Vice President of Development

BACKGROUND

The Organization

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing democracy through the power of law. We work tirelessly at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure that every American has the right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and influence the democratic process. Through strategic litigation, policy advocacy, and educational outreach, we seek to protect and strengthen the foundations of our democracy.

The Position

The Vice President of Development leads the Campaign Legal Center’s efforts and plans to meet its annual fundraising goals by continuing to grow and diversify its funding base. This individual is responsible for formulating and implementing an overall development strategy that includes a robust foundation portfolio and principal gifts portfolio (donors currently or capable of giving $250,000+), a growing major donor program, small donor and online fundraising presence, and enhancing an organizational culture of philanthropy.

The Vice President of Development is responsible for overall development strategy, ensuring the development staff is operating optimally, and engaging staff and board in expanding revenue streams to support current and new initiatives.

The Vice President of Development is part of the executive team and reports to the President.

ROLE OVERVIEW

General Development Strategy and Implementation  

• Lead the development team in creating and implementing a comprehensive development strategy, including annual and longer-term revenue goals and plans to diversify and increase organizational budget from foundation and individual donors (major donor, smaller-level donors, online, etc.), as well as other appropriate sources.
• Work with the Director of Development and the CLC President and Board Development team to formulate yearly revenue goals and implementation strategies.     
• With CLC’s Communications team, lead and engage in the creation of effective coordinated development messages and campaigns, including identifying new and broader donor audiences.
• Support and mentor Board, leadership, and staff in their development efforts.
• Serve as a member of executive team and provide key development insights as CLC’s programmatic goals are crafted.

Institutional and Individual Relationships  

• Manage a portfolio of principal institutional and individual relationships ($250,000+) as appropriate, including outreach and substantive presentations to prospective funders about CLC’s current programs and future projects. 
• Lead the strategy to identify and secure new donors at all levels.
• With the President and other relevant staff and Board Members, maintain and strengthen relationships with current donors to increase gift size, frequency and retention through individualized stewardship, donor events, social media, online and direct mail streams and informal communication.
• Support President, other staff, and board members in their efforts to build and strengthen donor and prospect relationships and soliciting gifts.

Board Relations

• Prepare development reports including plans, accomplishments, and challenges in advance of board meetings.
• Staff the Board Development Committee.   
• Coach, support, and encourage the Board’s development efforts.

Management and Administration

Supervise and strengthen the capacity of the Development team. 

Ensure that all development activities are coordinated with staff and progress tracked against annual development work plan and calendar.   

With the Development Director, ensure that development processes, infrastructure, and systems, including database management, prospect research, gift acknowledgments, renewals, mailings, and calendar are well managed and optimized.

With the Development Director, create an annual budget for the development department and work with the finance department to develop an annual organizational budget and track progress against revenue goals.

Lead the development department’s DEI efforts and track progress against DEI goals.

Giving Breakdown

Annual Fundraising Goal

Development Team Size

Individual – 60%

Institutional – 40%

$17 Million

6 FTEs

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate for the VP of Development position possesses the following competencies:

Additional Qualifications  

• Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• A minimum of 10 years of senior development experience.  
• Mission-driven, creative results-focused, with a deep commitment to a fair and just democracy. 
• Demonstrated experience in managing and implementing a successful, comprehensive fund development program and preparing an annual development work plan and calendar to achieve goals for an actively evolving organization.
• Hands-on fundraising experience in the policy, research, legal and/or democracy building arena is preferred.    
• Experience with coordination and preparation of organizational and project budgets.
• Demonstrated success in identifying and securing new foundation grants of six-figures and up.  
• Demonstrated success with generating increased funds from individual principal donors, ($250,000 and higher) through a coordinated, strategic approach. Knowledge of planned giving and experience with online fundraising preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to DEI values and efforts. 
• Knowledge of and experience with one or more donor databases/software, such as Raiser’s Edge or similar, as well as with Microsoft Office suite and QuickBooks. Experience with wealth screening software preferred. 
• Understanding of and experience with digital fundraising landscape and approaches preferred.   
• Demonstrated success in arranging for organizational leadership to meet with prospective donors, successfully preparing them for those meetings and determining follow-up steps.
• Experience managing a development staff/team.

WHO WE ARE

Work Environment

The VP of Development will be based in the Washington, DC office, and will have moderate travel expectations. CLC has a hybrid, flexible work environment, with team members working in the office at least once per week.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is an equal opportunity employer committed to maintaining a non-discriminatory work environment. CLC is proud to be an inclusive organization. It does not make hiring or advancement, or other employment decisions, based on race, national origin, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, familial status or responsibilities, personal appearance, pregnancy, political affiliation, ancestry, military or veteran status, genetic information, disability, record of arrest or conviction, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, District of Columbia, or local law. This policy applies to all aspects of employment including, but not limited to, recruitment, selection, job assignment, compensation, promotion, termination, benefits, and training.

Disclaimer: This description is intended to provide an overview of this position and is not all inclusive. The incumbent in this position will be expected to perform other duties as required. Responsibilities may change over time. This description is provided for informational purposes only and does not form the basis for a contract.

Salary:

$210,000-$230,000

TIMELINE AND NEXT STEPS

If you are interested in this position, please click here. All applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their application. We encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply even if you do not meet all of the qualifications outlined above. If you are selected to move forward for an initial screening call, we expect you to hear from us by the end of May.

Kennedy Turner

Talent Consultant

kturner@drgtalent.com

Sherry Ettleson

Principal

settleson@drgtalent.com

Gabrielle “Bee” Smith

Associate

gsmith@drgtalent.com

CLC offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits plan, including the following:

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance, fully covering the premiums for the employee.  
• 401(k) retirement plan with immediate vesting and a dollar for dollar match up to 6% of an employee’s contributions.
• Annual technology reimbursement  
• Professional development and professional association membership reimbursements  
• Family planning support
• Generous PTO, including vacation days, sick leave, and floating holidays