Wu Yee Children’s Services is San Francisco’s largest head start and early head start provider.  A home-grown San Francisco nonprofit, founded in 1977 by working mothers in Chinatown seeking culturally centered childcare, Wu Yee now offers early care and education to thousands of low-income and non-English speaking children and families throughout the city.  Over the decades, Wu Yee has pioneered an innovative, culturally sensitive approach to early care and education that is dramatically improving lifelong well-being for children born to families furthest from opportunity.  In addition to early childhood education, Wu Yee provides resource and referrals for families; early learning scholarships; family resource centers, and home-based childcare training.  Looking ahead, Wu Yee has an ambitious plan to expand its service outreach to include prenatal support, and to build a more robust early care workforce pipeline through partnerships with post-secondary education institutions.

At-risk children face enormous challenges in San Francisco, and quality early development is critical to lifelong success.  Wu Yee has demonstrated the impact of early intervention for San Francisco’s most vulnerable children.  We are committed to closing the equity gap and advancing the lives of children, families, and childcare educators in our city.

Director of Philanthropy Job Description:

Wu Yee seeks an ambitious, experienced fundraising leader to drive efforts to expand and diversify the organization’s non-government funding base.  With a focus on securing 6- and 7-figure commitments from local and national foundations, and from major individual donors, the Director of Philanthropy creates and implements a plan to shift Wu Yee’s revenue base to 15-20% private funding by 2027.  The Director works in close partnership with Wu Yee’s CEO to identify prospective funders, design cultivation strategies, facilitate strategic solicitations, and steward funder relationships, including through events.  They commit to meeting ambitious annual and multi-year financial goals, while serving as a front-line relationship builder and out-of-house fundraiser.  They also collaborate with Finance to ensure accurate revenue reporting, and with Operations to improve fundraising systems and infrastructure.  Reporting directly to the CEO, the Director of Philanthropy helps create a new future for Wu Yee by engaging funding partners to grow operational capacity, expand existing programs, and enable visionary new initiatives.  Direct reports include a full-time Philanthropy Associate and contract grant writer.

Key Qualities:

• Organized and goal-oriented, with a solid track record of securing major gifts from private funders
• Excellent relationship-building skills, with internal colleagues and external stakeholders, including donors and board members
• Ability to think big while also attending to tactical details and delivering everyday “boots on the ground” work

Primary Responsibilities:

 Strategy and Planning (10%)

• Deliver an annual plan and set revenue goals to expand year-over-year funding from private foundations and individual major donors
• Work in close partnership with CEO and Director of Strategic Communications to lay the groundwork for 50th anniversary campaign 

Institutional and Major Donor Fundraising (60%)

• Work in close partnership with CEO to design strategies for major funder relationships; support CEO in strategic solicitations and follow-through
• Develop strategy and moves plan for all major individual donors and current prospects; seek ways to partner with board members
• Deliver against an overall foundation fundraising strategy; identify top foundation prospects and set revenue goals; secure meetings with new funders
• Work in close partnership with grant writer to support an active docket of LOIs and proposals
• Manage personal portfolio of 30-50 individual major donors and prospects; meet goals for revenue and out-of-house visits
•  Support ongoing major gift prospecting with research and active networking through meetings, conferences, and professional events
• Coordinate and oversee strategic cultivation events to bring donors closer to the organization
• Staff board Development Committee

Stewardship and Annual Giving (20%)

• Create and implement calendar of annual appeals and online tactics to support individual gift solicitation
• Manage Philanthropy Associate to execute appeal letters, fundraising emails and social media, in alignment with organizational communications strategy and protocols
• Manage Philanthropy Associate to produce fundraising collateral materials, including donor newsletters and donor portion of the website, in alignment with strategic communications framework
• Drive plan to organize and activate community ambassadors; manage Philanthropy Associate to administer Ambassador Program
• Engage external copywriting and production/design resources as necessary

Systems and Infrastructure (10%)

• Work in close partnership with Director of Operations to optimize Salesforce for fundraising, including fundraising reports
• Manage Philanthropy Associate to ensure timely gift acknowledgements and personalized thank-you notes
• Work with Philanthropy Associate to automate department workplan 

Qualifications:

• BA degree; post-graduate degree helpful
• Minimum 6-8 years nonprofit fundraising experience, including annual goal-setting, planning, and team leadership
• Significant track record of securing 6+ figure major gifts from individuals and foundations, and of growing revenue from prospects
• Experience supporting executive leaders and collaborating with board members to engage with funders and philanthropists
• Experience managing a complex foundation grants program is desirable
• Some knowledge of local, regional and national funding landscape in the areas of early childhood, parent/family empowerment, social impact, or equity
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills
• Organized and self-motivated; able to multi-task with excellent attention to detail and deadlines; able to perform successfully without regular supervision
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
• Technical proficiency with standard office applications, donor databases (Salesforce preferred), and automation tools (Asana)
• Commitment to diversity and ability to work with people with diverse backgrounds
• Commitment to solving equity challenges and affinity for Wu Yee’s mission

Compensation and Benefits:

• Salary Range $169,000-255,000
• 403(b) matching
•  Dental insurance
• Health insurance 100% covered
• Paid sick time
•  Paid time off
• Paid training
• Vision insurance
• Landmark Chiropractic
• Employee Assistance program
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Workers’ Compensation insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• Full-time, exempt position

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitments:

As a provider of services to our most vulnerable children and families, Wu Yee Children’s Services is committed to creating an inclusive culture where similarities are highlighted, and bridges are built between diverse populations. We are committed to breaking down barriers within our community and giving voice to systemically silenced communities while rejecting stereotypes and racism, of any kind. We acknowledge historical and present disparities and therefore aim to dismantle systemic biases and barriers and embrace open dialogue. We value and celebrate the rich diversity of San Francisco.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records to apply for any open position in which they feel qualified. Wu Yee Children’s Services is an equal opportunity employer.