Director Of Philanthropic Engagement

New Pluralists Collaborative is a cross-ideological funder and field collaborative catalyzing pluralism in American culture. We believe the promise of pluralism is core to America realizing our founding ideals of liberty, equality, and justice. Pluralism makes it possible for us to live among, work with, and care about people who are different from us – including across race and ethnicity, faith, geography, socioeconomic status, and political affiliation. It enables us to navigate conflict as a natural part of a healthy and peaceful democracy. It invites us to come together to strengthen our communities and solve the challenges we face as citizens.

The work of living up to our founding ideals as a country has been unfinished, with hopeful steps forward alongside profound failures. We are growing increasingly segregated and polarized along class, racial, ethnic, religious, and ideological lines, and we are losing trust in each other and in the promise of participatory democracy. Research suggests that most Americans are exhausted with the current climate, and are hungry for different ways to come together, navigate conflicts both big and small, and solve problems.

As a key leader in our young, ambitious, and vibrant organization, the Director of Philanthropic Engagement will design and implement an effective and collaborative strategy that enables many types of funders and donors to value and join us in advancing pluralism. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Philanthropic Engagement will develop and implement the strategy that will enable New Pluralists to effectively raise the balance of our initial $100M goal ($40M+ raised to date) towards our New Pluralists pooled fund. The Director will also be (one of) the key architects for designing and implementing an ecosystem-wide, collaborative strategy to galvanize $1B of philanthropy for our broader and growing pluralism ecosystem. Both efforts will require creative, dynamic and impactful fundraising, strategic partnerships, and influence strategies that move more philanthropic interest, actions, and resources to New Pluralists and the pluralism ecosystem.

Responsibilities include:

● Develop the overarching philanthropic engagement strategy for New Pluralists, in alignment with our organizational values and vision.

● Serve as a key architect for designing and implementing an ecosystem-wide strategy to galvanize $1B of philanthropy towards our broader and growing pluralism ecosystem.

● Execute smart and actionable fundraising strategies and tactics for individual donors and institutional philanthropy, from pipeline development to stewardship and renewal, that result in New Pluralists’ meeting our short- and long-term fundraising goals.

● Cultivate and nurture healthy and productive relationships with current and prospective funders of New Pluralists and the pluralism ecosystem. As part of the $1B initiative, this includes seeking and enabling adjacent and complementary philanthropic initiatives to find common cause and partner with us towards a shared vision.

● Develop and execute funder engagement strategies that enable funders to stay inspired, learn, govern and partner with us in mutually beneficial ways; this includes thoughtful strategies for one-on-one relationships building as well as effective gatherings that seek to support our collaborative efforts.

● Maintain awareness and understanding of trends, priorities, interests, and opportunities within philanthropy; seek pathways to promote and advance pluralist practice inside the sector as well as individual actions and behaviors of funders/foundations.

● Seize moments where we can make pluralism salient and urgent within philanthropy by effectively translating the mission, vision, and values of New Pluralists and pluralism as a practice.

● Enable institutional, family and high-net worth donors and networks become aware of New Pluralists and pluralism ecosystem in order to become active and engaged funders, through visible and accessible onramps, learning experiences, and leveraged funding experiments.

Elevate the voice and visibility of New Pluralists and pluralism across philanthropy, including by engaging New Pluralists staff, field, and funding partners as pluralism ambassadors in partnership with the Director of Communications.

Qualifications and Experiences of the Ideal Director of Philanthropic Engagement

The Director of Philanthropic Engagement will bring to our lean, entrepreneurial, and dynamic team and collaborative the following ways of working:

● High motivation and drive for both self-directed and collaborative work, with a lively, curious, and creative intellect; a style that includes flexibility and inventiveness, and an understanding that goals and mission are moving targets and require flexible, realistic strategies.

● A keen sense of responsibility to move seamlessly from big ideas into deliberate and effective action with tangible outcomes.

● Exceptional social-emotional skills to listen deeply, draw from and respect divergent opinions from across organizations, consultants, and leaders with different missions and values.

● A passion for and lived experiences with pluralism, bridging divides, fostering belonging, and recognizing and bringing in outsiders.

Ideal candidates will bring:

● A track record of developing and executing on creative and effective fundraising strategies that result in achieving fundraising goals.

● Expertise in making the case and matching timely opportunities with individual donors and institutional funders, including producing and providing materials, applications, reports, answering questions.

● Deep knowledge of and experience with how philanthropy works and how individual donors, family offices and foundations, and institutional philanthropy can be influenced and stewarded.

● Active knowledge of current trends, challenges, and opportunities within philanthropy, ideally as they relate to the work of pluralism.

● A track record of attracting, engaging, and sustaining funders from across a range of philanthropic types, issue areas and ideological perspectives.

● Demonstrated ability to navigate complex power dynamics and generate mutuality and respect among funders, grantees, and field partners.

● Strong project and stakeholder management skills across internal and external stakeholders, including supporting leaders of organizations meeting their strategic and developmental goals.

● Solid research and analytical skills, and the ability to cull and synthesize information from large bodies of knowledge and complex concepts, and draft brief summaries, analyses, and recommendations.