Community Giving Officer

Position: Regular, Full Time Exempt

Department: Philanthropic Strategy

Reports to: Director, Philanthropic Strategy

Supervises: N/A

Organizational Overview

Founded in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation (“TCF”) is the world’s first community foundation. Visionary, Frederick Goff, a banker and an attorney, was inspired to pool the charitable resources of Clevelanders from all walks of life, both living and deceased, into a single, great, permanent trust administered for the betterment of the community. It was such a good idea that there are currently over 2,000 community foundations worldwide.

Summary: The Community Giving Officer (“CGO”) role offers an opportunity to join a thriving organization during a pivotal moment in its strategic transformation. They will be positioned as part of the fabric of the Greater Cleveland community and the philanthropic landscape while serving in a mission-driven and innovative organization. The CGO will work within a collaborative philanthropy team to build relationships and partnerships with external stakeholders who wish to participate in community partnerships currently outlined by TCF as: (1) the LGBTQ+ Opportunity Fund; (2) the Latinx Affinity Fund; and (3) the Black Futures Fund.

The expectation is that these partnerships with donors and other stakeholders will lead to fundraising successes that grow the Cleveland Foundation’s Affinity Funds. Other funds may be added in coming years. These community partnerships are a first step in expanding who is and can be a donor as this role works to make TCF accessible to broader and more diverse audiences.

Reporting Relationship

The CGO reports to the Director, Philanthropic Strategy, and is an integral part of the Philanthropic Strategy team under the Senior Vice President, Philanthropic Strategy and General Counsel, with a dotted line to the Director, Community Philanthropy who leads the portfolio of Affinity and Community Impact Funds.

Essential Functions and Expected Outcomes

Collaboratively developing new fundraising approaches that expand and diversify our donor base to grow funds.

• Interacts daily with external stakeholders focusing on the cultivation of relationships with corporations, local and national non-profit foundations, individuals, families, and affinity groups.
• Builds community-based fundraising strategies that engage new partners and citizen-donors, high net worth individuals, grows the corpus of Affinity Funds, and implements new and alternative fundraising approaches.

Working cross-departmentally to implement donor engagement and fund growth strategies.

• Collaborates with the Philanthropic Services team to secure new and additional contributions and planned gifts from existing donors.
• Reaches out and represents TCF at community, donor, and other external related stakeholder functions.
• Identifies storytelling opportunities to elevate fund and foundation impact in community and with key donor audiences.
• Collaborates to deploy internal TCF’s resources in support of advancement activities including MarComm, Community Philanthropy Grantmaking, Finance, and others through TCF’s One Foundation lens.

Providing day-to-day operational support for successful fund growth.

• Creates, updates, and iterates needed presentation and collateral materials pertinent for fundraising efforts.
• Ensures Philanthropic Strategy’s leadership is setup for success when making asks to donors and other identified audiences.
• Coordinates with the Director, Community Philanthropy on opportunities to mobilize Affinity and Community Impact Fund committees.
• Supports efforts to raise funds from institutional partners which may include grant writing, presentations, among others.

Creating a personal growth plan for continuous learning and impact improvement.

• Engaging in learning opportunities that expand one’s expertise and ability to drive fund growth through innovative models, best practices, and community-engaged approaches.
• Identify and attend professional development opportunities relevant to job performance.
• Ensure time for reflection, acknowledging success and opportunities for improvement to incorporate lessons learned into future work.
• Executes other duties as assigned by the Director, Philanthropic Strategy and Senior Vice President of Philanthropic Strategy and General Counsel.

Essential Qualifications, Credentials and Technical Skills required

• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, preferred.
• Three-to-five years of experience in a high-touch service environment focused on providing professional advice and personal service to a diverse range of visible and important clients.
• Knowledge of fundraising, deferred giving, grant writing, and philanthropy with the ability to intelligently assist donors and prospects in formulating plans, goals and/or strategies for their philanthropic giving.
• Proven ability to exercise sound judgment and interact effectively with existing and prospective donors, community leaders, professional advisors and representatives from non-profit organizations based upon their preferred locations and schedules, including occasional meetings during evenings or weekends.
• Proactive, takes initiative, and self-motivated in managing an ongoing portfolio of prospects with regular and consistent in-person meetings.
• Commitment to a donor-centric culture, excellent customer service, integrity and ethics.
• High degree of organizational skills and attention to detail. Ability to be flexible, adaptable, and prioritize work effectively and adjust to multiple demands within set deadlines.
• Excellent presentation skills with the ability to educate and persuade audiences. Exceptional written communication skills and ability to manage and coordinate multiple projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully navigate discussion on topics that are potentially sensitive, challenging or could otherwise inspire passionate responses that are different than your own.
• Aligned with TCF values and commitment to fostering a positive office culture. Demonstrated passion for and commitment to diversity/racial equity and inclusion. Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team and working effectively with persons and communities from diverse cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds and age groups.
• Proven ability to promote teamwork and collaboration among peers, both cross-departmentally and throughout an organization.
• Proficiency in utilizing technology to conduct research, provide information and/or services. Intermediate proficiency in all Microsoft Office programs and working knowledge of database programs.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY & DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Cleveland Foundation exists to enhance the quality of life for all citizens of Greater Cleveland. The ability to carry out our mission and to foster our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion can best be pursued if our workforce, grantees, donors, partners, and governing body are inclusive of individuals of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives.

We believe that diversity encompasses, but is not limited to, age, color, education, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental abilities or characteristics, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, veteran status, and/or other characteristics that make an individual unique.

The Cleveland Foundation is committed to equal employment opportunities for all, and our policy is to ensure that employees are selected, developed, retained, and promoted based on the individual’s ability and job performance, and without regard to that individual’s status or characteristics protected by federal, state or local law.

Note: Our flexible workplace policy provides one day of remote work per week.