Vice President of Development

Ascend Dallas is a nonprofit organization committed to helping women and families create their path to a better life through financial security and parenting supports. Formerly the YWCA of Dallas, Ascend Dallas served 3,000 women this past year through programs that include in-home healthcare for low-income women, one-on-one financial coaching, robust financial resilience curriculum, and career development and placement. If you want to make a lasting impact in the lives of women and children in Dallas County, work with a team of passionate professionals – Ascend Dallas is the place for you.

The Vice President of Development is primarily responsible for establishing and implementing the infrastructure needed to deliver and grow a $5.7M budget. A qualified candidate will manage all aspects of the agency’s fund-raising strategy including major gifts, annual giving, corporate/foundation relations, sponsor ships, and special events. The VP of Development shares responsibility with the CEO for stewarding key philanthropic relationships. VP of Development serves as the primary liaison to the Board Development Committee providing content and structure to development committee meetings, ensuring each meeting’s efficiency and effectiveness, keeping members engaged and focused on fundraising goals for the agency.

In addition, this position ensures the effective design, development and implementation of a communications and public relations program to build awareness of Ascend Dallas and the Ascend Dallas brand attributes.

The VP of Development is a member of the executive team who works collaboratively with all departments within the agency to craft and implement meaningful opportunities for donors to become emotionally invested in the Ascend Dallas mission. The VP of Development sits on the leadership team along with the CEO, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer to provide strategy, vision and content expertise for the future of the agency.

This position reports directly to the CEO and oversees a team of 3 fundraising and communications professionals.

• Craft comprehensive fund-raising strategy to enable sustainable growth
• Lead the development team in building a more diversified donor base, including foundations, individuals, corporate giving and government grants
• Grow unrestricted giving to $1M+ level
• Research funding sources and trends, with foresight, to help position Ascend Dallas ahead of major funding changes or trends
• Recruit and train volunteer leadership to assist with implementation of fundraising strategy
• Provide strategy and implementation for agency’s North Texas Giving Day efforts – meeting and exceeding previous year’s revenue– including comms strategy, individual board members’ fundraising, securing matching gifts and all donor stewardship

• Proactively develop and drive the strategic process for identification, cultivation, solicitation, and recognition of major donors
• Manage personal portfolio of major donors/prospects as well as assists CEO with personal portfolio management
• Build volunteer team to assist in major gift solicitations

• Primary responsibility for the writing, development, and execution of all proposals; craft all proposals with a long-term relationship-management approach
• Ensures planning, development, and implementation of the annual campaign
• Oversees and provides direction on special events, securing major corporate and individual sponsor ships
• Meet and exceed revenue goals
• Responsible for all P&L
• Collaborate with and manage external vendors to execute all details
• Serve as primary point of contact for event chair, honorary chair, award recipient, and any/all volunteers working towards a successful event

• Working alongside the CEO, develops and implements an integrated communication plan that ensures consistency of messages to achieve major impact for resource development, social media and program promotion
• Raises awareness of the organization and its primary goals through outreach efforts, regular events in the community,…