About Braven
We believe that the next generation of leaders will emerge from everywhere. We empower promising college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact. Learn more about Braven’s impact:
https://impactreport.bebraven.org/
https://jobsreport.bebraven.org/
Braven was named one of America’s Best Startup Employers 2022 by Forbes! We’re proud to be a nonprofit organization that values its employees and has always been committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace that mirrors our country.
About the Role
In order to achieve its ambition of serving 40,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven must be highly strategic in how it builds brilliant relationships and compelling narrative in service of its mission. In that effort, Braven is hiring a Director of Development who will play a pivotal role in the organization’s ambitious philanthropic fundraising goals (at least ~$65M over the next three years) through stewarding a portfolio of its most critical champions. Additionally, as a member of the External Affairs team, you will lead the creation and iteration of the set of systems that the national and regional teams use to set strategies for, support, and train regions to hit their ambitious philanthropic revenue goals.
What You’ll Do:
- Leveraging strong communication and thoughtful cultivation & stewardship strategies to influence and motivate a portfolio of new and existing individual and foundation supporters with the goal of bringing in significant revenue in the national philanthropic funding stream.
- Stellar writing and strategic storytelling to compelling capture our narrative for donors (updating our 4 year development narrative grant proposals, creating fundraising presentations, engaging with donors)
- Leading annual goal setting process in partnership with Chief Operations and Finance Officer and reviewing weekly progress to goals with regional teams and relevant central staff members; report monthly to the national board on progress to goals.
- Coordinating with regional Executive Directors to understand pain points, brainstorm solutions, navigate differences, set vision and direction, and maintain alignment among all staff who contribute to the philanthropic pipeline
- Creating and managing efficient and smart systems, infrastructure and tools (tracking our fundraising pipeline, creating donor briefs, leading on operations for national fundraising events, managing our approach to donor stewardship, maintain most up to date resources on External Affairs hub, etc)
- Identify and disseminate best practices for optimized cultivation and maximized engagement across regions and teams, including around donor stewardship and donor related events
- Creating content and facilitating development trainings for External Affairs Managers, Executive Directors, or Development team members to support ambitious philanthropic revenue goals.
Qualifications & Skills:
Braven is looking for a compelling storyteller, who drives strong relationships and projects forward. You are bringing experiences and strengths like these:
- You have 7 years of experience with a proven track record of managing complex projects and producing results
- You derive energy from relationship building with a variety of stakeholders, and have strong communication skills. You care about engaging with and leaving a strong impression on our external stakeholders, from donors and guests to students and volunteers, and are eager to go above and beyond.
- You’re excited to apply your strategic thinking, stellar storytelling, and organizing skills to support Braven’s mission
- You love the intersection of creativity and strategy.
- You’re extremely detail-oriented and sweat the small stuff.
- You’re eager to identify and discuss areas for growth, so that you can quickly learn and grow in them.
- You have a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.
- You exemplify Braven’s core values.
- Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.
Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.
Additional Requirements
- Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL), Atlanta (GA), New York City (NY), or Newark (NJ)
- Authorized to work in the US
- Must be fully vaccinated and have received the Booster vaccination against COVID-19 and provide proof of such by the date of hire. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. Exempted individuals will be subject to weekly testing if they engage in any in-person work activities.
Compensation and Benefits
The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $83,000 – $103,700 in Chicago; $78,900 – $98,600 in Atlanta; and $89,600 – $112,000 in Newark and New York City. Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.
Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include:
- Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide, week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year
- Up to match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
- Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium
- A one month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff
Location
When social distancing is not in place, we gather in the office three days a week. Therefore, we require teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our four hubs: Chicago, Atlanta, New York City, or Newark. Each teammate can use two flex days of their choosing per week to work remotely. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
At Braven, we are committed to attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining a diverse team. Braven operates in the context of our American culture, against the backdrop of systemic racism and oppression of marginalized people since our country’s founding. We are committed to assembling leaders at our organization who have emerged from everywhere, with a particular emphasis on those who share the racial and income backgrounds of our Fellows, and creating an inclusive culture that allows all teammates, of all experiences and identities, to thrive.
Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor. We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.
