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Chief Philanthropy Officer

Employer
UNICEF USA
Location
New York, United States
Salary
Salary Not specified
Date posted
Oct 14, 2020

UNICEF USA

Chief Philanthropy Officer

New York, NY

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most vulnerable children. The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The past two decades have seen important progress on child rights, yet while much has been achieved, sharp disparities remain. In most countries, inequality is higher today than a generation ago, including in middle income countries where a majority of the world’s poor children now live. The rapid pace of urbanization and the growing youth bulge in Africa and parts of Asia will require significant expansion of the provision of essential services for children. These challenges are compounded by the scale and complexity of crises triggered by conflict, natural disasters, or epidemics. The global community faces these challenges when the political and economic environments pose challenges of their own, testing the world’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable. In this environment, strong and consistent leadership of UNICEF is critical to enable the achievement of results for children.

UNICEF USA (UUSA) was founded in 1947 and is the oldest of the 36 UNICEF National Committees that support UNICEF. UUSA is headquartered in New York City and with 300 employees distributed across nine regional offices in the US. UNICEF USA’s mission is to relentlessly pursue a more equitable world for every child. It does this by rallying the American public to advance the global mission of UNICEF for the protection of children’s rights in more than 190 countries and territories. Every year, UNICEF USA raises nearly $600 million dollars from private sources and marshals its supporters to advocate for over $800 million in US government support for UNICEF’s lifesaving work. In addition to raising funds, UNICEF USA has built a broad-based advocacy movement.

Over the past 70 years, UNICEF USA has been profoundly successful in rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children, and its fundraising campaigns are imbedded in the country’s philanthropic consciousness. This past June, UUSA reported its best revenue year in history amidst the unprecedented challenges and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, this iconic organization, although vibrant and more relevant than ever, is in need of a refresh to further strengthen its position as the leading child-focused NGO in the United States. An inspirational and transformational new President/CEO joined the organization in January of 2020 to lead this charge, and new highly engaged co-chairs were recruited to the Board of Directors. An immediate critical area of focus for UUSA leadership is the organization’s fundraising operation which over time has become siloed and lacking in cohesion. As a robust, integrated fundraising program is essential for UUSA to meet its ambitious goals and objectives, the organization seeks a deeply experienced and dynamic Chief Philanthropy Officer (CPO) to lead in assessing all aspects of the development enterprise, unify elements of the fundraising operation, drive innovation across multiple channels, maximize impact, and achieve significant sustained revenue growth. This is an exceptional opportunity for a motivated and mission-driven development professional to play a leadership role in reigniting a brand, have significant transformational impact on contributed revenue, and ultimately lead to further strengthening UUSA in making the world a safer and healthier place for the most vulnerable children.

The Chief Philanthropy Officer will prioritize equity as a driver for UNICEF USA. This leader will embrace principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring, mentorship, teambuilding, network activities, and stakeholder engagement. The CPO will actively focus on building equity into structures, systems, and processes for employees and the communities UUSA serves. The CPO will bring expertise, an innovative and open mindset, and a commitment to inclusive practice that values different backgrounds and life experiences

The Chief Philanthropy Officer is responsible for creating and implementing a cohesive, collaborative, and unified fundraising program, and will provide strategic leadership to all organization-wide programs and activity with a collective responsibility for approximately $460 million in cash revenue and $140 million in Corporate Gifts-in-Kind in Fiscal Year 2020. Working with the President/CEO and other organizational leaders, the CPO is responsible for setting, supporting, and implementing an integrated fundraising strategy that expands the support base of UUSA, deepens relationships with donors, drives revenue growth above industry benchmarks, monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of fundraising programs, inspires giving from the UUSA board and other key volunteers/donors, and effectively leads a diverse fundraising team. Additionally, the CPO ensures UUSA’s corporate culture, systems, and procedures support effective fund development.

Required qualifications and experience:

  • Deep passion for and commitment to UNICEF’s mission to protect the world’s most vulnerable children. Ability to inspire and engage others as a senior representative of this impactful organization.
  • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree strongly preferred.
  • A minimum of 15 years of experience in progressively responsible development leadership positions, which includes work in all functional areas (individual giving, institutional giving, planned giving, stewardship, board relations) and participation in a major capital campaign (planning, implementation, management, and successful conclusion), for a nonprofit, higher education, healthcare, or other institution of similar complexity with multiple stakeholders. Previous experience in an organization with an affiliate/federated structure is highly desired.
  • Demonstrated ability to provide strategic and operational management, with at least 10 years of senior-level development management experience, including creating and managing a budget. A supportive and accessible management style and strong record of recruiting and developing talented individuals. A history of increasing the effectiveness of a development program and staff through established objectives and performance standards.
  • Experience in strategic organizational assessment, development and design with proven success in rebuilding/restructuring a large-scale, comprehensive development operation and a track record of significant revenue growth.
  • Experience in international fundraising and the cultural sensitivity it requires. A global orientation and knowledge of strategies and trends in global philanthropy.
  • Demonstrated ability to strategically move individuals and institutions across the spectrum of prospect development. A history of securing six, seven, and eight-figure gifts, including cultivation through solicitation and stewardship, as well as experience working with strategies for grooming the next generation of major gift donors. Success in securing gifts from both defined and undefined constituencies.
  • Strength in developing the case for support and strategic, complex, and innovative fundraising plans, and executing against those plans to achieve goals and objectives. Experience working directly with the most senior levels of an organization.
  • Experience identifying, nurturing, and motivating board or other volunteer leaders, and a sophisticated understanding of their role in building an effective philanthropic network.
  • Demonstrated ability in working with marketing and communications in support of achieving development goals. A functional understanding of how to effectively leverage various communication platforms and distribution channels for optimal exposure and impact.
  • Highly developed skills in organizational efficiency and project leadership, including demonstrated accomplishments while working with cross-functional teams. Skill at goal setting and measuring success, and agility in addressing alternate program directions when necessary to meet goals or respond to changing priorities.
  • The ability to extract and analyze data to make effective, efficient decisions about development strategies and processes.
  • A forward thinker, driven by innovation, transformation, and impact. The successful candidate must thrive on developing new philanthropic best practices in the current and post-COVID world.
  • An understanding of and commitment to diversity with the ability to work effectively with stakeholders from disparate backgrounds; cultural competency with respect to issues such as racial, cultural, religious, sexual and gender identity.

UNICEF USA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state and local equal employment opportunity laws. UNICEF USA prohibits discrimination because of the individual’s race, creed, alienage, citizenship, color, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, partnership status, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, prior arrest or conviction record, or any other characteristic protected by law. This policy applies to all UNICEF USA activities, including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, compensation, assignment, training, promotion, performance evaluation, discipline and discharge.

We are an equal opportunity organization and our core values—Trust, Respect, Accountability, Innovation, Teamwork and Service—guide us in how we carry out this mission each day.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT

UNICEF USA embraces the attributes, characteristics, and perspectives that make each person unique. We respect all differences, visible and invisible, and challenge prejudice and bias that consciously or unconsciously target people from all walks of life. Just as we are dedicated to the principles of diversity and inclusion, we expect our staff, partners, volunteers and supporters to commit to these same values.

At UNICEF USA, we believe that the benefits of diversity and highly engaged employees can propel an organization to dream, communicate, build, and create in ways thought to be unimaginable. We value and incorporate the diverse experiences, perspectives, ideas, and backgrounds of our employees to build a solid foundation that enables us to achieve our mission for Every Child.

UNICEF USA has retained the Diversified Search Group to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) should be directed electronically to:

Gerard F. Cattie, Jr.

Managing Director

Practice Leader – Development & Philanthropy

Diversified Search Group

The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, 49th Floor, New York, NY 10174

gerard.cattie@divsearch.com | 212.542.2587

 

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