Chief Development Officer

Jewish Community Center East Bay
Chief Development Officer (CDO)

JCC East Bay seeks a fundraising executive to complete the Capital and Endowment campaign to fund the in-process East Bay Jewish Community Campus buildout and drive Annual Fund solicitations to strengthen both programming and Campus infrastructure.

The JCC East Bay will mark a historic milestone in its 47-year history by opening its three-acre East Bay Jewish Community Campus and uniting many Jewish organizations in one central location. The Campus offers an innovative model for collaboration and engagement across intellectual, cultural, spiritual and social life, with opening celebrations scheduled for early 2027.

This Campus is the first of its kind in the East Bay and is located in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. Anchored by expanded JCC East Bay facilities, the site will be home to a network of up to 20 Jewish nonprofit organizations and will bring together early childhood education, arts and culture, wellness, learning and community in one vibrant location rooted in Jewish values. Encompassing over 128,000 square feet, the site was previously occupied by Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream headquarters and Yoshi’s Restaurant & Jazz Club.

The Campus offers outdoor spaces that encourage community connection and a platform for programming in the central courtyard that includes a meadow area, reflection garden, ball court and seating areas. The Campus will also feature a performance venue with capacity to entertain over 200 patrons, flexible multi‐use spaces and an outdoor deck. These features provide the East Bay with a sought-after setting for year-round programming. Events will center on arts, ideas and Jewish culture, featuring local, national and international artists and thinkers.

Enclosed areas include:

• Office space, including shared meetings rooms and other facilities in the main building
• A spacious early childhood education center with outdoor play areas and a sensory room
• A health and wellness studio
• Classrooms for adult learning
• A kosher café
• A catering and teaching kitchen
• An intimate library
• A dedicated teen center

The JCC East Bay is approximately halfway through its $125M Capital Campaign. The property was purchased by a real estate developer and philanthropist who began redeveloping it in 2019. The property is within close walking distance to the Rockridge BART station, and the neighborhood is home to a broad range of small businesses, restaurants, cafes and shops, with a strong residential presence.

The Campus operates on a shared-expense model that is designed to fully and sustainably fund the facility as a constantly refreshed host to the nonprofits it supports. The financial model relies on rental income from retail business, a shared expense model with onsite partners, and a Campus endowment to offset common operating expenses such as security, utilities, maintenance, landscaping, infrastructure and periodic upgrades.

The CDO will orchestrate all JCC and Campus donor solicitations and stewardship, enabling the JCC to play a central role in advancing the Jewish community in the East Bay.

BASIC FUNCTION

Reporting to and working in concert with JCC East Bay’s Chief Executive Officer and serving as a key member of the Executive Team, the CDO will complete the Capital Campaign and will also optimize earned revenue from ticketed events, contributed revenue from individual and foundation donors, business and other sponsorships, and in-kind contributions that are routed to Capital, Endowment and Annual fundraising.

The CDO orchestrates all JCC donor engagement, solicitation and stewardship, enabling the JCC to play a central role in advancing the Jewish community in the East Bay. Additionally, the CDO guides donor engagement and stewardship and harvests information on Campus users and prospective users in order to help bring this transformational project to completion.

The CDO manages a current fundraising team of three employees. As an operating unit this team is responsible for:

• Leveraging and Analyzing Data on donors, prospective donors and all individuals and organizations that use the Campus space. This information will be used to target, qualify, approach and build a case for support from donors of significant capacity.
• Major Gift Solicitations, including developing a pipeline of major gifts for the Annual Fund and Principal and Transformational gifts for Capital and Endowment Campaigns, with a robust program of direct solicitations by members of the team, the CDO, the CEO and Board members.
• Planned Giving Solicitations & Grants, including developing case statements and grant materials, targeting family and other foundations, soliciting government grants, and developing business sponsorships for programs offered at JCC East Bay.
• Special Events (Ribbon Cutting and Campus Opening Events) , ensuring the Board is engaged in fundraising, working closely with honorees to identify those in their network that could provide philanthropic support and strategically developing corporate sponsorships.

The CDO will work with the CEO (and Board’s Development and Capital Campaign Committees) to: set long-term and annual fundraising targets and strategies; hire staff support for fundraising; actively cultivate and directly solicit leadership-level donors; involve the CEO and Board members as appropriate; and be responsible for other fundraising-related tasks typically executed by a CDO of a similarly scaled organization. Responsibilities include:

SHAPE STRATEGY & STANDARDS

• Lead development of meaningful annual and campaign fundraising plans.
• Set fundraising objectives and track progress at the individual and team levels, including for the CEO and Board.
• Shape the case for support, budgets, proposals, cultivation events and reporting.
• Implement strong standards for written materials and communications, grants, workflows, targeting and analysis of donors, events, moves-management processes, reporting, stewardship and other aspects of the fundraising lifecycle.

SOLICITATIONS

• Carry a personal portfolio of major individual and institutional donors and prospects, with a personal focus on the highest net worth individuals, foundations and corporate donors.
• Provide thoughtful counsel to staff on donor strategy, support during direct solicitations, and monitor all portfolios for progress toward goals. Provide training on different philanthropic tactics and approaches needed to secure gifts from individual and institutional donors.
• Work with members of the Board and other fundraising volunteers to identify, qualify, cultivate and solicit donors. Model best practices for Board engagement in fundraising within the context of portfolio management.

MANAGEMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Develop, manage and inspire a mission-driven, focused and high-performing team. Encourage transparency, accountability, cross-functional collaboration and cohesion, and a culture where new ideas are embraced.
• Promote external visibility for the JCC East Bay and the Campus, always prioritizing funder-facing meetings, interactions and events in collaboration with marketing and communications personnel. Reach donors through newsletters, impact reports, direct response, personal meetings, events, etc.
• Manage the Development Department’s revenue and expense budget, working closely with the Finance Team to align to financial targets and to prepare reports and financial case statements required for major gift solicitations from individual and institutional donors.
• Oversee the continued refinement of donor tracking systems and workflows for pipeline development, donor research, donor engagement, stewardship, reporting, etc., including the use of data analytics.

BOARD RELATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

• Work with the JCC Board Development Committee and the Campus Board Capital Fundraising Committee to review and approve the annual budget for contributed and earned revenue, including goals and metrics for the Committees. Help individual Committee members execute their assignments.
• Attend and present at Board meetings and Committee meetings; support the CEO’s Board and volunteer recruitment efforts.

QUALIFICATIONS

The CDO will be a highly relational fundraiser who can inspire generosity, cultivate deep partnerships, and build a culture of philanthropy across the organization. The CDO will have a minimum of ten years of fundraising and development experience with at least five years in a senior leadership role overseeing operational and performance outcomes.

Critical to the success of the CDO is the ability to lead by example, personally driving major and leadership-level gift solicitations while also recruiting, training, inspiring and bringing cohesion to an evolving Development Team. In addition, the successful candidate will possess the following:

• A record of personal success in raising leadership-level gifts, including seven-figure level gifts and above from individuals, foundations, corporations and community partners at sizable organizations.
• Commitment to the mission of the JCC East Bay and the vision of the Campus, combined with experience soliciting funds in the San Francisco Bay Area region and from funders of Jewish communal organizations is desired; essential is the ability to connect with the kinds of donors that will be targeted, including executive-level and senior business professionals in the technology, life sciences, biotech, healthcare, finance and venture capital fields, as well as philanthropic donors and nonprofit and government professionals.
• Experience shaping fundraising systems and data for donor segmentation, workflow management and reporting purposes.
• An authentic, confident and seasoned communicator with exceptional written, verbal and presentation skills. A good listener; intrepid yet tactful; determined yet with the flexibility to find alternative ways to reach funding objectives when barriers arise; a skilled negotiator who does not drive themselves or others into a corner; a person able to analyze and formulate disparate information into sound, well-organized plans.
• Skilled at motivating, directing and managing staff, Board members and consultants and in coordinating and supporting the fundraising activities of others.
• Emotionally mature; the flexibility and sensitivity to work with diverse personalities and situations; a sense of humor and perspective.
• Willing and able to work on-site full time and attend evening and weekend events both on and off the East Bay Jewish Community Campus as needed.

The compensation range for this position is $225,000 - $275,000 based on experience. The JCC East Bay offers excellent benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, vacation, sick pay and holidays (including Jewish holidays).

For more information please contact:
Lisa Grossman
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Steve Oppenheim
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Mark Oppenheim
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m/Oppenheim Executive Search
San Francisco, CA