Chief Advancement Officer

Mission Connect • San Rafael, CA

19h • Hybrid

About The Position

The organization is a countywide, cross-sector Cradle-to-Career partnership working to ensure every child in Marin County can reach their full educational potential. As a backbone organization rather than a direct-service provider, the organization brings together youth and family leaders, community organizations, funders, educators, and public agencies around shared goals, data-driven learning, and community-led systems change from early childhood through college and career. The organization is part of the StriveTogether Cradle-to-Career Network and has been recognized as a Systems Transformation community. In 2026, Marin was one of three communities nationally selected for a significant multi-year investment to deepen neighborhood-based strategies. They are now seeking a senior advancement leader to turn this momentum into durable resources, relationships, and visibility. Reporting to CEO and serving as a senior organizational leader, the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) will lead the organization’s fundraising and external engagement strategy. The CAO will grow and diversify revenue across major gifts, institutional philanthropy, public funding, and public-private partnerships while strengthening the organization’s external presence. The CAO will personally cultivate and solicit donors, manage a high-value pipeline, activate the CEO and Board, sharpen the organization’s story, and build the systems and team needed for sustained growth. Over time, the CAO will have the opportunity to further shape and build the advancement team as resources and organizational capacity grow.

Requirements

• Significant senior-level experience in fundraising, advancement, philanthropy, or external affairs, including a demonstrated record of personally closing significant major gifts.
• Success developing and executing fundraising strategies across individual, institutional, and other revenue streams.
• Experience building donor pipelines, systems, and operating rhythms that turn relationships into sustainable revenue.
• Strong experience partnering with a CEO and engaging a Board as active fundraising leaders.
• Institutional fundraising experience; familiarity with public funding, government, policy, or public-private partnerships is strongly preferred.
• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills across donors, community leaders, public officials, and partners.
• Strategic judgment, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a willingness to execute hands-on.
• Commitment to educational equity and community partnership; experience with place-base work, collective impact, systems change, or the StriveTogether model is a plus.
• Familiarity with Marin County or the Bay Area philanthropic and civic landscape is also a plus.

Responsibilities

• Deliver a multi-year advancement strategy that grows and diversifies revenue, with clear goals, priorities, performance measures, and accountability for results.
• Build and personally manage a high-value major-gifts portfolio that expands the organization' s base of individual supporters and converts relationships into sustained investment.
• Position and successfully market the organization's community-led plans to local, state, and national funders and mission-aligned investors, securing philanthropic, public, and blended capital for strategies designed to advance educational equity.
• Partner with the CEO, Board, and Development Committee to expand MPP’s network, open doors, and build a shared culture of fundraising leadership.
• Increase and deepen the organization's relationships with chambers of commerce, philanthropic and civic leaders, policymakers, community partners, local investors, and the StriveTogether network, building support for place-based, community-led systems change.
• In close strategic partnership with the CEO, grow the organization's profile and influence across Marin, the Bay Area, and the national place-based field.
• Shape a distinctive external narrative that makes the organization's systems-change work clear and compelling, positioning Marin’s community-led approach as a model worthy of investment.
• Lead integrated advancement communications so donor materials, presentations, events, and outreach build confidence in MPP’s strategy, demonstrate impact, and inspire investment.
• Build a disciplined, data-informed development function that strengthens pipeline management, forecasting, grant management, stewardship, and revenue review—and enables consistent growth.
• Equip the CEO, Board, and leadership team with accurate, actionable insights to guide relationship strategy, resource decisions, and revenue performance.
• Deploy staff and other resources to the highest-impact opportunities and build the advancement team as revenue and organizational capacity grow.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed