Vice President of Development

Location: Remote within the US

Salary Range: 

• Most regions in the United States: $140,000- $145,000
• California-specific: $140,000 - $162,000
• NYC-specific: $155,000- $162,000

Offers will vary based on experience and location-based cost-of-living calculations.

• Level: VP
• Supervisory role: Y
• Classification: Exempt; full-time

About our organization:

Democracy Works helps millions of Americans vote by providing reliable, useful voting guidance through the sites, apps and groups they trust.

We’re a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works with election officials across the country, as well as tech platforms like Google and TikTok, nonprofit groups like AARP and DoSomething, academic institutions like Princeton University and University of Florida, and workplaces like Starbucks and Salesforce to help voters whenever and wherever they need it.

Democracy Works is committed to diversity and inclusion in everything we do and aspires to have a team that's representative of the voters we serve.

The impact you’ll make:

Democracy Works’ Development Team excels in generating revenue to advance our work to help Americans vote, no matter what. To create sustainability in both our funding pipelines and in our programmatic offerings, the Democracy Works Development team raises over 70% of the organization’s annual budget through contributions, distributed through multiple revenue channels: corporations, foundations, major gifts, mid-level gifts, and grant funding.

As a part of the team, you will be in charge of making sure we hire, retain, and grow a talented and diverse team of fundraising professionals, while you maintain your own portfolio of donors and investors. You will drive team performance towards achieving the goals of Democracy Works’ 3 year strategic plan. 

You will:

• Work directly with the CEO to develop, implement and execute on all fundraising strategies. This includes managing a diverse portfolio of donors both renewable and new.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, manage and coach the Development staff team.
• Collaborate with the C-Suite to set annual fundraising goals.
• Introduce new and innovative strategies to increase fundraising opportunities. Some of these strategies must include raising money quickly during certain seasonal times per year.
• Work alongside Democracy Works’ internal teams and partners to refine and segment fundraising strategies in alignment with their respective objectives and interests
• Be accountable for cultivating relationships with individual, foundation, and corporate donors, and guide your team as they cultivate their portfolios.
• Collect and create ongoing metrics and stories from all teams to better engage current and future donors. 
• Work with the Marketing and Communications team to create regular donor and prospect engagement as well as an annual impact report.
• Lead all donor engagement communication programs.
• Manage our grant and report writing process. This includes working with the finance team, partnerships team and grant writers.
• Execute on other tasks as may be assigned

You are:

• Experienced in creating, leading, and implementing fundraising strategies for startups, civic technology, social impact, elections or political organizations 
• A proven and motivational leader and manager that has experience managing multiple full-time staff
• An experienced fundraiser with a history of raising six and seven figure gifts.
• Supportive of the mission and understands the civic engagement space
• A gifted storyteller who effectively communicates impact to external audiences
• Able to work effectively with multiple stakeholders and audiences
• Able to work independently, both remotely and in-person
• Able to meet donors in person
• Able to integrate strategic goals into day-to-day tasks
• Proficient with Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar
• Experienced working with Salesforce

You have experience:

• 5+ years managing a team
• Meeting or exceeding measurable fundraising goals in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial nonprofit environment
• Creating a new pipeline of high wealth capacity donors and expanding your portfolio
• Holding staff accountable by setting clear expectations and providing constructive feedback
• Managing independent work that requires self-direction and close attention to detail
• Soliciting gifts from individuals and foundations from $10K up to and exceeding $1 million
• 2+ years managing a portfolio of prospects and funders with the philanthropic capacity to give at the six- and seven-figure level 
• Working directly with donors, prospects, senior leaders and board members
• Comprehensive understanding of the donors in the areas of: civic engagement, democracy, and social impact. 

How we work

Because elections take place everywhere, our employees work from all across the country. We embrace working remotely as the default. Our positions require regular, daily use of a computer (including the use of G-Suite and Slack) to conduct work and communicate with colleagues. We also have regular operating hours (10 am to 6 pm Eastern, Monday to Friday). This position involves occasional travel up to 20%.

For those who prefer to work from an office, we are headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. We are happy to share more details about the office, including accessibility information, as on-site visits are planned. 

Benefits

As a member of the team, some of the benefits you’ll enjoy include:

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision option for you and your dependents
• 12 floating holidays and 25 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) per year
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• $1,000 per year towards professional development activities

We also offer a 403(b) retirement plan, stipends for equipment and internet reimbursement, and annual Calm or Headspace subscription reimbursements.

To Apply

Please attach your resume and answers to the following questions:

• How did you find this job listing?
• Why are you interested in this role and working at Democracy Works?
• Describe your fundraising experience in the civic engagement, social impact, political and/or elections space. 
• Describe your fundraising experience relative to 7 figure gifts from individuals, corporations or foundations.
• Describe your experience securing financial support outside of an organization's established network.
• Briefly describe your supervisory experience and management style. (Number of direct reports, team dynamic, managing in a remote environment etc.)
• Are you authorized to work lawfully in the United States for Democracy Works?

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in Hiring

Democracy Works is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants based on race, religion, color, disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), age, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. 

As part of our application, you’ll see an optional form used to collect U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) demographic information. Please note the categories used in this survey are set by the EEOC and may not reflect all existing categories.The data collected in this form is anonymized and is used in our EEOC reporting and in ongoing assessment of our recruitment practices. 

Democracy Works follows the I-9 requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Immigration sponsorship is not available for this position, and you must possess your own work authorization in the U.S. now and in the future to continue working in this position.

Please reach out to hr@democracy.works if you have any questions about our process or if you need an accommodation for a medical condition during the hiring process.