Chief Development Officer

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation’s first and largest organization dedicated to serving the 2.5 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from their first day home to the rest of their lives. IAVA strives to build an empowered generation of veterans through programs in four key impact areas: Health, Education, Employment and Community.

• Health - IAVA makes it a priority to ensure that both mental and physical health needs are being effectively addressed in our community, and has provided support to over 20,000 returning veterans nationwide.
• Education - With nearly a million new veterans headed back to school under the New GI Bill, IAVA has provided over 500,000 with the tools and support needed to make informed decisions about their education.
• Employment - No veteran should come home from Iraq or Afghanistan to an unemployment check. To fight shockingly high joblessness rates, IAVA’s Combat to Career initiative helped over 270,000 veterans in their transition to civilian careers in 2011.
• Community - Less than 1% of the country served in Iraq and Afghanistan – a stark contrast to the 12% that served during WWII. Building community, both online and on the ground, is a critical factor in fulfilling IAVA’s mission, which means bridging geographical divides to create a united, supported and proud movement of new veterans

The Chief Development Officer will serve as a key leadership team member and an active participant in making strategic decisions affecting IAVA. The Chief Development Officer will be responsible for developing and executing a strategy to integrate and align IAVA’s current Development and Strategic Partnerships (responsible for fundraising through programming and alliances) initiatives into a single resource-generating team.

The Chief Development Officer will lead a team of professionals responsible for all fundraising, development and partnership activities with corporate, government, foundation and individual entities. The successful candidate will significantly increase the forging of new relationships to build IAVA’s visibility, impact, and financial resources. To achieve this, the Chief Development Officer will further design and implement a comprehensive plan for developing key external alliances and partnerships by cultivating individual, corporate and philanthropic support.

S/he will expand and diversify IAVA’s donor and external partner base/pipeline and work closely with the Founder and CEO, the Chief of Staff, senior leaders and the development team and to secure funding for new initiatives and programs. In addition, the Chief Development Officer will work closely with the Board of Directors to support them in their role as active fundraisers for the organization. Based in NY, NY, the Chief Development Officer will report to the Chief of Staff.

It is expected that the amount raised by IAVA will increase dramatically in future years as the Chief Development Officer systematically and effectively strengthens the organization’s overall fundraising capacity.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead all fundraising and strategic partnership initiatives (with an initial target of $8.5M annually)
• Build out, lead, and mentor a growing team of Development professionals as one resource-generating team within the organization
• Develop and execute a fundraising strategy focused on leading, maintaining, and expanding the following:
  • High-net worth individuals
  • Aggressive expansion of online giving campaigns
  • Corporate giving relationships
  • Foundation support
  • All major fundraising events (to include IAVA’s cornerstone Annual Heroes Gala in NYC, and events in Los Angeles and Washington DC)
• Monitor all donor and partnership information, expand tracking infrastructure and systems, and provide and present statistical analysis to board and senior leaders
• Lead the development and execution of all proposals; write and archive all proposals with a long-term relationship-management approach
• Oversee the creation and distribution of all revenue-focused internal and external resource documents, including IAVA’s Annual Report
• Oversee research and targeting of funding sources and trends, with foresight, to help position IAVA ahead of major funding changes or trends
• Develop and implement a stewardship program aimed at cultivating deeper ties with donors and strategic partners

QUALIFICATIONS

• 10 years of professional experience in a nonprofit organization; demonstrated success in a development function (managing and forging relationships with multiple donor sources)
• Tangible experience of having expanded and cultivated existing donor relationships over time
• Complex understanding of philanthropy, corporate and social marketing giving
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Ability to influence and engage a wide range of donors and build long-term relationships
• Strong organizational and planning skills
• Experience with large, high-profile fundraising events
• Flexible and adaptable style; a leader who can positively impact both strategic and tactical fundraising initiatives
• Ability to work both independently without close oversight, but also as a team player who will productively engage with others at varying levels of seniority within and outside of IAVA
• High energy and passion for IAVA’s mission is essential
• Ability to construct, articulate, and implement annual strategic development plan
• Strong organizational and time management skills with exceptional attention to detail
• Customer-driven focus
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• A professional and resourceful style and the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at a time
• Bachelor’s’ degree required, Masters preferred

Start Date: Immediate

Application Deadline: Rolling

Salary and Benefits: Salary is commensurate with experience. IAVA provides comprehensive health and dental coverage, access to vision benefits, a Flexible Spending Account, Transportation Savings Account and a 403(b) retirement plan, in addition to thirty Paid Time Off days per year.

To Apply : Please apply here http://iava.org/careers/. Include a cover letter that concisely explains how your experience could be applied to IAVA. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. No phone calls, please.

IAVA is an equal opportunity employer; VETERANS OF THE CONFLICTS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

To learn more about IAVA’s history, mission and model, click here.