Chief Development Officer

Sixth & I 

Status: Full-time, exempt employee

Salary: In the $160,000s

Location: Washington, DC

Reports to: CEO

Deadline: Please apply prior to late September. Resume reviews begin immediately.

About Sixth & I

Founded in 2004, Sixth & I is a center for arts, entertainment, ideas, and Jewish life in Washington, DC. We inspire more meaningful and fulfilling lives through an unexpected mix of experiences that embrace the multi-faceted identities of those we serve. Sixth & I’s unique model uses wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and accessible experiences to celebrate unexpected intersections between culture and spirituality. We are committed to developing programming that embraces audiences from all walks of life and religions, while still holding true to our core beliefs and values. Learn more by visiting www.sixthandi.org.

As a multi-denominational and non-membership spiritual home, Sixth & I creates space for Jewish people in their twenties and thirties to find community with one another. Dedicated programming—including education, holiday celebrations, and social justice work—offers dynamic ways to engage with Jewish values, ideas, and traditions.

In addition, Sixth & I is a premier cultural resource for the Nation’s Capital, presenting a range of secular arts and entertainment programming against the stunning backdrop of a historic synagogue that dates back to 1908. Our talks, concerts, comedy shows, and live podcast recordings fuel local residents’ curiosity, while offering new perspectives from preeminent thought leaders, renowned performers, and culture influencers. 

Sixth & I is guided by a strategic plan that elevates an approach to social justice as an extension of its mission and Jewish values. With an explicit commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution, Sixth & I focuses on social justice through organization-wide staff training, updated operating procedures, and public programming that fosters respectful dialogue and different perspectives on social issues. 

Position Overview

Sixth & I seeks a dynamic fundraising professional to join as Chief Development Officer (CDO) to lead the vision, planning, and coordination of fundraising activities for an inspiring community-centered nonprofit. The ideal candidate will be a confident and passionate fundraiser with a strong track record of cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts. Working closely with the CEO, Board of Directors, and senior leadership, they will continue to build a strong culture of philanthropy among an active and loyal group of champions. 

The CDO is a member of Sixth & I’s five-person senior leadership team and oversees the day-to-day administration of an annual contributed operating revenue of approximately $2.7 million. The FY24 annual revenue breakdown is roughly 29% from foundations, 11% from government sources, and 60% from individuals. 

Leading three direct reports, the incoming CDO will have strong people and project management skills, with the aptitude to direct development operations and annual planning. The CDO will be a thoughtful supervisor, taking a developmental approach to their oversight of team members’ management and stewardship of mid-level individual giving, grant writing and reporting, and database functions. Team members include a Development Manager, a Grants Associate, and a part-time Development Operations Associate. The CDO will manage external consultants to build team capacity and meet established fundraising goals, as needed.

The CDO will report to the CEO and maintain a close working relationship with the Board of Directors. The CDO will create strategies to leverage these relationships to steward and solicit major gift prospects. The CDO and members of their team liaise with the Board’s development committee and other volunteers affiliated with fundraising. 

The CDO will work with a five-person senior leadership team to steer Sixth & I’s strategic objectives and implement a cohesive culture of philanthropy grounded in commitments to Jewish Life, arts and culture, and equity and social justice. 

With a balanced approach across development strategy and donor engagement, the CDO will be responsible for setting the department’s strategic direction, as well as managing a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals and historic donor relationships and cultivating new major donors from a broad-based mid-level program. A natural people connector, the CDO will build compelling opportunities and partnerships, write and communicate clearly and persuasively, and have excellent people management skills. 

Specific areas of responsibilities include:

Development Strategy 

• Create and implement a multi-year and annual development plan with measurable financial goals, feasible timelines, and clear tactics. Build detailed work plans with each team member to ensure stated goals are accomplished.
• In collaboration with the CEO, design strategic approaches to cultivate, solicit, and steward existing and new donors, with an eye toward expanding major gift strategy. Set a creative, actionable, and cross-departmental plan to grow the major gift program through thoughtful identification, qualification, cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation of prospects and donors.
• Report on fundraising metrics on a regular basis to CEO, Board of Directors, and Sixth & I senior leadership. Work across the development team to set, track, and analyze fundraising activity and develop clear and concise reporting dashboards.

Fundraising Responsibilities

• Direct a portfolio of 80–100 major and mid-level donors. Develop tailored moves management plans for donor identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, with the intention to significantly increase donor giving over time. 
• Provide the leadership, vision, and oversight for three to four annual fundraising campaigns with print and digital components; secure match challenge gifts, and ideate copy and graphic concepts in collaboration with Sixth & I’s communications team.
• Work with senior staff and program managers to identify priority areas and strategic opportunities for funding. Meet with program teams on a regular basis to identify donor engagement opportunities and to stay informed of rapidly evolving program priorities and accomplishments.
• Actively engage Board of Directors in support of annual fundraising goals and activities, staff the Board’s Development Committee to provide accurate and current development updates, forecasts, and engagement opportunities, and leverage board relationships to identify and cultivate new institutional and individual donors.  
• Support planning for donor engagement events with fundraising components. 
• Oversee staff management of Sixth & I’s grant portfolio, including its research, proposal development, site visits, and reporting functions. 
• Direct the preparation of materials, presentations, and reports for board meetings, funders, and donors, upon request.
• Plan for the organization’s 25th Anniversary in 2029 with a fundraising campaign that embraces Sixth and I’s vision and goals, leverages major donor commitments, and provides opportunities for multi-year support. 

Departmental Leadership & Collaboration

• Supervise a high-performing team of development professionals while steering departmental culture-building efforts. Set clear departmental priorities and annual goals. 
• Steer department’s performance evaluation process, including individual annual reviews. Identify professional development opportunities, award good performance, and support performance improvement, when appropriate. 
• Oversee annual departmental budget. Work with the COO and finance team to develop program budgets, assist with the annual audit, and develop accurate financial forecasts.
• Ensure coordination of fundraising activities with the finance staff to produce and reconcile accurate revenue reports and monitor cash flow to inform timely decision making.
• Support communication functions to integrate fundraising and marketing strategies to effectively share its case for support with current and prospective donors.

Requirements and Qualifications

This position is a challenging and rewarding opportunity that requires a diverse set of skills and experiences. 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 or related field, with at least five years of experience supervising teams.
• Experience executing ambitious fundraising goals, with a strong focus on major gifts. 
• A passion for Sixth & I’s mission. Personal or professional experience with Jewish culture, values, and philanthropic landscape is considered a plus. 
• Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively, fostering teamwork within the development team and a culture of philanthropy across the organization.
• High degree of self-motivation, personal discipline, discretion, and integrity. 
• Excellent written, verbal, and electronic communication skills. Able to craft compelling cases for different audiences and coach team members to support fundraising activities.
• Fluent with financials, including creating and managing budgets, reviewing financial reports, and incorporating financial information, figures, and statistics into cases for support.
• Strong project management skills, including developing processes, standard operating procedures, and detailed timelines to execute various projects simultaneously.
• Strong technological proficiency, including experience with prospect research tools and fundraising databases. Familiarity with Raiser’s Edge, RENXT, and/or Tessitura are pluses.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in communicating and implementing new processes and plans. 
• A high level of emotional intelligence, integrity, cultural sensitivity, and interpersonal skills; able to effectively engage and influence key stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Experience with capital campaign strategy and/or implementation is considered a plus. 

Location

Sixth & I is based in Washington, DC’s Chinatown neighborhood has a hybrid schedule that is approximately two days on-site. The CDO must be located in the Washington, DC region to facilitate on-site work, which includes at least five evening events per month. 

Compensation & Benefits

Sixth & I has recently conducted a comprehensive pay equity philosophy, which categorizes each employee by years of work experience and recent professional achievements in the context of a small nonprofit workplace. The anticipated salary for this role is approximately $160,000 and is not likely to exceed $174,000.

Sixth & I offers a generous benefits package that includes health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible scheduling, paid time off, paid holidays, pre-tax transit benefits, and a matched retirement savings plan. In addition to regular vacation time and federal holidays, Sixth & I’s offices are closed the week of July 4th, between Christmas and New Year’s, as well as for select Jewish holidays. All Sixth & I employees have access to complimentary tickets for any talks, entertainment, and Jewish Life programming.

Application Process

Sixth & I has retained Good Insight, a national executive search firm serving nonprofits, to conduct this search. Interested applicants should submit a resume and a detailed cover letter in PDF format to www.good-insight.org/careers. Send confidential inquiries to SixthandI@good-insight.org.

Resume reviews begin immediately. For best consideration, please apply by late September. Early applications are encouraged due to the pace of the search.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Sixth & I is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity, and it complies with all applicable laws which prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Sixth & I recruits, hires, trains, and promotes individuals, as well as administer any and all personnel actions, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), age, disability, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, matriculation, genetic information, political affiliation, gender identity or expression, credit information or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal law.