Vice President for Individual Giving

Project Bread began in 1969 at the first Walk for Hunger. Today, we are a food security organization with a radical approach to ending hunger. We do this work through prevention, policy, and partnership. As one in 5 families struggles to afford enough to eat in the Commonwealth, Project Bread’s work, team, and budget have grown to achieve both immediate and lasting impact. As part of this evolution, Project Bread now has a comprehensive Advancement effort that spans communications campaigns that have secured free school meals; and an updated Walk, healthy annual fund, and growing major gifts effort. From this 50-year foundation of generosity, individual giving is poised to grow with the addition of a hands-on strategist in the new Vice President for Individual Giving.

At Project Bread, we have a deep commitment to creating positive social change and recognize that hunger and racism are inextricably linked. We work in a fast-paced environment that values learning, innovation, and diverse perspectives. Knowing its centrality to our work, Project Bread is committed to equity and inclusion. We aspire to build a diverse team, including groups that are traditionally underrepresented among our sector leadership. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

Project Bread

Project Bread serves a unique role in Massachusetts, and inspires action across the country, by engaging individuals with lived experience, developing policy based on sound research, operating a hotline accessible to 180 languages that connects families to public sector resources, collaborating with hunger relief organizations in dozens of towns and cities, and using each element of the work to achieve an end to hunger. Project Bread is committed to innovation and system change. Through the efforts of Project Bread and its partners, every child in Massachusetts is eligible for free school meals. Through Project Bread’s collaboration with MassHealth and Community Health Centers, Project Bread is demonstrating that health costs are reduced when food insecurity is addressed.

Project Bread envisions a Massachusetts where hunger is permanently solved for everyone.

The Position

The Vice President for Individual Giving is a new position, reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, and synthesizing the multiple strong efforts of both the individual giving and development operations teams into a powerful engine for fund development. Successful candidates will have proven experience in serving as a player/coach within a team of fundraisers and supporting the CAO and the CEO in engaging high net worth individuals for an impactful future.

With a well-known brand, decades long support from thousands in Massachusetts, and a signature event, the fundamentals of an outstanding individual giving program are in place. The VP will lead a team of 7. Today Project Bread raises approximately $6 million a year in philanthropic revenue from individuals and the Walk for Hunger, 45% of the overall $13 million in annual revenue. While Project Bread was founded on the generosity of Walk for Hunger participants, the organization is fortunate to receive support not just from walkers, but also thousands of individual donors, and dozens of corporate and foundation supporters. Project Bread conducts direct mail and other fundraising campaigns throughout the year, and has begun building a leadership gift and legacy gift strategy. The Development Operations team is particularly strong, with a Raiser’s Edge database and supporting tools that permit the Vice President to develop a data driven strategy from within Project Bread’s hundreds of thousands of past, kind supporters.

The opportunity in this position is to apply one’s established, successful strategic experience to the significant untapped potential for philanthropic support. As an organization that has grown rapidly through and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Project Bread has enjoyed considerable success through its public sector revenue and the dedication of its thousands of individual donors. The new Vice President will leverage Project Bread’s success and history to grow support among donors with additional capacity who are eager for systemic change. Determining how to best coordinate in one individual giving strategy major gifts, yearly campaigns, and the Walk for Hunger will be the key focus of the position.

Responsibilities

Project Bread is a collaborative organization and all team members contribute to its success and its commitment to solving hunger for everyone. The Individual Giving team and Development Operations have multiple strengths and ongoing responsibilities. The Vice President will balance the aspiration for increased revenue with a respect for the significant ongoing initiatives. We anticipate the VP will assume the following responsibilities:

• In collaboration with the CEO and the Chief Advancement Officer, develop a multi-year strategy for leveraging Project Bread’s unique position and assets and organizing an achievable, sustainable, comprehensive, and ambitious fundraising plan. 
• Apply a deep understanding of Boston’s current philanthropic landscape to introduce Project Bread to high-net-worth individuals committed to addressing hunger, actively managing one’s own portfolio and supporting the CEO and CAO with their respective major donor portfolios.
• Provide leadership, professional development strategy, and day-to-day management of the Individual Giving and Development Operations teams.
• Use data to craft the strategy, measure success, and identify new opportunities on an annual, monthly, and as needed basis, with the Development Operations team.
• Partner with the CEO, CAO, and the Board Development Committee to extend Board members’ passion for the mission to the development of the philanthropy strategy.
• Represent Project Bread in venues critical to its mission and philanthropic goals.
• Articulate the Project Bread case for support with clear, direct prose and strong public speaking skills.

Qualifications

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We know people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, volunteer, and lived experiences. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. That said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below.

• A passion for both connecting people and communities in Massachusetts to reliable sources of food and advocating for policies that make food more accessible—so that no one goes hungry.
• At least a decade of progressively greater responsibility and impact in direct fundraising and overall strategy.
• Demonstrated success in cultivating, stewarding, and partnering with donors and prospects with the capacity to make six and seven figure gifts.
• Past success in recognizing the interests, enthusiasms, and expertise of each Board member and collaborating with them to advance the mission.
• Previous successful partnerships with busy CEOs to strategically use their time to engage current and future supporters and become enthusiastic fundraisers in their own right.
• Exceptional organizational, written, oral, and data skills to advance the mission and provide the case for support.
• Understanding of direct mail, peer-to-peer, or event-based fundraising. 
• A fundamental respect for the dignity of every team member and their professional and personal growth while contributing to the work, as well as direct management responsibility for a team of five or more.
• A can-do spirit that pitches in when the Walk for Hunger is hours away, and supports the team in growing the Walk to match Project Bread’s long-term goals.
• Curiosity, creativity, and a sense of humor are all assets.

Additional Requirements

Working Location: Employees operate on a hybrid model including a mix of time working remotely, time in-office, and time out in community with external partners. Team members are expected to be in-person a minimum of two days a week. The Vice President for Individual Giving will need to be present in the East Boston office on a more frequent basis, as both a manager and in order to meet in person with colleagues, Board members, current and prospective donors, and other supporters. This position will also require attendance at evening and weekend events.

COVID-19 Vaccine Policy: For the safety and protection of Project Bread Staff & Constituents we do have a COVID-19 Vaccine Policy that requires all staff to be fully vaccinated per the CDC definition. Accommodation requests will be considered through our normal request process.

Compensation

The compensation range for this position is between $140-$165,000. Exceptional benefits include Blue Cross Blue Shield health and dental, flexible spending accounts, retirement plan with match after one year, life and long-term disability, contributions to commuting costs and wellness expenses, and unlimited paid time off.

To Apply

Carolyn O’Brien Consulting, LLC/CoCo Search is supporting Project Bread on this search. Please upload your application here, including a detailed resume, thoughtful cover letter, and a link to your LinkedIn profile. All applications or nominations will be gratefully received, acknowledged, and reviewed.

Project Bread is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, height, weight, or marital status in employment or the provision of services. Please contact us at jobs@projectbread.org if you would like to request special accommodations during the interview process.