Vice President of Philanthropy

ABOUT CRADLES TO CRAYONS:

Cradles to Crayons (C2C), founded in 2002, provides children living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive—at home, at school, and at play. We supply clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies, and more, free of charge. Our vision is that one day all children will have the essentials they need to thrive.

Two in 5 kids in the United States are currently facing Clothing Insecurity, going without basic essentials like pants, shoes, diapers, and school supplies during their critical development years. Three of the top 10 reasons kids miss school are rooted in Clothing Insecurity—just one example of the significant short- and long-term social and economic costs when these needs go unmet. Cradles to Crayons keeps Clothing Insecurity at the core of our mission and is the only large-scale nonprofit organization to focus on this resource gap. Since its founding, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than six million customized packages of essentials to children in Massachusetts, Greater Philadelphia, Chicagoland, and nationally, through Giving Factory Direct—a first-in-kind online product donation platform launched in 2021.

Cradles to Crayons takes a three-pronged approach to mitigating Clothing Insecurity:

1. In-person Engagement—through tens of thousands of children and adults volunteering at our Giving Factory warehouses to sort and package high volumes of new and like-new donations from our communities for our Service Partners to distribute to the children they serve.
2. Online Product Donations—Giving Factory Direct matches product donors directly to children who need the items they have to donate, with service partners in 5 US cities including New York and San Francisco.
3. Advocacy and Awareness—Cradles to Crayons is uniquely positioned to raise Clothing Insecurity as a national issue through awareness campaigns, data/evaluation, and legislative outreach.

Cradles to Crayons’ strong financial health and ongoing effectiveness and reliability have helped it earn a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator every year since 2009. C2C has a budget of $20M for FY26 and a total staff of approximately 100. Cradles to Crayons has a thriving Family Leadership Circle program and robust corporate engagement programs that fuel its mission and provide opportunities for families, organizations and communities to engage in direct service.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Cradles to Crayons seeks an exceptional fundraising leader who is passionate about our mission, has a strategic orientation, demonstrated ability to build strong relationships and track record of securing major gifts within a national organization. Reporting to the CEO, the Vice President of Philanthropy (VPP) will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and will be responsible for refining and delivering on the organization’s revenue plan, including leading national fundraising efforts in close collaboration with the CEO, SLT, Board members and market-based Development teams (Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia). The VPP will be a builder and strong collaborator who can enhance a culture of fundraising, leveraging a small national fundraising team and supporting the success of 25 market-based development staff. This position directly manages the Senior Director, National Philanthropy and has dotted line management responsibilities to four Directors of Development on the market teams.

As the organization looks to expand its reach and impact with a new CEO and upcoming strategic plan, C2C is poised to build a national development team that works collaboratively with local leaders to build upon its robust and committed donor base and drive shared success. This is an opportunity for an experienced, mission-based entrepreneurial leader who is excited to build and shape a collaborative team of development professionals around a compelling vision for impact and growth.

The VPP will partner closely with the CEO and other leadership in refining C2C’s fundraising strategy and fundable programs, expand corporate and foundation partnerships, and mobilize the National Board’s Development Committee, with a focus on raising major gifts from individuals, families, and family foundations. In addition, they will be responsible for further developing and managing the National Board prospect pipeline, identifying new Board prospects, working closely with leadership and the Nominating & Governance Committee.

This is a remote position in which VPP would be required to live in one of the C2C markets (Greater Boston, Chicagoland, or Greater Philadelphia). As a member of the SLT, the VPP will attend in-person leadership meetings, regularly visit Giving Factories, attend seasonal events (e.g. Un-Gala, Backpack-A-Thon) and meet regularly with C2C staff. All Cradles to Crayons staff are expected to participate in in-person volunteer shifts one time per month.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Build the National Fundraising function ensuring that structure, people, and processes are in alignment with overall C2C strategy and development goals, supporting the success of local fundraising teams.
• Work collaboratively with the CEO, Executive Directors, and market Development teams to improve pipeline development and prospect research, create aligned fundraising practices that support organizational growth and donor engagement and develop investment products that foster sustainable, mission-aligned giving.
• Develop and execute annual National Fundraising plans in support of $2.7m annual revenue goal, on a path to future growth with the upcoming strategic plan.
• Build and manage a portfolio of national individual, corporate and foundation prospects and donors through active identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, leveraging the CEO to advance relationships.
• Ensure high-quality, individualized, and meaningful stewardship of donors, coordinating with colleagues throughout Cradles to Crayons and/or personally stewarding donors as needed.
• Establish and lead a ‘One Cradles to Crayons’ Development working group with a goal of building capacity, strategizing across regional markets and, cultivating enhanced partnerships- nationally and locally, with a focus on securing major gifts from individuals, families, and family foundations.
• Partner with EDs to support development strategies aligned with the organization’s goals for impact and growth, with a focus on sustaining annual giving revenue levels, increasing major gifts, and leveraging our strength in corporate engagement to build compelling sponsorship programs.
• Work closely with the National Board to support fundraising and to cultivate new Board prospects and serve as liaison to the National Board Development Committee and National Chairman’s Council.
• Work with the Finance Department to ensure strong customer service and compliance on gift agreements, processing, and acknowledgement.
• Regularly report on fundraising targets and forecasts.
• Drive the development of a fundraising campaign in FY27 to support the organization’s forthcoming strategic plan.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES:

• Passion for the C2C mission and commitment to and alignment with C2C values.
• Strategic leader, liaison, and collaborator externally and internally.
• 10+ years’ fundraising experience in leadership positions, including experience raising major gifts, annual support, corporate and foundation gifts, as well as managing campaigns.
• Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal, with ability to tailor messaging to different audiences.
• Experience working in multi-site and/or national non-profit organizations, with the ability to create aligned national efforts that resonate with local needs.
• Strong network, knowledge, and experience working with national funders—individuals corporations, and foundations—with specific interest in expanding funding outside of current operational areas.
• Learning mindset, who understands the importance of listening and understanding local context, while mobilizing toward a bold national vision.
• Demonstrated success working with Boards and other volunteer committees.
• Budget creation and management experience.
• Fluency in Salesforce or other CRM.
• Willingness to travel regularly for donor visits, relationship-building with colleagues across the organization and onsite volunteer shifts.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

The estimated salary for this position is $190,000-$210,000 annually. The compensation offered to the successful candidate may vary from the posted range based on geographic location, work experience, education, and/or skill level, among other things.

This is a benefits-eligible position. Cradles to Crayons offers a generous benefits package, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Health benefits including medical, dental, vision and a Health Reimbursement Arrangement.
• A monthly cell phone and internet usage stipend
• Employer-sponsored short- and long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Retirement plan matching
• Annual professional development stipend

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH:

Diversity and Inclusiveness are core values at Cradles to Crayons, and we continuously strive to be a team where everyone feels welcome and supported. It is the policy of Cradles to Crayons to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Working Conditions:

This is an office/work from home remote virtual environment with regular visits to C2C Giving Factories. There are no hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions.

Accommodation:

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made by Cradles to Crayons which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others, or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

TO APPLY:

Please send a cover letter and resume with relevant experience to https://www.cradlestocrayons.org/what-we-do/careers/