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 ALICE WATERS INSTITUTE
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

 
 

THIS IS A HYBRID POSITION BASED IN BERKELEY, CA. THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE MUST RESIDE IN CALIFORNIA FULL-TIME.

ABOUT ALICE WATERS INSTITUTE (AWI)

Alice Waters Institute (AWI) is a brand-new initiative, created by Alice Waters, legendary chef, food activist, and the founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley (est. 1971). She has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. Inspired by her training as a Montessori teacher, she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project in 1995, which provides free curricula to over 6,500 schools around the world to teach academic subjects with food in a garden or kitchen classroom setting.

Alice Waters Institute (AWI) is dedicated to advancing regenerative agriculture through the power of food procurement – specifically in our nation’s public schools – where the values of community, nourishment, equity, and stewardship can be conveyed to the next generation through food.

AWI builds on Alice Waters’ more than 50 years of impact at Chez Panisse and over 25 years of developing curricula for the Edible Schoolyard Project and its worldwide network of more than 6,700-schools. AWI is already partnering with a diverse group of education institutions to demonstrate that shifting to a local, seasonal, regenerative organic menu is achievable at scale, developing guides that can be used by schools and universities across the world and later adapted by food professionals across myriad settings. Multiple pilots across California are already underway.

The AWI initiative is being incubated at the Edible Schoolyard Project with plans to spin it out as a separate 501c3. Linda Burch, former co-founder and Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Common Sense Media has been named the new CEO of this exciting and revolutionary organization.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Director of Development (DOD) serves as an active thought partner working in concert with the CEO in resource strategy for AWI. The DOD will be instrumental in engaging the Board and the CEO in the creation and implementation of a short term and long‐term fund development strategy that can sustain and strengthen resource needs for the entire organization. 

The DOD will help forge new relationships to build the organization’s visibility, impact, and financial resources. Additionally, the DOD will design and implement a comprehensive plan for developing key external alliances by engaging new individual donors and foundations.

The DOD will be responsible for achieving annual fundraising goals of $5M growing to $10M+ over the next 3-5 years through a variety of revenue streams including cultivation and solicitation of individual major and leadership gifts, foundation grants, planning and executing events, and recruiting corporate support. The DOD is responsible for spearheading the development and implementation of the annual fundraising plan and periodic campaigns. The DOD will work closely with the CEO of AWI and Founder Alice Waters to cultivate and solicit 6- and 7-figure leadership gifts and foundation grants, track actual revenue against budget forecasts, and generate reports for the management team and Board of Directors.

The DOD will concurrently be responsible for developing and executing an annual communications calendar for both online, direct mail, and printed promotional materials throughout the year. In addition, the DOD will produce an annual report and quarterly updates for the public pertaining to the work of the organization. All communications will help to engage the AWI vision on a national and international platform across a broad group of constituents and stakeholders.

The DOD will have primary responsibility for establishing and implementing the infrastructure needed to grow a $10M budget through the solicitation of major gifts and foundation support.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

This position reports to the CEO, Linda Burch.  The position currently supervises one Development Associate and works closely with key volunteers and stakeholders.

OPPORTUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Salary range is $125,000 - $135,000 plus a bonus plan.

  • Benefits include:

o   Fully paid health insurance coverage for you and your eligible dependents including dental, vision, chiropractic, and acupuncture.

o   Accrued vacation: Two weeks year one, three weeks after one year of continuous employment, four weeks after three years of continuous
employment, five weeks after five years of continuous employment

o   403b retirement plan with 5% ESYP contribution after one year

o   The usual federal, state, and city holidays including three days at Thanksgiving and five days over Winter Break

AWI is seeking a person with a strategic mindset and great interpersonal skills who can engage with a wide audience and is highly skilled in fundraising management. This is an exciting opportunity for a social-impact minded candidate with a passion for transforming our food and agriculture system for the health of people and the planet.

YOU ARE A

  • Fearless fundraising executive with an entrepreneurial spirit who is excited by the opportunity to successfully build a comprehensive fundraising program.

  • Bold, decisive, and dynamic self-starter who endeavors to enhance the level of internal strategic thinking and bring the team along to ensure successful implementation.

  • Catalyst and inspiration to the internal team, Board, and volunteers to act on big ideas that steer the organization through the ambitious process of scaling and expanding to meet the resource needs of this exciting enterprise.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Fundraising

  • Work with management staff, CEO, and Board of Directors to implement an annual development plan that achieves an annual fundraising goal of $5M growing to $10M+ in 3-5 years.

  • Research, identify and prioritize new individual donors, foundations, and corporate and other funding opportunities.

  • Develop strategies for individual donor cultivation, set up/hold donor meetings, write letter proposals, and execute successful solicitations.

  • Build relationships with foundation program officers and manage a collaborative grant writing process involving multiple team members, including structuring, and writing proposals, grant reports, and communicating with grantors.

  • Plan and execute AWI’s cultivation and annual fundraising events, including defining event program, recruiting committee hosts, and gaining corporate and family foundation sponsorships.’

  • Manage an organization-wide fundraising calendar with deadlines for proposals, reports, activities, and events.

  • Provide detailed reports about the fundraising progress on a regular basis and evaluate effectiveness of fundraising activities.

  • Oversee development operations and collaborate with the Finance Department on gift processing, ensuring that records are maintained and that funders are acknowledged in a timely fashion.

Development Communications

  • Oversee development operations and collaborate with the Finance Department on gift processing, ensuring that records are maintained and that funders are acknowledged in a timely fashion.

  • Develop and maintain an annual communications strategy, calendar, and work-plan in partnership with the CEO and office of the Founder.

  • Lead the execution and dissemination of content and messaging, including regular donor communications, social media, newsletters, and website content.

  • Manage deadlines, schedules, and assets for all communications projects including website content, newsletters, direct mail appeals, and the annual report.

  • Direct the process for designed printed collateral and promotional materials annually.

COMPETENCIES

  • Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in nonprofit fundraising/development and communications, including online marketing or a demonstrated track record that matches this experience.

  • Successful track record of overseeing a leadership and major gifts program.  Capital campaign, an endowment campaign, and/or a planned giving program experience is a plus.

  • Success in identifying, cultivating, and directly soliciting major gifts.

  • Success writing and winning grants from significant national foundations.

  • Experience working with the Bay Area’s philanthropic community, with knowledge of climate, education, and food system funders a significant plus.

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including strong presentation skills.

  • Ability to effectively structure and work with a donor database to track donor “moves” and history and generate fundraising reports. Experience with Salesforce strongly preferred.

  • Excellent computer skills, direct experience working with website development, social media, and newsletter services.

  • Stellar time-management skills with the ability to plan, organize, and prioritize workload and manage multiple projects simultaneously.

  • Experience with content management systems and proficiency in Google Suite and Microsoft tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Adobe Creative Cloud tools (Photoshop, Dreamweaver). This is a Mac environment.

  • Enthusiasm for regenerative organic agriculture and food systems that address climate change, children’s health, and education.

  • Ability to motivate and reward a team of colleagues in pursuit of stated objectives.

  • An innovative mindset and ability to dream big, while being mindful of executing day-to-day tasks.

  • Strong, demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  • Entrepreneurial spirit – enthusiasm for growth and building.

EQUITY STATEMENT

“When you join our team, you are part of a curious, collaborative, equity-focused team that appreciates creativity and finds joy in our collective mission. We are deeply committed to providing an edible education using a whole-child educational model which teaches life skills, academics, environmental stewardship, and health in the garden, kitchen, and cafeteria classroom. Our work environment appeals to those who are self-starters, enjoy working as part of a small team and able to communicate and engage the ESYP vision.

Alice Waters Institute is an equal opportunity employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to age, race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, marital status, disability or protected veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.”

TO APPLY

To apply for this position, or for additional information on the opportunity, please upload your documents here.

All applications and inquiries will receive a response and be kept strictly confidential.