Chief Development Officer

Kids’ Meals is searching for a highly experienced Chief Development Officerto provide strategy, leadership and manage our Development & Communications function. Reporting directly to the CEO, this position will be responsible for working with the leadership team and the board of directors to meet funding goals for major gifts, annual fund, luncheon, and other fundraising activities; all contributing to the overall growth of private philanthropy.

In partnership with the CEO this position will be regularly visible and take primary responsibility for setting fundraising strategy and managing major prospect and donor relationships. This position is a member of the Kids’ Meals executive team and will directly supervise the Communications, Marketing and Development team, independent contractors for grant writing, foundation development and graphic design and other positions as deemed appropriate.

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW: As the only program of its kind in the nation, the mission of Kids’ Meals is to end childhood hunger by delivering free, healthy meals to the doorsteps of the Greater Houston Area’s hungriest preschool-aged children, and through collaboration, provide their families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. What began in 2006 as two delivery vans has grown into a fleet of 21, sharing nutritional food to an average of 9,683 children and connecting families in 56 zip codes through referrals to over 70 wrap-around service partners to break the cycle of poverty. The average cost per meal delivered is $2 per child. Meals are made by more than 25,000 in-house volunteer shifts and 20,000 city-wide volunteers annually. The use of volunteers saves the organizations almost $2 million annually in labor costs. All of Kids’ Meals’ children live in underserved communities; 70% are Hispanic, 24% are African American, 4% are Anglo and 2% are others. We focus on children aged five and under because they do not have access to NSLP and because the most formative time for a child’s brain is during the first five years. Most of our preschool-aged children are between three and five years old. Kids’ Meals is amid a highly successful $31 million capital campaign for new facilities. The capital portion of the fundraising is nearing completion with groundbreaking to occur in April of 2024, and fundraising to continue for maintenance funding and endowment. Kids’ Meals enjoys a highly diversified revenue model that includes well-established sources from foundations, corporations, individuals, special events, government, and places of worship. The operation budget is $5 million annually.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Partner with the CEO to develop, lead, and monitor a strategic development plan to meet fundraising goals.
• Effectively communicate department strategy, progress, needs and income projections to CEO, the Board, and the executive leadership team and collaborate to reach desired outcomes.
• Work with CEO/CFO to establish/report monthly Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
• Manage all departmental staff while overseeing a comprehensive donor giving program, major donor program, corporate partnerships, foundation requests to raise the operating budget.
• Oversee database business practices, development systems and infrastructure to support fundraising operations.
• Oversee the preparation of event budgets, event planning and production.
• Provide regular reports to the CEO and the board.
• Successfully steward relationships with past, current, and new donors cultivate relationships.
• Create a robust donor prospecting pipeline strategy that leverages internal and external tools to expand the organization’s prospects.
• Partner with CEO, board members, and senior staff as networkers and solicitors for organization.
• Serve as a primary liaison with various individual donors and foundations.
• Collaborate with senior staff and organize directors to gather information to create effective messaging to accurately communicate prospects and current donors.
• Oversee all communications (internal and external) and brand strategy for the organization.
• Oversee development of comprehensive strategies for KM audiences, messaging, voice, and positioning and serve as a liaison to partners, ensuring effective implementation of the brand across the organization.
• Oversee development of all organizational collaterals including annual report, website, brochures, flyers, social media and oversee any outside organization using the Kids’ Meals logo/brand.
• Other duties as assigned.

COMPETENCIES: Strong team orientation with excellent interpersonal skills. Ability to manage several projects simultaneously through self-motivation, high energy, flexibility, and excellent organizational skills. Strong work ethic and attention to detail. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Previous experience overseeing social media on behalf of a nonprofit. Demonstrated success in creating marketing programs that are creative and results focused, satisfying business needs. Demonstrated ability to use marketing and communications strategies and tools to move public opinion, encourage stakeholder involvement and support, increase donor support, and establish brand preference and choice. Ability to think creatively against demanding deadlines with acute attention to detail. Leadership abilities that foster learning and excellence among team members. Supervisory skills to manage professional staff, including hiring, orientating, training, organizing workflow, monitoring, and evaluating performance, and coaching and counseling when necessary. Experience planning and implementing employee professional development. Demonstrated ability to identify workload needs and evaluate staff to assign tasks as appropriate. Ability to interact diplomatically with, and provide smooth interface among, persons from a variety of social, cultural, and economic to create and increase positive interactions with Kids’ Meals.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: The ideal candidate for this position will possess the following:

• Bachelor’s degree and ten years of professional fund development experience required, with five of these years in senior management with oversight of agency communications.
• Familiarity with campaign and major gift fundraising experience preferred. Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) helpful but not required.
• Strong proficiency in all programs of Microsoft Office 365; Blackbaud (Raiser’s Edge & Financial Edge NXT) experience preferred
• Proven track record of success in fundraising.
• Bilingual in Spanish is a plus.

Kids’ Meals is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor under federal, state, or local law. We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, which includes 100% coverage of employees’ premiums, a robust paid time off package and work flexibility.

The salary range for this position is $155,000-$170,000 annual base and potential for year-end bonus.

TO APPLY: Candidates who meet the qualification may use this link to apply Careers - Kids Meals Inc. You may also send resumes to hr@kidsmealsinc.org.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $155,000.00 - $170,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Relocation assistance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to Relocate:

• Houston, TX 77018: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person