Founding Board Member - Finance/Fundraising Lead

Role Type

• Volunteer Board Member
• Founding / Early-Stage Working Board Role
• Finance Committee Lead/Co-Lead

Term

• Board Term: 3 years
• Finance Committee Leadership Appointment: 1 year, renewable based on board and organizational needs. The role will begin as Finance Committee Co-Lead alongside the Executive Director during the committee’s first 6 months of active development, then transition into Finance Committee Lead.

About Women’s Survivors Network

Women’s Survivors Network is a survivor-led nonprofit building a trusted ecosystem of support, resources, education, and practical pathways for women who have experienced relational and/or workplace abuse. WSN supports survivors in recognizing harm, escaping abuse, healing from trauma, rebuilding their lives, and eventually stepping into leadership that helps transform the systems that failed them.

WSN is currently in an early infrastructure-building stage. The founding board is helping establish the organization’s governance, financial foundation, fundraising pathways, program readiness, and long-term sustainability.

Position Summary

WSN is seeking a founding board member to serve as Finance Committee Lead/Co-Lead, with a focus on helping shape the organization’s early fundraising strategy and sustainability pathways.

This role is for someone who can help WSN think clearly and practically about how to fund its early growth while protecting its mission, values, survivor-centered culture, and long-term sustainability.

This is a founding working-board role, not a staff fundraising position. Like other WSN board roles, it includes governance, oversight, committee leadership, and strategic contribution. Because WSN is still in an early build stage, this role also includes some practical, hands-on support to help move fundraising priorities forward. That may include refining early fundraising approaches, helping identify aligned prospects or opportunities, contributing to selected fundraising materials or applications, and helping shape simple systems that make fundraising more organized and actionable.

The role is collaborative and bounded. It does not carry fundraising alone or replace future development staff. It helps WSN build a thoughtful, values-aligned fundraising foundation during a formative stage.

Core Responsibilities

The Finance Committee Co-Lead helps the Finance Committee:

• Support early fundraising strategy for a young nonprofit.
• Identify realistic funding pathways, including individual donors, founding supporters, grants, sponsorships, partnerships, and community-based giving.
• Help clarify board fundraising participation in a way that is sustainable, dignified, and aligned with WSN’s values.
• Support donor development thinking, including relationship-building approaches, donor messaging, and stewardship practices.
• Help assess funding opportunities for mission alignment, timing, and sustainability.
• Contribute to selected practical fundraising needs, such as reviewing opportunities, shaping materials, supporting application readiness, or helping organize early fundraising next steps.
• Support financial planning conversations connected to budget needs, pilot readiness, staffing needs, infrastructure, and 2027 planning.
• Help the board understand funding risks, opportunities, and priorities without overwhelming members with unnecessary detail.
• Co-lead Finance Committee meetings with the Executive Director during the committee’s first 6 months of active development, then transition into leading the committee’s meeting rhythm and coordination thereafter, consistent with the annual committee leadership appointment.
• Help prepare Finance Committee updates or recommendations for the Executive Director and full board when needed.

Finance Committee Leadership

The Board Finance Committee Lead sits on and leads the Finance Committee. In this role, they help guide focused conversations related to WSN’s financial health, sustainability, fundraising pathways, and budget readiness.

This may include contributing to:

• Financial oversight, budgeting, and fiscal responsibility.
• Early fundraising strategy and sustainability planning.
• Grant, donor, sponsorship, partnership, and community-based giving opportunities.
• Budget needs connected to pilot readiness, staffing, infrastructure, and 2027 planning.
• Funding risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs.
• Board fundraising participation that is clear, dignified, and sustainable.
• Donor development, stewardship, and values-aligned fundraising practices.
• Clear Finance Committee updates or recommendations for the Executive Director and full board when needed.

The Finance Committee Lead helps hold the committee rhythm and supports financial clarity, but does not carry fundraising, financial management, or fiscal responsibility alone.

Ideal Background

Strong candidates may bring experience in several of the following areas:

• Nonprofit fundraising, donor development, grant strategy, or institutional funding.
• Early-stage, founder-led, or resource-constrained nonprofit growth.
• Building practical fundraising approaches that connect strategy with achievable next steps.
• Relationship-based fundraising rooted in dignity, trust, and long-term stewardship.

Experience with survivor-serving, women-led, racial justice, healing, legal, housing, mental health, or community-based organizations is welcome, but not required.

Values and Leadership Fit

WSN is looking for someone who is:

• Survivor-centered and trauma-informed.
• Comfortable with early-stage nonprofit ambiguity.
• Practical, steady, and non-shaming about money.
• Able to discuss fundraising without pressure, extraction, or saviorism.
• Respectful of founder-led and survivor-led organizational realities.
• Clear about boundaries between governance, shared board contribution, and day-to-day operations.
• Able to help build systems without overcomplicating them.
• Committed to equity, dignity, cultural responsiveness, and long-term sustainability.

Time Commitment

Estimated commitment: approximately 5–8 hours per month on average, with some periods reaching up to 10 hours during busier fundraising, budget, or pilot-readiness seasons.

• Monthly Finance Committee meeting.
• Monthly Board Leads/Co-Leads meeting.
• Monthly Board Member 1:1.
• Quarterly full board meetings.
• Preparation or review between meetings.
• Fundraising strategy or practical implementation support.
• Additional availability during budget planning, fundraising pushes, or pilot-readiness periods.

WSN values clarity and sustainability. The goal is not constant availability, but dependable contribution to an early-stage working board role.

What This Role Does Not Do

This role does not:

• Serve as paid development staff.
• Carry all fundraising responsibility alone.
• Pressure board members into fundraising activity outside their capacity.
• Approve spending or financial commitments alone.
• Manage day-to-day financial operations.
• Replace the Treasurer, Executive Director, or full board authority.
• Pursue funding that compromises WSN’s mission, survivor safety, or values.

Inclusive Recruitment

WSN is committed to building a board that reflects the communities, experiences, and values at the heart of our mission. We are a survivor-led organization grounded in women-centered governance, and we deeply value leadership shaped by lived experience, care, and accountability.

We welcome interest from candidates of all backgrounds and strongly encourage people with lived experience, survivors, women of color, LGBTQIA+ people, immigrants, disabled people, and people from historically excluded communities to consider this role.

Candidates will be considered based on their background, skills, experience, judgment, mission alignment, availability, and ability to contribute to WSN’s survivor-centered governance and sustainability.