Vice President of Philanthropy

Overview

The Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) is seeking a driven and passionate Vice President of Philanthropy.

The Vice President of Philanthropy will manage fundraising efforts for the organization and work to expand all sources of revenue to support team and program growth. This role will report to the COO and closely partner with the CEO to strengthen relationships with external stakeholders and donors across the state. This is an amazing opportunity to work with a driven, highly motivated, and engaged team to provide the tools and resources to help women thrive in business.

This position will be based in WBDC’s Stamford office and will support our work across the state. Travel to our offices in New Haven, Waterbury, Hartford, and New London, as well as other locations across Connecticut will be required. The salary range for the role is $115,000 to $130,000 plus benefits.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Vice President of Philanthropy will work with the CEO and COO to create and deploy a fundraising strategy to achieve WBDC’s strategic plan, including growing and diversifying sustainable funding streams for the organization. Leveraging WBDC’s brand as a highly respected, trusted, reliable, and results oriented leader in the women’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, this individual will deploy great relationship-building and prospect-cultivation skills, as this role will have a heavily external-facing component. A key responsibility of the VP of Philanthropy will be to build the function, developing systems and processes for the expanding scale of the organization. The VP will work with the CEO to attract funders and other stakeholders to the work and impact of WBDC and seize on new opportunities and partnerships. WBDC is viewed as a leader in the women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and a specialist in small business and economic policy across the state and the country and is regularly called upon by members of the Connecticut legislature, the governor, and members of Congress.

The VP of Philanthropy will manage a team of three: a Development Database Administrator, Development Assistant, and Grant Writer. Additionally, the VP will manage vendor relations to include a long-time event fundraising consultant. WBDC’s current budget is over $8M, and its revenue is primarily comprised of federal and state grants, foundation and corporate grants, individual donations, and event earnings and sponsorships. This role will work to diversify WBDC’s portfolio, focusing on areas of opportunity for the organization such as building out an individual giving program, including major donors, increasing existing corporate and foundation donors, and cultivating new corporate and foundation donors. This will require performing research and outreach to initiate and then cultivate new relationships, networks, and partnerships.

The VP of Philanthropy will work closely with the CFO to ensure funding is identified and applied across organizational functions, and with the Program Team to ensure programmatic commitments are achieved. Additional work with the CFO will include a strategy to build a reserve fund. This individual works closely with the Board and the Board Development Committee to fundraise and educate the community about WBDC’s work and impact across the state of Connecticut.

Responsibilities of this role include:

• Oversee development efforts and partner with senior management to ensure that overall organizational health and initiatives are prioritized
• Continue to evolve and build the organization’s development strategy, across corporate and foundation, individual giving and events funding streams
• Establish and meet fundraising/revenue generation goals tied to the organization’s strategic plan
• Work with the CEO to manage corporate and foundation fundraising, from identifying opportunities, to submission of proposals and post-grant reporting
• Build and grow the individual giving program, including major donors
• Develop and execute donor communications plan, in collaboration with the Marketing team
• Lead the development team and work to establish a donor-centric culture throughout the organization
• Oversee all donor data in Raiser’sEdgeNXT and develop analytics and metrics to track development efforts and function
• Manage day-to-day development operations and track the progress of critical fundraising, grant writing, event planning, and donor relation advancements
• Build on external relations strategies, including relationship-building and communication efforts across all segments of funders
• Engage with the Board of Directors on the Board’s role in development, as well as communicating overall efforts and results, working with the Development Committee of the Board
• Manage fundraising projects and events
• Special projects as needed
• Perform other duties as required

Qualifications

WBDC is looking for a multifaceted, independent, driven, and passionate VP of Philanthropy who can support the organization to diversify its revenue and position its budget for growth. The ideal candidate will be a great communicator and strategist, leveraging an entrepreneurial spirit to research, reach out to, and cultivate new relationships with new partners on behalf of the organization. Some of the qualifications for this role include:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent development experience
• 8+ years of leadership experience, holding progressively responsible positions in development, fundraising, sales, marketing, and/or communications
• 8+ years of development experience
• Proven track record of creating, managing and implementing a strategic and comprehensive development program
• Proficiency with moves management processes and donor prospecting
• Experience with development office functions (i.e., gift processing, prospect research, reporting, analytics, database management, etc.)
• Demonstrated success in individual giving, annual funds, corporate, foundation, and grant-writing
• A capacity to formulate both traditional and innovative fundraising strategies
• Successful record of soliciting corporate, foundation, and individual major gifts; building and cultivating relationships; and utilizing a strong network of contacts
• Willingness to travel locally, regionally, and on rare occasions nationally
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, etc.) and virtual meeting platforms such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Zoom.
• Proficiency with Raiser’s EdgeNXT
• Passion for supporting women entrepreneurs and small business owners
• Must have own transportation as this position requires travel between locations.

About Us

Headquartered in Stamford with regional offices in New Haven, New London, and Waterbury, the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) is the statewide leader of entrepreneurial education for women. The Women’s Business Development Council’s (WBDC) mission is to support economic prosperity for women and strengthen communities through entrepreneurial and financial education services that create and grow sustainable jobs and businesses across Connecticut. WBDC educates, motivates and empowers women to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency. Since 1997, WBDC has educated and trained nearly 18,000 clients in all of Connecticut’s 169 towns—helping women to launch, sustain and scale over 13,300 businesses, create and maintain 29,000 jobs in Connecticut, and access more than $66 million in capital. Visit ctwbdc.org for more information.

WBDC offers a competitive benefit package including health, dental, vision, and life insurance, a retirement plan, paid time off, and holidays, in a supportive working environment.

How We Operate

We are a team of 30+ talented individuals who collectively deliver outstanding results through a high level of passion and commitment.

Please apply if you:

• Possess an Entrepreneurial Mindset – creative, motivated, enthusiastic, and energetic
• Seek to inspire and empower those around you, whether they are clients or colleagues
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment, and are comfortable with change
• Take initiative, and are willing to go above and beyond to achieve results
• Are highly detailed, and demonstrate a sense of urgency in setting and meeting deadlines
• Can work independently, and see the big picture while working in the day-to-day
• Prosper in a culture of teamwork and growth, and value collaboration
• Are passionate about supporting women entrepreneurs and small business owners

Disclaimer

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the employee in this position. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of a person in this position.

WBDC, Inc. Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

WBDC is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome qualified applicants to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.