The Chief Development Officer is a results-oriented leader responsible for the strategic oversight of A Better Chicago’s development functions including individual giving, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, donor recognition and stewardship, and special philanthropic initiatives. They bring a proactive approach to designing and implementing both strategies and infrastructure to set A Better Chicago’s Development team up for success in reaching its ambitious goals. The Chief Development Officer directly manages and collaborates with the Director of Development to grow the amount of available funding for the organization’s mission. This position reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer and oversees a team of four.
The Chief Development Officer is responsible for achieving the following key results:
Drive the execution of the recently launched Capital Raise, with a goal of raising $50 million over the next five years.
Develop and oversee implementation of an effective fundraising plan to be executed by A Better Chicago’s Board, Leadership Council, and staff.
Drive strong performance of the Development team, especially relating to Board meeting preparation, fundraising analysis, and gifts management.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Development Strategy
Lead the Development team in meeting specific targets by analyzing and utilizing systems, strategy, and staffing required in order to meet ambitious fundraising objectives. Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals, institutional prospects, and donors.
Lead the design and continuous refinement of both annual and long-term strategic development plans, comprised of diverse revenue sources including foundation grants, major gifts, corporate sponsorship, and annual and multi-year donations.
Drive the exploration of new fundraising approaches and initiatives.
Partner with and advise the CEO on all matters related to fundraising.
Analyze A Better Chicago’s fundraising history and current development landscape in order to develop fundraising strategies that include ambitious revenue targets, quantitative metrics of success, and qualitative goals.
Development Execution
Provide accurate projections for budgetary and financial reports, and monitor/report on performance against plan and budget.
Oversee the Development team in implementing ambitious fundraising plans; develop and maintain a culture of results-orientation, accountability, and motivation.
Continually evaluate, refine and/or redesign fundraising systems, practices and policies in order to support fundraising efforts; maintain high functioning infrastructure for pipeline development and tracking, grant reporting, list management, and overall donor outreach and engagement.
Direct and oversee development of processes in Salesforce related to Development.
Relationship Management
Maintain strong relationships with A Better Chicago’s Board, Leadership Council, donors, and other partners.
Work collaboratively across the organization to solicit input and coordinate the participation of the development, program, finance, and Executive Team (ET) in designing and implementing fundraising strategies.
Collaborate with the CEO, Board, Leadership Council, Development team, and other key stakeholders to share best practices and fundraising strategies.
Management + Leadership
Provide organizational leadership by serving on A Better Chicago’s Executive Team
Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing development team, providing ongoing coaching, support, and professional development opportunities.
Establish and hold the team accountable for annual performance goals and support identification of professional development opportunities to expand skills and competencies.
Serve as a liaison to the board and work with the CEO and COO to create Board meeting content related to development.
Oversee coordination and alignment within the team as well as across teams, including management of annual development calendars and budgets.
All other duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS
Demonstrated success in cultivating and soliciting high-net-worth individuals, corporate partners, and foundations.
A dynamic and robust track record of relevant professional experience, including working in a leadership capacity managing large budgets and teams.
Demonstrated success managing high performing teams and leading team members to full potential with emphasis on professional development.
Deep understanding of nonprofit fundraising and development strategies.
Significant experience leading and growing successful fundraising functions including building strategies to strengthen and increase funding from a diverse range of sources; experience creating and executing a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign.
The ability to proactively and creatively develop new ideas, solve problems, and motivate a team to reach ambitious fundraising goals.
Demonstrated expertise in fundraising infrastructure, including skills in designing and refining fundraising systems in order to optimize a development team’s efforts and effectively deploy key stakeholders.
Experience with Salesforce preferred, but not required.
Excellent decision-making skills and the ability to balance multiple data points, stakeholders, and overall funding landscape in designing and implementing fundraising strategies.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and collaborative environment, as well as an interest in advancing the organization’s fundraising function to be even more strategic, innovative, and results-oriented.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Commitment to A Better Chicago’s mission and values and ability to operate with the highest degree of integrity in representing the organization.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
A Better Chicago offers an excellent benefits package, which includes:
Salary range starts at $200,000 and is commensurate with experience
Medical, dental and vision insurance
Short-term and long-term disability insurance
401K plan with company contribution
Significant paid time off, including three weeks of vacation, five sick days and 15 days off for public holidays and office closure
Hybrid work environment – 2 days required in office per week
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
A Better Chicago is a venture philanthropy that invests in the most promising nonprofits helping children escape poverty. We’re a supercharger. We have deployed more than $73 million to help the nonprofits in our portfolio grow. Our donors want to make pivotal, well researched investments that lift the outlook for our city.
We believe that education is the best route out of poverty. But too many Chicago children, particularly on the South and West Sides, lack the resources to learn and thrive. In order to succeed, they need programs that support their academic and social growth, while keeping them safe and meeting their essential needs.
While traditional philanthropies focus on established nonprofits, A Better Chicago aims to find and nurture promising early initiatives, or ones just beyond that stage that are on the cusp of expansion. Often, they are run by local leaders who live or grew up in the communities they serve. We employ a venture capital approach: We raise money from donors who want to maximize their impact, and we invest in innovative youth-serving nonprofits that have the potential to expand exponentially. We vet them rigorously before investing, and our continued support depends on them meeting mutually agreed milestones. As with a venture capital fund, our goal is for our investments to eventually flourish without us. We provide unrestricted funding, renewed annually based on performance. We also provide ongoing guidance and resources to help nonprofits grow. This includes funding or in-kind support for specific needs, such as strategic planning, marketing and communications, executive development or hiring. Our administrative expenses are covered by our board, ensuring that every donor dollar is deployed to the nonprofits we support.
When founded in 2010, A Better Chicago was modeled after a venture capital fund that could build a more equitable city by breaking the cycle of generational poverty. Chicago is one of the most segregated large cities in America: One in four children here lives in poverty, with Black and Latinx youth on the city’s South and West sides most affected. Three in four Chicago Public Schools students rely on schools for their primary source for meals.
A Better Chicago’s mission is to fight poverty through opportunity, creating an on-ramp for youth to the middle class. As of 2023, A Better Chicago’s investment portfolio includes 27 nonprofits that support children from cradle to career.
Key elements of A Better Chicago's model include:
Rigorous due diligence: A Better Chicago carefully screens organizations and only funds those that have strong leadership, a compelling program model and a demonstrated commitment to outcomes measurement.
Adding value: It takes more than just money. A Better Chicago provides strategic support in areas like business planning, executive search and leadership development—all of which are critical to building strong organizations and achieving meaningful outcomes.
Results: A Better Chicago's team works tirelessly so that every dollar raised has the maximum possible impact. The organization openly shares its performance because it believes in accountability. It's part of how A Better Chicago is transforming philanthropy.
100% impact: A Better Chicago's board of directors and leadership council cover all of our administrative costs, so 100 percent of all donations are supporting our portfolio of outstanding nonprofits.
Since launching in 2010, A Better Chicago has made compelling progress:
Raised over $73 million to invest in Chicago's most effective nonprofits.
Built a board, leadership council, impact council and high-performing staff.
Reviewed close to 1000 organizations and built a portfolio of 27 high-performing organizations.
Developed partnerships with leading professional services firms to help grantees tackle their most pressing strategic and operational challenges.
Created an Emergency Relief Fund that has invested nearly $2.5 million to support 47 local initiatives during the COVID19 pandemic.
Launched and implemented the $7.5M Chicago Design Challenge to accelerate learning recovery and address the mental health challenges of youth most affected by the pandemic.
OUR COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY
A Better Chicago is committed to advancing racial equity and ensuring Chicago youth are economically mobile and thriving in education, career, and life. Given this nation’s longstanding history of systemic inequity, we focus our efforts on funding and scaling ideas that expand opportunities for Black and Latinx youth, with particular emphasis on those ideas coming directly from the communities we serve. Our commitment is reflected in our strategic investment priorities, as well as our business operations, as we work to measure the impact of our portfolio investments, staffing, and contracting.
We are devoted to aligning our policies, practices, and resources to foster equitable opportunity for all. As we continue in our mission to build a Chicago where low-income, Black, and Latinx youth can thrive, we are also dedicated to building an anti-racist organization in which all of our stakeholders feel empowered to learn about and dismantle barriers to opportunity. We know this work is complex, but our commitment is durable, and we intend to be an active and engaged participant in the necessary work to elevate solutions for creating a more just and equitable world.
A Better Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds.
A Better Chicago is a venture philanthropy that invests in the most promising nonprofits helping children escape poverty. We’re a supercharger. We have deployed more than $73 million to help the nonprofits in our portfolio grow. Our donors want to make pivotal, well researched investments that lift the outlook for our city.
We believe that education is the best route out of poverty. But too many Chicago children, particularly on the South and West Sides, lack the resources to learn and thrive. In order to succeed, they need programs that support their academic and social growth, while keeping them safe and meeting their essential needs.
While traditional philanthropies focus on established nonprofits, A Better Chicago aims to find and nurture promising early initiatives, or ones just beyond that stage that are on the cusp of expansion. Often, they are run by local leaders who live or grew up in the communities they serve. We employ a venture capital approach: We raise money from
