Vice President, Development

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children•Alexandria, VA

3d•$210,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the President and CEO, the Vice President, Development leads the organization’s private philanthropy strategy and translates NCMEC’s five-year growth direction into an integrated, measurable plan. The Vice President will refine and operationalize the strategy already underway, bringing the judgment and experience to test assumptions, identify gaps, set priorities, and build the capabilities required to increase sustainable private revenue. This is both an enterprise leadership role and a front-line fundraising role. The Vice President serves as a business partner to leaders across NCMEC, connecting Development with program, operations, communications, finance, legal, and executive leadership. Because many of NCMEC’s strongest funder relationships are held across the organization, the Vice President must be able to lead through influence, create shared accountability, and equip mission and executive leaders to play clear, effective roles in cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewal. The Vice President is responsible for building a disciplined fundraising operation across individual giving, foundations, corporate partnerships, events, and third-party partnerships. The role requires a leader who combines strategic thinking with execution: someone who has built or significantly strengthened a fundraising program, can personally cultivate and close significant gifts, develops a strong team, and ensures timely follow-through. The successful candidate will bring a relationship-driven approach to stewardship, a growth and sales mindset, sound business judgment, and the ability to represent NCMEC with credibility, enthusiasm, and appropriate urgency.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
Minimum of ten to twelve years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, including at least five years directly supervising fundraising staff.
Demonstrated success building, transforming, or materially growing a fundraising program, rather than solely maintaining an established operation.
Demonstrated success managing a six- to seven-figure portfolio and personally cultivating, soliciting, and closing gifts from individual, foundation, and corporate supporters.
Experience working in a complex, matrixed, or mission-driven organization where significant funder relationships are held by leaders outside the Development department.
Experience building or strengthening donor stewardship, retention, upgrade, reactivation, and pipeline-development programs.
Experience translating an organizational growth strategy into executable fundraising plans, staffing, systems, budgets, and performance measures.
Strategic judgment and the ability to work within an established direction while constructively challenging assumptions, identifying gaps, and shaping the strategies and tactics required for execution.
Enterprise leadership and influence: the ability to build trust, align colleagues, clarify roles, and create shared accountability without relying solely on direct authority.
Exceptional relationship management and stewardship skills, including consistent follow-through, responsiveness, and the ability to sustain trust over time.
Business development and sales acumen, including the ability to identify mutual value, develop tailored value propositions, negotiate effectively, and advance opportunities with appropriate urgency.
Ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution and to move comfortably between enterprise priorities, team management, and direct donor engagement.
Demonstrated ability to coach, develop, and retain fundraising staff and to create a collaborative, accountable team culture.
Strong knowledge of current fundraising practices across individual giving, foundations, corporate partnerships, digital fundraising, events, donor-advised funds, planned giving, and other giving vehicles.
Strong proficiency with Salesforce, including the ability to use reports and dashboards for forecasting, pipeline management, segmentation, and performance measurement.
Strong analytical, planning, prospect strategy, written, verbal, and presentation skills.
Ability to represent NCMEC and its mission with credibility, discretion, enthusiasm, and respect.
Ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information with integrity.
Adaptability, sound judgment, and the ability to prioritize multiple demands in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to work additional hours and travel as needed to meet position requirements.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead, refine, and implement NCMEC’s multi-year private philanthropy strategy, translating enterprise goals into clear annual priorities, revenue targets, portfolio strategies, investment requirements, and measures of progress.
Serve as the organization’s senior private philanthropy strategist and a business partner to the President and CEO and leaders across NCMEC, ensuring that fundraising is integrated across the organization rather than operating as a separate function.
Assess the existing strategy and operating model, identify blind spots and capability gaps, and recommend adjustments based on experience, data, market conditions, and results.
Lead the Development team across individual giving, foundation support, corporate partnerships, digital fundraising, events, and development operations, with clear goals, decision rights, handoffs, and accountability.
Build a culture of stewardship, responsiveness, and follow-through. Ensure that funders and partners receive timely, relevant engagement before, during, and after a gift or partnership, with ownership and next steps clearly documented.
Create coordinated strategies for NCMEC relationships led by executives, program leaders, board members, or other staff. Clarify roles, prepare internal partners for funder engagement, and ensure Development provides the strategy, coordination, documentation, and follow-up needed to advance each relationship.
Manage a personal portfolio of approximately 40 principal and major gift relationships across individuals, foundations, and corporations, with an annual solicitation goal established with the President and CEO.
Personally cultivate, solicit, negotiate, and close significant gifts and partnerships, while modeling an appropriately assertive, respectful, and mission-aligned approach to business development.
Grow sustainable and unrestricted private support while developing well-structured programmatic opportunities with appropriate cost recovery, cash flow, and organizational alignment.
Build and strengthen leadership, mid-level, major, and principal giving pipelines, including a disciplined donor retention, upgrade, and reactivation program.
Partner closely with Communications to convert NCMEC’s national reach and mission engagement into donor acquisition, stronger donor journeys, and sustained philanthropic relationships.
Partner with corporate, program, and operational leaders to develop specific, compelling value propositions for prospective and current partners, and to support strong transitions from new business development to ongoing relationship management and renewal.
Establish Salesforce as the system of record for donor and partner activity. Ensure timely documentation of contacts, strategies, proposals, next steps, stages, and relationship ownership, and use CRM data to drive decisions and accountability.
Set and review individual revenue goals, portfolio assignments, activity measures, and development plans for team members. Monitor progress monthly and coach staff toward stronger performance and professional growth.
Report regularly to the President and CEO and other designated organizational leaders on revenue to goal, pipeline health and movement, forecast, retention, and key risks or decisions, reconciled with Finance.
Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a talented Development team, including supporting managers who are supervising others for the first time.
Partner with the President and CEO and Board leadership to engage the Board of Directors in fundraising through clear, individualized, and practical actions, including introductions, stewardship, and relationship-building.
Work with the President and CEO and Committee Chair to support the Development and Marketing Committee of the Board of Directors, including quarterly meetings, projections, and progress updates.
Respond directly and constructively to ideas, opportunities, and concerns. When an idea should not advance, communicate the decision and rationale rather than allowing it to stall without resolution.
Manage all work in accordance with NCMEC policies and perform other duties as assigned.