Job Description
ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION
STEM From Dance equips girls to become the innovators, engineers, and creators the world needs, building creativity, confidence, and skills through the transformative power of dance.
Founded in 2012, we reach girls in more than 30 cities. 76% of our participants report a sense of belonging, against a national average of 35% for girls their age, and 73% report confidence in STEM. We are building toward 20,000 girls by 2028.
Our revenue has grown from $349,000 to $2.7 million. Reaching 20,000 girls a year takes revenue that grows faster still, and a development function the organization owns and can grow with. Building that function is what this role is for.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President of Development is responsible for the acquisition and growth of STEM From Dance's philanthropic revenue. You would personally build and close the relationships that fund our national growth.
The mandate. More than half of what we raise in a typical year comes from funders who were not supporting us twelve months earlier. Renewing and upgrading our existing base covers part of what we need. The rest has to come from funders who are not with us yet. Your charge is to bring in significant new commitments at six figures and above, and to build a pipeline deep enough that next year's number is achievable before the year begins.
Where your time goes. STEM From Dance has built an infrastructure powered by AI and technology that handles the production side of development: proposal drafting, prospect research, application assembly, and pipeline maintenance, with cross-functional support behind it. That keeps this role on the work that produces revenue. Funder conversations, donor relationships, representing the organization in the room, and the judgment calls about where to aim. We want someone who wants to be out front.
The Vice President of Development sits on the executive team, and the role is built to grow into Chief Development Officer as the development operation does. A dedicated development hire is budgeted for next fiscal year and would report to this role.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
WHAT YOU BRING
BEING CLEAR ABOUT THE ROLE
We have a real donor base and we renew much of it. Growing at the rate we are aiming for takes more than that. The role comes with infrastructure and cross-functional support rather than a department to direct, and our CEO raises money as well and stays closely involved. Candidates whose strongest work has been renewing an inherited portfolio, or whose individual giving experience is primarily events-based, are likely to find the fit difficult.
BEING CLEAR ABOUT THE ROLE
We move quickly and hold a high bar. We pilot new approaches, change course when something is not working, and expect every member of the executive team to think past their own function.
You would report directly to the Chief Executive Officer. She raises money herself and knows this work from the inside, and you would have senior partnership on it.
Benefits
Compensation & Benefits
STEM From Dance equips girls to become the innovators, engineers, and creators the world needs, building creativity, confidence, and skills through the transformative power of dance.
Founded in 2012, we reach girls in more than 30 cities. 76% of our participants report a sense of belonging, against a national average of 35% for girls their age, and 73% report confidence in STEM. We are building toward 20,000 girls by 2028.
Our revenue has grown from $349,000 to $2.7 million. Reaching 20,000 girls a year takes revenue that grows faster still, and a development function the organization owns and can grow with. Building that function is what this role is for.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President of Development is responsible for the acquisition and growth of STEM From Dance's philanthropic revenue. You would personally build and close the relationships that fund our national growth.
The mandate. More than half of what we raise in a typical year comes from funders who were not supporting us twelve months earlier. Renewing and upgrading our existing base covers part of what we need. The rest has to come from funders who are not with us yet. Your charge is to bring in significant new commitments at six figures and above, and to build a pipeline deep enough that next year's number is achievable before the year begins.
Where your time goes. STEM From Dance has built an infrastructure powered by AI and technology that handles the production side of development: proposal drafting, prospect research, application assembly, and pipeline maintenance, with cross-functional support behind it. That keeps this role on the work that produces revenue. Funder conversations, donor relationships, representing the organization in the room, and the judgment calls about where to aim. We want someone who wants to be out front.
The Vice President of Development sits on the executive team, and the role is built to grow into Chief Development Officer as the development operation does. A dedicated development hire is budgeted for next fiscal year and would report to this role.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- New funder acquisition and major gifts (40%)
- Build and grow a portfolio of approximately 50 priority foundation, corporate, and individual relationships
- Personally find, open, and close six-figure commitments, with an emphasis on multi-year and unrestricted support, and lay the groundwork for the seven-figure relationships that come as we grow
- Generate net-new first meetings with funders who have no prior relationship to STEM From Dance. First meetings booked is our leading revenue indicator, and you own that number
- Qualify and advance opportunities independently, including deciding which to decline
- Major individual giving (20%)
- Grow STEM From Dance's major individual giving program, and help determine its next evolution
- Source new prospects, carry your own portfolio of individual donors, and design the experience that moves them to significant commitments
- Partner with the CEO on the highest-capacity individual relationships
- Strategy, positioning, and portfolio performance (20%)
- Lead the design of the annual revenue strategy in partnership with the CEO, turning organizational priorities into a funding roadmap
- Determine positioning for each funder: which part of our work to lead with, at what amount, framed which way. You direct and approve what goes out
- Maintain a forward-looking pipeline, tracking prospect movement, renewal cycles, and performance against target
- Protect and grow existing funder relationships so renewals hold while new acquisition is underway
- Board engagement and external representation (15%)
- Partner with board members to open doors, secure introductions, and follow through on them
- Represent STEM From Dance at conferences, funder convenings, site visits, and donor gatherings, frequently as the sole organizational representative
- Determine which external opportunities merit our time and define what we intend to get from each
- Executive leadership (5%)
- Build institutional continuity into funder relationships, so that the history, the strategy, and the next move live with the organization rather than with any individual
- Contribute to executive team decision-making on organizational questions beyond development
WHAT YOU BRING
- A track record of personally closing gifts at $100,000 and above, with credible involvement in conversations well beyond that range. What you have closed matters to us more than how long you have been doing it
- Seven or more years closing major philanthropic or commercial commitments, with direct responsibility for the ask
- Demonstrated net-new origination. A substantial share of what you have raised came from funders you identified and brought in yourself
- Direct experience across at least two of: private foundations, corporate partners, and individual major donors
- Experience fundraising where the revenue had to be built, rather than at an institution whose name and donor base opened the doors
- Current, working fluency with AI tools, including the judgment to recognize when output is wrong before it reaches a funder
- Executive presence. You can represent an organization alone, as the most senior person in the room, and earn a funder's confidence quickly
- Strong real-time thought partnership. Given an unfinished idea, you build on it in the moment rather than taking it away to produce a response
- Independent judgment. You decide what to pursue and what to decline, and you stand behind those decisions
- Effectiveness in a growing organization. We are scaling quickly. Priorities get sharper and structures get built as we go, and you make decisions with the information available
- 7+ years of experience closing major philanthropic or commercial commitments with direct responsibility for making the ask
- Experience closing commitments above $250,000
- Experience building a major individual giving program from an early stage
- Experience at an organization in a comparable growth stage, scaling from a single city to a national footprint
- Prior participation on an executive team
- Familiarity with investment-level or unrestricted giving methodologies
BEING CLEAR ABOUT THE ROLE
We have a real donor base and we renew much of it. Growing at the rate we are aiming for takes more than that. The role comes with infrastructure and cross-functional support rather than a department to direct, and our CEO raises money as well and stays closely involved. Candidates whose strongest work has been renewing an inherited portfolio, or whose individual giving experience is primarily events-based, are likely to find the fit difficult.
BEING CLEAR ABOUT THE ROLE
We move quickly and hold a high bar. We pilot new approaches, change course when something is not working, and expect every member of the executive team to think past their own function.
You would report directly to the Chief Executive Officer. She raises money herself and knows this work from the inside, and you would have senior partnership on it.
Benefits
Compensation & Benefits
- Remote work with 20% travel, including monthly in-person meetings in NYC
- Comprehensive benefits and perks, including:
- Health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
- 403(b) retirement savings account
- Professional Development Stipend
- 2-week org-wide shutdown at the end of the year
- Generous PTO and flexible scheduling
- Annual staff retreats
- Goals-based bonus
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