Vice President OF Development

Vice PresidentThis role carries dual accountability. On the fundraising side, the Vice President is responsible for the council's total contributed revenue, donor pipeline, stewardship quality, and long-term philanthropic growth. On the regional side, the Vice President is responsible for regional total girl membership, retention, volunteer satisfaction, and program participation.The Vice President is accountable for total contributed revenue versus the annual goal. This includes all major gifts, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, annual fund contributions, planned giving commitments, and special event net revenue. The Vice President is also accountable for regional girl membership growth versus the annual target, the metric that reflects whether the regional team is recruiting, retaining, and serving girls effectively. These dual metrics ensure the Vice President invests in both the council's financial sustainability and its mission delivery.Fundraising Strategy & Major GiftsThe Vice President sets the strategic direction for all council fundraising. This begins with the annual development plan: revenue targets by source (major gifts, corporate, foundation, annual fund, events, planned giving), donor segmentation, donor engagement strategies, and calendar of solicitations and stewardship touchpoints. The Vice President personally manages a portfolio of major-gift prospects and donors (individuals and organizations capable of five-figure or larger contributions). The Vice President conducts introduction, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship meetings, partnering with the CEO and Board members for peer-level asks. The Vice President builds the case for support by connecting donor interests to specific council programs, experiences, and outcomes — leveraging the Vice President's direct knowledge of Bakersfield operations and girl impact stories. For corporate and foundation giving, the Vice President identifies prospects, develops proposals, manages grant reporting, and cultivates multi-year partnerships.Donor StewardshipThe Vice President oversees the council's annual fund campaign, the broad giving program that builds the pipeline for future major donors. This includes campaign design, direct mail and digital engagement, and tactics such as online giving days and employer giving programs. The VP partners with the Lead, Marketing on donor communications: appeal letters, impact reports, social media fundraising, and email campaigns. The Vice President also owns the council's stewardship program: ensuring that every donor, from first-time annual fund contributors to legacy planned-giving donors, receives timely acknowledgment, meaningful impact reports, and ongoing engagement. Donor retention is a critical metric – the Vice President monitors lapsed-donor rates and designs strategies to reignite their interest in order to protect the council's giving base.Special Events & Community FundraisingThe Vice President oversees the council's fundraising events including galas, luncheons, golf tournaments, or other signature events that serve as both revenue generators and community engagement platforms. The Vice President is responsible for event strategy: determining which events to continue, refresh, or sunset based on net revenue, donor cultivation value, and staff capacity. The VP manages event committees on the board, secures sponsorships and underwriting, and ensures that events advance the council's brand and donor relationships rather than consuming staff resources disproportionate to their return. Similar to the function of the Vice President, Strategy and Evaluation, when the requirements of hosting the event exceed the VP's capacity, this role engages Regional Directors to utilize Specialists to carry out execution tasks. The Vice President is responsible for the vision, training staff, and ensuring quality-control over tasks executed by a Specialist.Regional Executive OversightThe Vice President is the senior executive responsible for all council operations within the Kern County region. This includes oversight of the Regional Manager who supports Regional Generalists that deliver programs, support troops, recruit girls and volunteers, and execute campaigns in the region. The Vice President sets regional priorities in alignment with council-wide strategy, allocates staff time and resources across competing demands, and monitors regional performance against membership, retention, and program participation targets. The Vice President conducts regular check-ins with the Regional Manager, reviews Generalist caseloads and performance, and makes staffing and resource decisions for the region. The Vice President builds and maintains key community relationships, such as school districts, community organizations, corporate partners, and local government officials, creating conditions for Girl Scouting to thrive in Bakersfield. Because the Vice President also leads fundraising, these community relationships often serve dual purposes: advancing both program delivery and philanthropic engagement.Escalation & Stakeholder ManagementThe Vice President also serves as the bridge between regional realities and enterprise strategy — bringing ground-level insights into executive planning and translating executive priorities into regionally relevant action. The Vice President's unique position as both fundraiser and regional leader means the Vice President can directly connect donor stewardship to on-the-ground mission delivery — a powerful advantage in cultivation and retention conversations.The Vice President provides strategic oversight of the council's Expanded Learning Program (ELP) partnerships, working with school districts, after-school providers, and community organizations to expand access to Girl Scouting. The Vice President is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with school district leaders, identifying growth opportunities, supporting partnership development, and ensuring ELP initiatives align with council membership and mission goals.The Vice President is accountable for ELP participation, partner satisfaction, program quality, and contract compliance. While the Vice President may secure and manage district partnerships across the council footprint, responsibility for staffing, implementation, and day-to-day execution resides with the Regional Executive in the district's geographic area.REQUIRED COMPETENCIES:• Visionary: A strategic thinker who can drive the vision for GSCCS marketing and communications efforts, which ultimately benefits the lives of girls throughout our community.• Servant-Leader: Leads with humility, empathy and awareness; actively contributes to employees' ability to reach their goals and thrive at GSCCS.• Collaborative: Fosters a respectful, transparent, and collaborative work environment.• Community-minded: Skilled at connecting with individuals across all socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, and professional backgrounds in the community.• Proactive & Perseverant: A self-starter who demonstrates strong personal initiative and the ability to drive projects through to completion.• Positive: Charismatic, warm and welcoming; a true "people-person."• Growth Mindset: Says "yes" to appropriate, new opportunities and ideas for GSCCS.• Analytical: Ability to carefully study issues, identify trends, and formulate new ideas.• Revenue Ownership Mindset — takes personal accountability for financial results and treats revenue targets as commitments, not aspirations• Strategic Planning & Forecasting: builds data-informed revenue plans, maintains rolling forecasts, and adjusts strategy as conditions change• Data-Driven Decision-Making: uses sales trends, participation data, and market analysis to identify opportunities and inform resource allocation• Cross-Functional Leadership: leads and influences across departments, particularly during peak seasons when coordinated execution is critical• Operational Execution: translates strategy into staffing plans, timelines, and performance benchmarks, then manages execution with discipline and adaptability• Business Development: identifies, evaluates, and develops new revenue opportunities that align with organizational mission and brand• Adaptive: Comfortable with multi-tasking; able to work both independently and in teams.• Reflective: Skilled at receiving and giving feedback and performance critiques.• Tact & Diplomacy: Patient, willing, and able to have the difficult conversations as required.• Communicative: Strong written and oral communication skills. An effective public speaker and representative of the organization.• Flexible: Ability to work evenings and weekends as required.SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS:Required:• Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, business administration, communications, or a related discipline; CFRE certification preferred• 7–10 years of progressive experience in nonprofit fundraising and development, including at least 3 years in a leadership role managing teams and budgets• Demonstrated track record in major gifts: personal experience cultivating, soliciting, and closing five-figure or larger contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations• Proven ability to lead and develop staff, setting clear expectations, providing coaching and feedback, managing performance, and building team culture• Experience as a senior leader responsible for a geographic region, territory, or market, comfortable serving as the executive point of escalation for staff and stakeholder issues• Strong community engagement skills: building and maintaining relationships with donors, corporate partners, school districts, civic organizations, and community leaders• Experience managing fundraising budgets, forecasting contributed revenue, and reporting to a Board or executive leadership on development performance• Excellent written and verbal communication skills – able to craft compelling cases for support, represent the organization to donors and media, and present to the board• Strategic thinker who can translate enterprise priorities into actionable regional and functional plansPreferred:• Experience in a Girl Scout council or similar youth-serving,