Vice-President, Membership & Sustainability

About SoCal Grantmakers and Philanthropy California

SoCal Grantmakers (SCG) is the regional association for philanthropists and grantmakers working to make a difference in Southern California communities and worldwide. SCG's mission is to mobilize philanthropy to learn and take bold actions by acting as a leadership hub for its members to connect, improve their grantmaking, and amplify their independent efforts through collaborative work.

SCG is a philanthropy-supporting organization and nonprofit located in Downtown Los Angeles, California, but that champions effective philanthropy across eight Southern California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. Our community includes 300+ members representing the spectrum of philanthropy, including corporate giving programs, family foundations, public foundations, individual philanthropists, private, independent operating and community foundations, philanthropic advisors, government grantmakers, and grantmaking 501(c)(3) organizations.

SCG also co-leads Philanthropy California, an initiative of Northern California Grantmakers, SoCal Grantmakers, and Catalyst of San Diego and Imperial Counties. Our alliance’s combined membership represents more than 700 philanthropic organizations investing billions every year to support communities across the state, the country, and worldwide.

Internally, SCG strives to be an anti-racist organization. We recognize and support the leadership, wellbeing, and identities of our staff as our most valuable resources.

Our core values are:

BOLDNESS

We embrace taking risks and placing big bets.

COMMUNITY

We believe in the power of collaborating with our members and partners across sectors, viewpoints, and experiences.

EQUITY

We work to address structural inequities and transform those barriers into opportunities for all people.

IMPACT

We work to create meaningful and lasting change in the world around us.

INCLUSION

We believe in environments where all are welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate.

LEADERSHIP

We play a powerful role to advance community-led solutions, civic partnerships, and public policies for transformative change

LEARNING

We encourage curiosity and creativity as crucial tools that help us address and adapt to the complex, fast-changing challenges we face.

RACIAL EQUITY

We will explicitly consider and name race amongst other indicators of identity when exploring structural and root causes of disparities.

About the Membership & Sustainability Team

The Membership &Sustainability Team includes the Director, Grants & Sustainability; Coordinator, Grants & Sustainability; Director, Member Engagement; Manager, Membership Special Projects; and Coordinator, Membership. The team is responsible for resource development including grants, sponsorships, fiscal sponsorships, and dues. In addition, member recruitment, retention, and engagement are key focus areas of the team.

The Opportunity

In partnership with the President & CEO and team leads across SCG, the VP, Membership & Sustainability is responsible for the strategic leadership, design, and implementation of a comprehensive fund development and membership vision and strategy to advance the organization’s sustainability goals.

As a team lead, the ideal candidate is skilled at building the infrastructure and capacity needed for the Membership &Sustainability team to succeed and achieve the organizational goals pertaining to fundraising as well as member recruitment and retention. Being both data- and relationship-driven, the VP, Membership & Sustainability will explore fundraising in ways that reduce harm and further social justice while diversifying and increasing SCG’s broad base of support.

SCG seeks a team member who can creatively ensure that our organization is sustainably resourced for our various programmatic and policy work. While responsible for leading the fundraising strategy, the VP, Membership & Sustainability will engage team members across departments in designing member and funder engagement campaigns and identify mutually beneficial ways for foundations and government agencies to invest in SCG. Key to the success of this position is being able to engage members and clearly describe the value of SCG in the work they do within and outside the region.

Essential duties and responsibilities

Organizational Strategy and Leadership

• Serve as the vision and strategy lead for fund development including grants, sponsorships, and member and community engagement strategies.
• As part of the SCG leadership, ensure organization-wide clarity on SCG’s mission, vision, and values. This includes implementation of strategies to form strong relationships with members and collaboratively defining and communicating our impact to support financial sustainability. In addition, in 2026, SCG is implementing a new strategic plan, and this position will be part of the executive management team in leading those efforts.
• Ensure a strong, positive organizational culture that values empowering and developing all members of the SCG team, fosters cross-organization teamwork, and embraces equity and anti-racism in our internal and external work.
• Work closely with the President & CEO and the COO to set and track revenue projections for annual and long-term budgeting.
• Represent SCG externally at member and sector-wide events and conferences to strategically build our relationships and elevate our thought leadership.
• Understand the full scope of the organization’s work and effectively communicate that scope of work.
• Engage Board members and other key high-level volunteers to shape and execute funding and organizational strategies.
• Attend all Board of Directors meetings.

Team Strategy and Leadership:

• Lead the Membership & Sustainability team to develop individual and team-level objectives to meet SCG’s budgeted fundraised revenue needs and organizational goals including member recruitment and retention.
• Translate high-level organizational priorities into clear goals, metrics, and work plans for team members.
• Provide direction, supervision, motivation, and professional development for staff in keeping with organizational equity goals to achieve organizational, team, and individual objectives, especially financial objectives.
• Provide high-level strategic direction that empowers the Director(s) to lead operations, systems integration, and day-to-day management, ensuring clarity of responsibilities and decision-making.
• Create the conditions for Managers and Coordinators to excel in execution and delivery by setting clear priorities, removing barriers, and guiding the overall vision rather than managing tactical work.
• Foster a culture of open communication, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement across the team.
• Strengthen internal communication and alignment by ensuring the team understands vision, roles, and decision-making processes.
• Champion innovation, encouraging the team to experiment, iterate, and elevate member experience and implement revenue strategies.

Fund Development:

• Develop and lead strategically guided plans to sustain and increase revenue.
• Develop strategies for increasing awareness of the organization and funding opportunities.
• Develop and manage high-level, strategic SCG grant and sponsor relationships, including expanding, and diversifying an extensive donor pipeline for potential future support.
• In collaboration with the President & CEO, cultivate and maintain relationships with key leaders in the philanthropic sector within the SCG region and beyond.
• Cultivate and establish long-term relationships with program officers and key leadership to strengthen relationships for renewed and increased funding from current partners and to develop new prospective partners.
• Work cross-team to identify and secure funding for new initiatives.
• Serve as a key member of the Philanthropy CA sustainability team to ensure the development and implementation of a fund development plan to support this initiative.
• Serve as the lead, and as a partner to the President & CEO, Board members, SCG staff, and other external champions to develop funder/prospect relationships.

Membership

• Conceptualize and develop membership recruitment, renewal, and retention initiatives in collaboration with the Membership & Sustainability Team.
• Oversee the development and implementation of targeted member marketing campaigns to increase member engagement.
• Keep informed on member needs, issues, emerging technologies, and marketplace trends.
• Improve member engagement through collaborations and community-building.
• Lead efforts to identify, engage, and retain at-risk members.
• Explore and identify opportunities to expand member categories and create plan for recruitment efforts.
• Create marketing campaigns and promotions in collaboration with the Knowledge & Communications team to drive prospective new member recruitment.
• Ensure dues structure is in line with membership value and competitive in the marketplace.
• Work with the Knowledge & Communications team to develop a cohesive communication plan for an ongoing calendar of strategies and tactics to achieve membership recruitment, retention, and revenue goals.
• Ensure the tracking of all membership dues information.

Other duties

• All other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated commitment to and passion for racial equity.
• Ten years of related experience in the philanthropy/nonprofit sector in increasingly responsible senior leadership roles focusing on fund development and membership development.
• Demonstrated record of developing and executing highly successful fundraising campaigns resulting in millions of dollars of annual revenue over a sustained number of years.
• Gifted relationship builder with superb interpersonal skills who connects easily with internal and external stakeholders at all levels from diverse backgrounds.
• Up-to-date knowledge of philanthropy and fundraising trends.
• Highly collaborative, resourceful, and result-oriented with the ability to think creatively and strategically, generate innovative ideas, prioritize, and follow through with execution of plans.
• Proven experience leading, developing, and retaining a high-performing team to achieve excellent results.
• Commitment to building an inclusive, collaborative, and values-aligned team culture that supports learning, accountability, and well-being.
• Extremely comfortable with technology, including Microsoft Office, database, print/web publishing, and social media. Salesforce database experience strongly preferred.

• Hybrid/remote work opportunity, with preference for candidates located within SCG’s service area
• Up to 100% employer-funded comprehensive medical and dental coverage
• Employer contribution to 403b plan
• Paid vacation and sick time
• 14 paid holidays, including two “floating” holidays.
• In addition, the SCG office is closed from December 24 through New Year’s Day.