Vice President of Development

STEM From Dance

9h•$150,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

STEM From Dance equips girls to become innovators, engineers, and creators through dance, building creativity, confidence, and skills. Founded in 2012, the organization reaches girls in more than 30 cities and is working toward serving 20,000 girls by 2028. Its revenue has grown from $349,000 to $2.7 million, and continued growth requires an independently owned and scalable development function. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President of Development leads the acquisition and growth of philanthropic revenue and personally builds and closes relationships that fund the organization's national growth. The role focuses on securing significant new commitments of six figures and above and developing a pipeline strong enough to make the following year's fundraising goal achievable in advance. More than half of a typical year's fundraising comes from funders who were not supporting the organization twelve months earlier. AI- and technology-enabled infrastructure, along with cross-functional support, handles production work such as proposal drafting, prospect research, application assembly, and pipeline maintenance. The Vice President focuses on funder conversations, donor relationships, organizational representation, and fundraising strategy and judgment. The role is on the executive team and is designed to grow into Chief Development Officer as the development operation expands. A dedicated development hire is budgeted for the next fiscal year and would report to this role.

Requirements

Track record of personally closing philanthropic or commercial commitments of $100,000 or more.
Demonstrated net-new fundraising origination, with a substantial share of funds raised coming from funders personally identified and acquired.
Experience building fundraising revenue without relying on an established institution's name and donor base.
Direct fundraising experience across at least two of the following funder types: private foundations, corporate partners, and individual major donors.
Experience operating effectively in a rapidly growing organization where priorities sharpen and structures are built over time.
Sound judgment in deciding which fundraising opportunities to pursue or decline, with accountability for those decisions.
Working fluency with AI tools used in fundraising workflows and ability to identify incorrect output before it reaches a funder.
Experience independently representing an organization in executive-level funder conversations as the most senior person in the room.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

Lead acquisition and growth of philanthropic revenue for STEM From Dance.
Personally identify, cultivate, and close significant new funder commitments of six figures and above.
Build and maintain a fundraising pipeline deep enough to support future annual goals.
Develop major individual giving, including relationships with high-capacity donors.
Set fundraising strategy, positioning, and portfolio priorities; assess which opportunities to pursue or decline.
Engage the board in fundraising and represent the organization in external funder conversations and other settings.
Represent STEM From Dance independently in executive-level funder conversations, including as the most senior person in the room.
Provide executive leadership as a member of the executive team.
Use judgment to review AI-generated fundraising workflow output and identify incorrect content before it reaches funders.