids RISE employees, participate and share in the organization’s work to advance racial equity and anti-oppression in the organization’s and program’s operations and practices; proactively identify opportunities to advance the development of an anti-racist organization; share and solicit ongoing feedback and conversations to advance this work.
• Along with all NYC Kids RISE employees, maintain, and support other staff and volunteers to maintain strict adherence to NYC Kids RISE data security and privacy policies; remaining vigilant on the ways in which NYC Kids RISE can continue to protect confidential information; identify vulnerabilities, and proactively problem solve to improve controls and practices.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated success in designing and leading development strategies for complex organizations, and leading teams to achieve fundraising goals.
• At least 10 years of direct fundraising experience with strong track record in nonprofit, political or venture fundraising, public-private partnerships, or comparable experience, including securing major gifts; experience with creating or managing a multi-million dollar endowment is preferred.
• At least eight years of experience in building, managing, and growing high-performing teams, including Director-level staff.
• Deep understanding of the collective power of New York City and what is possible for its children now and for the future, and enthusiasm to use their talents to work with the NYC Kid RISE team, New York institutions, businesses, philanthropy, community and neighbors to continue to build a durable and lasting New York City organization.
• Skilled in fostering trust with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultivating an inclusive, collaborative culture.
• Expertise in industry-standard fundraising tools, databases, and best practices.
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and adept at working cross-sector and in a growth context.
• Adaptable, flexible and effective problem solver in fast-paced settings.
• Superb communication and relationship building skills, including writing, public speaking, and presentation to diverse audiences.
• Passion for and commitment to increasing economic opportunities and long-term financial security for low-income New York City families and neighborhoods, and combating wealth inequality and the racial wealth gap.
• Experience working in the metropolitan New York City area is strongly preferred.

LOCATION AND WORK SCHEDULE

NYC Kids RISE currently maintains a hybrid work environment where staff work both from home and in the office, as determined by the staff member's preferences as well as the needs of the organization and the specific responsibilities of individual roles and teams. The offices are in Long Island City (Queens, NY).

APPLICATION INFORMATION

The Priority Deadline is February 10. To apply, please submit a resume and brief cover letter via the application. For inquiries and nominations, please contact Brett Kunsch at brett@greenway-consulting.com.

NYC Kids Rise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of basis of gender, religion, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, unemployed status, or any other characteristic protected by law.