Vice President of Philanthropy, Southern California

Company Description

DignityMoves is an innovative non-profit organization focused on reimagining scalable solutions to street homelessness. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, DignityMoves was founded in 2021 by a group of civic leaders interested in creating practical solutions to urgently end street homelessness.. In partnership with cities, supportive services agencies and private stakeholders, DignityMoves builds Interim Supportive Housing (ISH) communities fast and cost-effectively. Utilizing unused land, relocatable prefabricated units and emergency building provisions, we empower municipalities to address the homelessness epidemic with appropriate urgency. 

In addition to building ISH communities, DignityMoves is committed to driving systems change in the housing sector through thought leadership, policy support, and advocacy efforts focused on practical, timely solutions to combating the crisis on our streets. We work with state and local elected leaders to shift homelessness policy to urgently prioritize ending street homelessness while municipalities build the needed supply of permanent housing.  Perhaps most importantly, we aim to re-instill optimism that unsheltered homelessness can in fact be solved through a combination of innovative solutions, leveraging public-private partnerships, and an all-hands-on-deck approach. We acknowledge that unsheltered homelessness is only one component of a much larger and more complex issue, but it is the most visible, inhumane, and frankly, most solvable.

Our passionate team moves with a high sense of urgency and commitment to our mission. In just 4 years DignityMoves has successfully completed 10 ”tiny home” developments with nearly 800 beds that can serve over 11,500 individuals over the next 10 years. Based on the overwhelmingly positive success of our first communities, demand for our model has surged: DignityMoves currently has 10 additional projects currently in development across California that will more than double our capacity and is expanding nationally. Demand for our work far outpaces our current ability to scale, creating an urgent need for capacity-building support.

For more information, please visit www.dignitymoves.org

Purpose of the Role

The Vice President of Philanthropy, Southern California is a new position that reports to the Chief Strategy and Growth Officer and works closely with other members of the DignityMoves team.  The successful candidate will be a seasoned development professional responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and securing major individual gifts primarily in Southern California (or elsewhere as needed). Our fundraising needs are primarily to support expanding DignityMoves’ organizational capacity, though also include project-based philanthropy to augment other funding sources allocated to project capital costs.  

Core job responsibilities (laid out by competencies/areas of focus, including):

• Leadership
• Portfolio Management
• Volunteer Engagement
• Philanthropy Stewardship
• Fundraising Collateral
• Development Communications
• Events
• Other duties as assigned
• Prospect research
• Prospect tracking

Key Deliverables/Outcomes

• Meet fundraising targets and other key metrics.
• Prospect portfolio strategy and annual cadence of fundraising activities. 
• Expanded major gift prospect pipeline. 
• Prospect stewardship and engagement plans.
• Fundraising/stewardship material, collateral and briefings, and highly personalized proposals. 
• Flawlessly executed cultivation and stewardship events.
• Curated donor stewardship strategies and engagement plans. 
• Raise $2M dollars within a 24 month time-frame.

Required Qualifications

• 7-10 years of professional fundraising experience, with expertise in major gift cultivation and solicitation in the Los Angeles area, San Diego and Southern California generally. 
• Deep understanding of fundraising programs and major giving strategies. 
• Track record of building relationships with prospective and existing major gift level donors, ideally closing gifts of at least $100,000.
• Demonstrated experience building and growing a successful major gift program in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial start-up nonprofit environment. 
• Possesses a network in Southern California and an entrepreneurial spirit, capable of leveraging their own existing relationships. 
• Experience with strategy creation and execution.
• Superior oral and written communication and presentation skills. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills and high level emotional intelligence.
• Demonstrated track record of initiating, developing, growing, and maintaining long-term, authentic relationships with major gift-level donors and prospects. 
• An ability to work with donor data and analytics; accountability to metrics and KPIs. 
• A desire for collaboration, and ability to interact with individuals across the Development Team and broader organization. 
• A sense of humor and perspective. 
• A commitment to ending unsheltered homelessness and being a part of a broader movement in this space. 
• A bachelor’s degree is required.

Compensation: The salary range for this role is $135,000.00 - $150,000.00 plus a merit-based bonus.

Work Location: Hybrid, ideally based in the Los Angeles area with ability to travel regionally as needed.

Don’t check every box? Consider applying! Studies have shown that underrepresented communities are often less likely to apply to a job unless they feel they meet every single qualification. At DignityMoves, we are committed to building a diverse, equitable, accessible, and inclusive workplace. Give us the opportunity to learn more about you and let’s see what might be possible.