Autism Speaks

Vice President, Individual Giving

Autism Speaks$180K — $185K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BA degree required; advanced degree and/or CFRE preferred.
  • 15+ years of major and leadership gift fundraising experience.
  • 10+ years in a fundraising management or leadership role.
  • Proven track record in expanding major, planned, and board fundraising.
  • Strong skills in recruiting and retaining high-performing fundraising staff.

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement a strategy to innovate and expand giving across various donor tiers.
  • Lead and support the major gift development team to maximize donor opportunities.
  • Establish a support structure for growth in major and intermediate giving portfolios.
  • Create an advanced moves management process for donor engagement and relationship growth.
  • Manage a portfolio of high-value individual and family relationships alongside leadership.

Benefits

  • Competitive benefits package including flexible work hours.
  • Weekly training sessions and opportunities for professional development.
  • Tuition reimbursement to support ongoing education.
  • Summer bonus Fridays for added work-life balance.
  • Inclusive and creative work environment fostering innovation and collaboration.
Full Job Description
Autism Speaks is seeking a Vice President, Individual Giving, who will develop and implement a strategic revenue expansion plan to support a bold growth vision for Autism Speaks - focused on major, intermediate, and planned giving. The individual in this role will be a dynamic, entrepreneurial fundraising leader with the proven experience, success and abilities to guide the Individual Giving team's revenue expansion and mission impact. The individual serving in this role will have a strong array of experience and skills as a senior-level strategist, fundraiser and leader. VP will be responsible for key aspects of Autism Speaks fundraising capabilities with the potential to hire major gift officers and other revenue generating team members as institutional budgets allow as part of the organization's growth strategy.

Autism Speaks has invested in an operations team that will provide data management & analytics, prospect research, and donor communication / stewardship expertise and support. This fundraising operations team works in close coordination with all institutional fundraising departments including the VP, Individual Giving and their team. The Vice President, Individual Giving will provide the strategic direction required to successfully generate revenue in excess of $6-$8 million annually and lead the entire program toward long-term significant growth.

Individual will work from home but can be located anywhere in the United States, ideally in close proximity to an airport.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Serving as a member of Autism Speaks' senior leadership team, individual will work closely with the CDO, CEO, other executives, the board of directors and volunteer leadership to carry out a strategic fundraising plan engaging business and community leaders, philanthropic individuals, families and family foundations across North America.
  • Design, develop, and implement a comprehensive strategy to innovate and expand giving for all areas of intermediate, major, planned, and board giving.
  • Personally, lead the major gift development team to guide their maturation and maximize their potential to realize the many donor opportunities that exist for Autism Speaks.
  • Build a reporting and support structure with matrixed field leadership to grow their major and intermediate giving portfolios.
  • Build Autism Speaks moves management process into a sophisticated stewardship system that engages and grows donor relationships at the local, regional, and national levels.
  • Provide strategic counsel and actively manage a core portfolio of top individual/family relationships held by the CDO and CEO.
  • Work across the organization to help build pipeline/ portfolio and maximize individual, family, and board relationships, partnerships and philanthropy.
  • Utilize the fundraising operations team to leverage data analytics, donor communications, stewardship, and prospect research to support the fundraising growth plan.
  • Identify opportunities to leverage consultants and/or outside expertise as needed to help achieve robust portfolio development and revenue growth.
  • Recruit, motivate, organize, manage, train, and lead the individual giving staff in a manner which promotes professional development and career enhancement while meeting and exceeding revenue and institutional goals.
  • Work with VP peers across other fundraising departments to deepen an effective fundraising collaborative culture across Autism Speaks resulting in increased revenue and new donor cohorts for the organization.
  • Work with Autism Speaks CDO and CEO to identify future board members.
  • Manage revenue / expense budget and financial reporting for all relationship development activities.
(The responsibilities listed above are representative and not all inclusive. Other duties may be assigned by supervisor/s. As outlined in your performance goal setting forms, you will be responsible for achieving the goals provided by and agreed upon with your manager.)

POSITION REQUIREMENTS
Education / Experience
  • BA degree, Advanced degree and/or CFRE certification a plus
  • 15+ years of major and leadership gift experience
  • 10+ years of experience in a fundraising management/leadership role
Specialized Skills and Knowledge:
  • Proven track record in leading successful growth expansions in major, planned, and board fundraising
  • Strong skills and a proven ability to recruit, hire, and or retain talented, high-performing, and energetic fundraising staff and leaders
  • Strong leadership skills conducive to complex matrixed team management
  • Understanding of major/principal gift relationship building and strategic solicitation
  • Strong background in directing an innovative fund development within a complex and rapidly changing environment
  • Experience in building programs, not just leading thriving ones
  • Extensive experience working with c-suite executives volunteer boards and other high-level staff and volunteer leadership
  • A keen eye for operational efficiency and optimal use of resources
  • Successful track record for translating strategic thinking into action plans and results
  • Exceptional interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
  • Ability to influence and inspire, with an understanding and respect for Autism Speaks culture
  • Ability to collaborate, coordinate, and work effectively with the organization's senior volunteer and staff leaders across North America
  • Understanding of working in a field based, non-profit corporate structure
  • Ability to work some evenings and weekends, and ability to travel in/out of NYC, Dallas, LA and throughout the US and Canada
  • Self-starter who takes initiative and is pro-active in identifying opportunities
  • Ability to work with all levels of management
  • Strong organizational, interpersonal and customer relations skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously; troubleshooting and problem-solving capability; detail-oriented
  • Superior oral and written communication skills, including presentation skills
  • Advanced proficiency in MS Office including Word, Excel, and Outlook
CORE COMPENTENCIES:
  • Building Collaborative Relationships
  • Customer Orientation
  • Professional Behavior
  • Results Driven
  • Flexibility
You are responsible for protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all Autism Speaks data and information to which you have access.

Salary & Benefits:
Autism Speaks offers a competitive compensation, benefit and vacation package. We also provide flex work hours, weekly training sessions, tuition reimbursement and summer bonus Fridays in addition to a creative, innovative, collaborative, inclusive, kind and fun work environment.

Salary range is $180k-$185k, depending on candidate's relevant years of experience.

About Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks Inc. is a controversial autism advocacy organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public. It was founded in February 2005 by Bob Wright, vice chairman of General Electric, and his wife Suzanne, a year after their grandson Christian was diagnosed with autism. The autism rights movement and neurodiversity advocates see autism as a difference rather than a disease that needs to be cured and have criticized Autism Speaks for seeking a cure. In response, former president Liz Feld has stated that one-third of autistic people also have a seizure disorder, half suffer serious digestive complications, 50 percent wander, and more than 30 percent are nonverbal, claiming that those difficulties can only be solved through medical research. However, the word "cure" was dropped from its mission statement in 2016.
Learn more about Autism Speaks

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