California YIMBY– Director of Individual and Corporate Giving

California YIMBY

Director of Individual and Corporate Giving

Position Description

Painter Executive Search is supporting California YIMBY (CA YIMBY) in their search for an experienced Director of Individual and Corporate Giving to build support for the critical public policy that will end California’s housing crisis.

California YIMBY’s mission is to ensure that California is an affordable place to live, work, and raise a family. CA YIMBY focuses on housing and land use policy at the state level to ensure grassroots organizers and city leaders have the tools they need to substantially accelerate home building at the local level while protecting renters and communities at risk of displacement. Achieving their mission will put California on a path of broad-based economic prosperity, creating vibrant, livable, and inclusive communities for everyone.

Over the past 40 years, California has built new homes at less than half the rate needed to

keep pace with population growth. California has a 3.5 million home deficit, equal to the housing deficit of the other 49 states combined. California ranks 49 out of 50 states in homes per capita. Since the early 1960s, California’s population has almost tripled, while its housing production has declined by about two-thirds. The recent “point in time” homelessness survey, conducted by cities across the state, showed the stark consequences of our collective failure to reform our outdated housing policies: California’s homeless population — which includes over 130,000 people — grew by double-digits in almost every city in the state; in some cases, as much as 43% year-on-year. The housing shortage leads to poverty, environmental degradation, negative health outcomes, declining opportunity, racial and economic segregation, and a reduction of economic growth.

CA YIMBY advances their mission by addressing and correcting systemic inequities in California housing laws, and in related laws and regulations; empowering Californians across the state to engage their elected representatives at the state and local levels on housing and related policies; ensuring that California housing laws and local regulations are evidence-based, equitable and inclusive; and drafting and advocating for proven legislative solutions that accelerate the pace of home building.

The Director of Individual and Corporate Giving will be joining a dispersed team located around the state working on policy, grassroots organizing and coalition building. The person in this role may work remotely or in a newly opened office in downtown Oakland. This would be the first fulltime professional fundraiser for the organization which has demonstrated a strong track record of support for its work. CA YIMBY is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, with a fiscal sponsorship that allows donations for its (501(c)3) program work. CA YIMBY also has a PAC from which it can direct support to particular campaigns or candidates. CA YIMBY has raised over $5 million since it launched in 2017 providing a solid financial runway for current operations. New funding will support expansion of advocacy and education efforts.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Individual and Corporate Giving is responsible for crafting and executing a fundraising strategy to fulfill their mission of an affordable, inclusive California. Reporting to the COO, the Director of Individual and Corporate Giving will develop the structure and strategy to expand the portfolio of current donors particularly among individual and businesses. Areas of responsibility include donor research and acquisition, implementation of moves management, mail and email campaigns, special events, major donor prospecting, cultivation and stewardship, and supporting leadership in their fundraising efforts.

ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND CURRENT PRIORITIES

Values:

CA YIMBY’s vision is of a California where neighbors welcome new neighbors of all backgrounds, and current residents are not displaced from their communities. CA YIMBY believes in neighborliness, and that communities are enriched and strengthened by openness and diversity. They believe that California holds the promise of opportunity for all: the chance to start a new life, the freedom to be our authentic selves, the promise of prosperity, the lure of our natural wonders. CA YIMBY believes in empowerment, and supports those who want to accommodate new neighbors while ensuring that new developments take place without displacement. They believe that existing residents have a right to remain in their neighborhoods. They make an effort to seek out and include people with varied backgrounds, experiences and identities to inform our agenda and priorities. They do not tolerate intolerance. CA YIMBY pursues excellence in every aspect of our work — from the policies they design and support, to the way they interact with our colleagues, allies, partners, and elected officials. They believe trustworthiness is a pillar of human progress. They are passionate advocates for more housing and insist on holding themselves to account. They believe in evidence-based decision making. When they learn something new, they change their views to accommodate the learnings.

Housing Realities:

There is a rising tide of eviction, displacement, and homelessness that is harming residents across our state. Fully 69% of California’s homeless are without any form of shelter, which means they live on the streets or in tents. Contrary to oft-repeated myths that the homeless are from out-of-state, the majority of homeless in California were living in California when they became homeless.

Solving homelessness requires a multi-pronged approach: building more housing in general to reduce market pressures; providing housing subsidies for very low-income people; funding and building homeless navigation centers in accessible locations; and increased funding for permanent, supportive housing.

Additionally, there is a counter-intuitive solution that’s just as important: California also needs to make sure that we’re building enough housing for moderate- and high-income earners, to reduce the pressure on our existing affordable housing stock. Building market-rate housing to keep pace with job growth — including growth in high-paying jobs — is a must-have strategy to slow and, ideally halt, the trend of evictions, house-flipping, gentrification, and ever-rising rents.

The need for substantial additional housing production in the State of California has been repeatedly reinforced by numerous independent researchers in both the academic, non-profit, and private sectors. The numbers are both readily available, and stark: Between 2005 and 2014, California built only 300 new homes for every 1,000 additional households — less housing for new arrivals and immigrants than comparatively large states like New York, Texas, Washington, and Nevada. This chronic under-building has created a statewide deficit of 3.5 million homes; so, increasing the supply of housing is a fundamental need that is central to any approach to solving the problem.

Achievements:

In their first 2 years of operation, California YIMBY has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments consistent with their mission, values, and objectives. These include:

Helped draft and pass several pro-housing bills;
Partnered with Sen. Scott Wiener to develop and advocate for SB 827 and SB 50, which redefined the scale of policy response necessary to solve the housing crisis and changed the national housing conversation;
Built a statewide list of 75,000 YIMBYs who support our mission and vision;
Developed 17 local YIMBY teams in key metro areas and geographies, who aid in our efforts to educate and inspire local leaders, influencers, and media;
Organized hundreds of local meetings for local activists to learn about the causes of, and solutions to, the housing crisis;
Established partnerships with university research centers, civil and economic rights organizations, local government elected officials, business associations, environmental organizations, affordable housing advocates, and unions;
Featured in the New York Times, the Sacramento Bee, Slate, Vox, The Information, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, the LA Times, Huffington Post, Mother Jones, the San Jose Mercury-News, and dozens of other publications; and
Raised over $5M from foundations, individuals, and businesses.

Priorities for 2020: MORE HOMES Act

CA YIMBY’s legislative priority for 2020 is to pass California State Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 50, the More HOMES Act, which will allow cities to build urgently-needed housing near public transit and job centers. The More HOMES Act creates new incentives for the construction of housing within one-half mile of existing transit stations in California cities and includes protections against displacement for renters and sensitive communities living in those areas. The bill ends apartment bans in cities across the state and legalizes multi-family homes like fourplexes. It also includes aggressive protections for renters, plus requirements that developers include affordable housing in their projects. CA YIMBY is a co-sponsor of the More HOMES Act.

SB 50 is also supported by the State Building and Construction Trades Council, Habitat for Humanity, the Non-profit Housing Association of Northern California, the California Association of Realtors, the Natural Resources Defense Council, AARP California, the California League of Conservation Voters, CALPIRG, Environment California, the California Apartment Association, the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund (CaRLA), and a host of other renter, business, and labor organizations.

It also enjoys bipartisan support from members of the Legislature and support from numerous mayors and city council members from around the state, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs.

Director of Individual and Corporate Giving

DUTIES & ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Work with the CEO/COO and the leadership team to build the structure, strategy, best practices and donor pipeline required to meet the needs of CA YIMBY’s advocacy and program efforts now and in the future;
Actively understand, reflect, and promote CA YIMBY to prospects, donors and the public, effectively communicating the urgency and need for housing reform and build support for CA YIMBY’s work;
Create and sustain a structured individual giving and major gifts program, including prospect identification, cultivation and solicitation;
Develop a personal portfolio of major gift prospects ($5,000 and above); actively identify and cultivate individuals and corporations to advance their engagement and financial support;
Working across the organization, help establish messaging for communicating outcomes of CA YIMBY’s work; Develop and create content for ongoing donor communications; Coordinate with the Communications team on a content calendar and creation of communication collateral and a donor story bank;
Produce and manage annual fundraising campaign, including a letters/emails/social media integration and other appeals to donors and partners;
Grow and direct California YIMBY’s fundraising event/house party program. Assess event opportunities, partner with host donors, plan the events from concept to implementation, managing the guest lists and invitations, negotiate contracts, and monitor the budget;
Regularly meet with the CEO and COO to review the prospect pool and devise specific strategies for individual engagement and solicitation; work closely with the CEO, COO and the Board of Directors to support their major donor & corporate fundraising efforts;
In partnership with the executive team, develop and justify revenue goals and departmental/campaign budgets; provide revenue analysis and projections; measure the ROI on key strategies and make recommendations to grow and diversify annual revenue;
Working in collaboration with the leadership team, lead the expansion of the California YIMBY Victory Fund PAC;
Train and support regional organizing directors and/or local YIMBY organizations in conducting local fundraising efforts;
Establish and maintain reporting practices, including tracking of sources and uses of funds; maintain records, in an accurate and timely manner, of all donor information within the database; use donor database to enter contacts and track all donations, maintain contact lists, produce gift acknowledgement letters, and provide internal financial reports and donor analysis to leadership.

EXPERIENCE

A successful candidate will likely have:

Success building a major gifts or corporate philanthropy program ideally ones targeting business leadership, ideally Silicon Valley leadership;
Knowledge and experience establishing fundraising systems and policies based in current best practices;
Evidence of strategic thinking and an ability to manage and implement change;
Experience with organizations focused on policy, advocacy and/or campaign fundraising; 501(c)4, PAC experience and/or knowledge of California housing policy preferred;
Demonstrated success in personally identifying, cultivating and soliciting individual major donors;
Excellent relationship-building skills and agility to build rapport with internal and external stakeholders around innovative ideas and programs;
Exceptional communication skills; articulate, with proven ability to write effectively and speak persuasively; appreciates brevity and can make the case with clarity and passion;
Superior organizational skills, with a strong sense of detail-orientation and excellent time management skills;
Experience measuring fundraising ROI and assessing campaign results;
Familiarity with Salesforce (or similar CRM tools), Action Network (or similar email marketing tools), ActBlue (or similar donation platforms), Adobe Creative Suite, WordPress, and using social media for fundraising are highly desirable;
Able to support the effective use of technology, data and relationship mapping as a means of deepening relationships and opportunities; enthusiasm to learn and adopt new technologies;
Knowledge of local, federal and state legislation, and of accounting and tax laws, regulations, and rules affecting various forms of charitable giving.

ATTRIBUTES

Has passion for the mission of CA YIMBY, aligned with their values and determined to create change;
Entrepreneurial; able to see need and act upon it; self-motivated and self-directed; able to thrive in a fast-paced environment, with multiple projects, tight schedules and short deadlines;
Intellectually curious and proactive;
Able to learn quickly, identify and seize opportunities;
Strong attention to details; reliably makes deadlines, and practices timely follow-through;
Demonstrates integrity, transparency, honesty, and collaboration;
Committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Experience working respectfully and successfully with audiences and from diverse backgrounds and interests and leaders of color.
Possesses a sense of humor and the ability to employ it appropriately;
Ability to think on his/her/their feet, problem solve, critically think, and remain calm under stress;
Demonstrates sound judgment and fundraising expertise;
Exercises a keen sense of organizational diplomacy, able to uphold high standards of confidentiality.

For additional information or to be considered for this role contact:

Nancy Painter

Nancy@painterexecutivesearch.com

(415) 202- 6240