Vice President, Development

The Forward

Status: Full-time, exempt employee

Salary: $210,000 to $225,000

Location: Hybrid schedule of 2-3 days/week in person

Deadline: Applications best considered by early March. 

About the Forward

The Forward is America’s leading voice in Jewish journalism, delivering incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews.

Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish broadsheet, the Forward’s independent, non-ideological perspective on world and national news, and its unparalleled coverage of Jewish arts, culture, and opinion, have made it the most influential and widely read nationwide Jewish publication today. It has been honored with the most journalism awards of any Jewish media organization.

The Forward reaches more than 100 million viewers annually across its website, social media, email newsletters, events and podcasts. The Forward‘s free e-newsletters include the “Forwarding the News” morning briefing and others highlighting special interest areas, such as Yiddish and antisemitism.

Leading outlets turn to the Forward’s journalists for analysis and interviews, including The New York Times, CNN, Fox, NPR, Politico, Haaretz and The Washington Post. The Forward has been archived by the U.S. Library of Congress and named one of the top nonprofit news sites by Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab. 

Learn more by visiting www.forward.com. 

Position Overview

The Forward seeks a Vice President, Development to lead an ambitious fundraising program at a pivotal moment for the American Jewish community. The incoming Vice President will be a strategic, relational, and results-driven leader committed to the Forward’s mission and bring a successful record securing major gifts and philanthropic partnerships. 

This is a singular opportunity to build on the Forward’s recent momentum and raise funds to support bold new initiatives that reach new audiences. This role requires a confident and collaborative leader who can balance high-level strategy with hands-on donor engagement, inspire a team, and serve as a visible ambassador for the Forward for Jewish philanthropy and organizations that fund independent media.

The Forward is powered by philanthropy. The Development department, led by the Vice President, is responsible for raising $3.4 million, exclusively from foundations and major donors of $5,000 and above. A separate Membership department is responsible for donations under $5,000, which results in an additional ~$2 million from more than 20,000 sustaining members. The Forward's supporters ensure the publication is free and accessible for all.

Reporting to the CEO & Publisher, the Vice President is a key member of a collaborative executive team, leads a department of three, and maintains a close working relationship with the Board of Directors. They will strengthen and expand a culture of philanthropy across the organization and guide the development program into its next phase of growth—converting existing members to higher dollar donations, increasing the average major gift to $25,000+, strengthen institutional giving, and work with colleagues to diversify revenue streams to support new products, editorial priorities, and audience engagement.

Ideal candidates will be experienced development professionals with exceptional records securing major gifts, excellent team management skills, a talent for persuasive communication, and knowledge of Jewish philanthropy. They will have a deep commitment to the importance of independent Jewish journalism and its role in a healthy democracy. An energetic and disciplined approach will be essential to implementing a multi-year plan to grow revenue.

Specific areas of responsibilities include:

Development Strategy and Revenue Growth

• Activate a multi-year strategy to increase revenue through major gifts and foundations to advance the Forward’s long-term growth plans. 
• Collaborate with the CEO to develop a roadmap to diversify revenue: identify fundraising priorities, approaches, and measurable targets and timelines.
• Elevate the Forward’s presence within Jewish philanthropy and independent media funders. Serve as an enthusiastic brand ambassador at meetings, conferences, and events.
• Engage the Board of Directors in fundraising: staff the Development Committee, train board members to be effective ambassadors and solicitors; leverage relationships for major gifts.
• Partner with senior staff on strategic fundraising, including meeting regularly with the Editor-in-chief and the head of strategy to identify donor engagement opportunities and stay informed of rapidly evolving priorities and accomplishments.
• Establish strong systems for tracking, analyzing, and reporting on fundraising performance; regularly share clear and actionable metrics with the CEO, Board, and senior leadership.

Major Gifts, Foundations, and Donor Engagement

• Set creative, actionable, and cross-departmental plans to grow contributions from existing major donors and cultivate prospects ($5,000+) from the member community and beyond.
• Direct and grow a portfolio of 100 major donors and foundations, with a personal focus on increasing the average donation to $25,000 and above. 
• Lead the Forward’s annual major gifts fundraising campaign. This includes securing challenges and matching gifts. Partner with marketing on compelling campaign messaging and collateral.
• Design tailored moves management plans for donor identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship to significantly increase the average donor gift over time. 
• Support planning for donor engagement events with fundraising components. 
• Supervise staff management of grant strategy, including its research, proposal development, site visits, and reporting functions. 
• Oversee fundraising systems, planning processes, and team operations for better efficiency.

Departmental Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead, mentor, and support a high-performing development team, fostering a collaborative, accountable, and growth-oriented culture.
• Set clear priorities, goals, and job expectations; support professional development and assess and recognize performance. 
• Work with the VP, Finance to develop program budgets, reconcile and forecast revenue; oversee annual departmental budget. 
• Partner with the Membership team to convert donors at $1,000+ to major gifts of $5,000+.
• Support communication and marketing functions to integrate fundraising strategies that effectively share its case for support with current and prospective donors $5,000+.
• Continuously strengthen and evolve fundraising systems, processes, and tools to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and donor experience.

Requirements and Qualifications

While we understand that no single applicant can possess every skill listed below, qualified candidates will likely possess many of the following:

• At least 10 years of experience in fundraising leadership, with five years supervising teams.
• Experience executing ambitious fundraising goals, with a specific focus on soliciting five-to-seven figure major gifts from individuals and foundations.
• Deep passion for the Forward’s mission of excellence in journalism and storytelling.
• Personal or professional experience with Jewish culture, values, and philanthropy is a plus. 
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills. Ability to craft compelling cases for different audiences and coach team members’ writing to support fundraising activities.
• Proven success managing and motivating high-performing development teams; fostering teamwork within the development team and a culture of philanthropy across the Forward.
• Strong project management skills and financial acumen; able to direct processes, standard operating procedures, and financial projections.
• Technological proficiency, including experience with prospect research tools and fundraising databases. Familiarity with Salesforce is considered a plus.
• Highly relational, and ability to connect with the Forward readers with emotional intelligence, innovative thinking, and creating problem solving.
• Integrity, cultural sensitivity, and interpersonal skills; able to influence decision-makers.
• High degree of discipline, diplomacy, warmth, and collaborative spirit.

Working Location & Travel

The Forward offices are located in New York City’s Financial District and this role works onsite two to three days per week. Additional travel is required to represent the Forward at meetings and conferences, cultivate relationships, and steward fundraising efforts, approximately 5-10%.

Compensation & Benefits

The budgeted salary is $210,000 to $225,000, commensurate with experience. The Forward offers a generous benefits package that includes health, vision, and dental insurance, pre-tax transit benefits and flexible savings account, and a matched retirement savings plan. In addition to regular vacation time and federal holidays, the Forward offices are also closed for Jewish holidays with a generous floating holiday schedule to meet employees’ individual needs.

Application Process

The Forward has retained Good Insight, a national executive search firm, to conduct this search. Interested applicants should submit a PDF resume and a detailed cover letter to good-insight.org/careers. Send confidential inquiries to TheForward@good-insight.org. Resume reviews begin immediately. For best consideration, please apply by early March. Early applications are encouraged due to the pace of the search.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Forward is an equal opportunity employer encouraging applications regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other status protected by law.