Summary
Description
Position Summary
Organizational Overview
Chinook Fund is both a fundraising and grantmaking organization that utilizes an innovative model called the Giving Project to fund social change and foster leadership. The Giving Project brings together diverse community members of all incomes who are passionate about social change and committed to building skills in fundraising, grantmaking, and community mobilization. Participants have transformational conversations about race and class, collective giving impacts, and the tensions and joys of grantmaking. Two Giving Project cycles are hosted annually.
Rooted in the belief that everyone can give, Chinook Fund utilizes a donor organizing approach to drive fundraising efforts. This approach incorporates values-based conversations and political education to empower donors to see their contributions as a vehicle for systematic change. Donor organizing is a key strategy of the Giving Project and by developing the fundraising leadership of its members, Chinook Fund engages new social justice donors. Since 2016, we have completed 14 Giving Projects and 2 alumni grantmaking committees, supporting 252 members who have collectively raised over $1.5 million from more than 4,000 donors.
To learn more about Chinook Fund and our commitment to social justice, please read our strategic plan: 2024 Strategic Planning Report. To learn about our Giving Project model, please read the following: Growing Donor Organizers Through Giving Projects and National Giving Project Network
Key Responsibilities
- Manage employee lifecycle: Oversee new employee paperwork, benefits enrollment and management, payroll processing, recruitment, hiring, onboarding, performance management, and annual evaluations.
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Ensure compliance and values alignment: Maintain personnel policies that comply with all local, state, and federal laws and policy requirements and reflect Chinook Fund's values, with support from the Finance and Operations Manager.
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Supervise and support staff: Utilize effective and equitable management practices to set clear expectations, support staff in achieving goals, provide regular feedback, and address personnel challenges compassionately and firmly.
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Foster a positive work environment: Cultivate a collaborative and inclusive team culture that prioritizes wellness, belonging, purpose, and ownership for each staff member.
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Champion professional development: Serve as a coach and advocate for staff, supporting their professional growth through feedback and development opportunities.
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Lead development planning: Spearhead annual development planning with support from the Development and Communications Manager, integrating donor organizing strategies into goals and work plans.
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Execute fundraising strategies: Implement institutional and individual development and donor organizing strategies, including grant writing, site visits, and reporting.
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Oversee major donor program: Lead visioning and oversight of the Constellations of Change major and recurring donor program.
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Cultivate, steward, and engage donors through personalized outreach, one-on-one visits, and multi-year solicitations.
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Oversee the Resource Mobilizer Committee and assist the Board in giving and fundraising events and activities.
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Foster a culture of grassroots fundraising and donor organizing throughout the organization.
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Oversee Giving Projects: Utilize Giving Projects as a political education initiative focused on driving action through democratic grantmaking, donor organizing, and community building.
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Support program implementation: Provide support for recruitment, outreach, program development, grant application review, and facilitation.
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Manage community-led grantmaking: Oversee the strategy and processes for community-led grantmaking and rapid response funds, including evaluation, funding criteria alignment (constituent-led, community-wide, lasting effect), and funding priorities (community organizing, rural communities, and Black & Indigenous-led initiatives).
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Represent Chinook Fund: Oversee membership and participation in the National Giving Project Network, philanthropic and donor networks, national conferences, and other relevant social justice and philanthropic spaces.
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Maintain knowledge of trends, best practices, and issues related to donor organizing, resource mobilization, social justice, participatory grantmaking, and philanthropy. Share insights as a leader and practitioner in the philanthropic sector.
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Lead organizational initiatives: Oversee annual goal setting and staff-wide team building efforts.
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Facilitate communication and collaboration: Develop agendas and facilitate bi-weekly staff meetings, rotating facilitation for team check-ins. Lead Managing Director Team meetings and collaborate with the Program Director as a thought partner.
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Oversee budgeting and financial operations: Oversee the annual budget process, annual audit, 990 preparation, 1099s, and multi-year budget and cash flow projections.
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Deepen values-aligned investment approach: Maintain ethical and values-aligned approach to endowment fund management and explore and advance impact investing as a tool to advance social justice.
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Ensure financial integrity: Oversee and approve bank transfer requests, payments, and income processing.
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Maintain financial health: Ensure timely and accurate financial statements and cash flow reports, reviewing them monthly and identifying potential opportunities and risks
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Manage and co-chair Finance & Investment Committee with support from the Board Treasurer.
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Act as the liaison with investment advisors; ensure compliance with Endowment Stewardship & Investment Policy and review quarterly reports.
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Facilitate Board Governance: Collaborate with Board co-chairs to develop meeting agendas, facilitate meetings, oversee annual work plan, and advance board development.
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Partner with the Board to develop and implement strategic planning (ideally every 3-5 years).
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Support Board Committees: Partner with the Executive Committee and committee chairs in fulfilling their responsibilities.
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Support the recruitment and onboarding of new Board members.
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Serve as the primary spokesperson for Chinook Fund, with support from key staff.
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Communicate and showcase Chinook's unique value as a grassroots grantmaker, place-based social justice fund, and donor organizer to local, regional, state, and national audiences.
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Oversee the development and implementation of a comprehensive communications and special event strategy; support identify development initiatives (visuals and messaging).
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Collaborate with the Development and Communications Manager to refine the organization's verbal identity (voice, tone, and key messages) and ensure brand and message consistency across all platforms.
Leadership Approach
Effective and Equitable People Management: Experience leading diverse teams. Focus on staff development through constructive feedback and inclusive management practices. Can handle conflict constructively and fosters a positive organizational culture. Experience with board and volunteer group management.
Relationship Building: Ability to connect genuinely with people from various backgrounds, building authentic relationships with staff, board members, donors, grantees, and volunteers. Welcomes diverse perspectives and can handle discomfort when encountering unfamiliar viewpoints.
Commitment to Social and Racial Justice: Understands the intersectional nature of identities (race, class, etc.) and their impact on the work, particularly within the communities served. Demonstrates leadership and advocacy for justice and can articulate their personal connection to the mission through their unique lived experience.
Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence: Ability to reflect on the impact of one's own and others' identities in various situations. Recognizes areas for personal growth and development, and is receptive to feedback, particularly regarding identity and equity.
Commitment to Chinook Fund's Core Values: Upholds the organization's values of Liberation, Community, Integrity, and Leadership in all aspects of the role. Models a healthy work culture by adhering to a 32-hour work week, avoiding after-hours communication, and utilizing paid leave.
Compensation and Benefits
The position is based in Denver, Colorado. Chinook Fund works on a hybrid schedule that is typically one day in-office (Wednesday) and three days remote (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday). There is occasional work on evenings and weekends. Limited travel within Colorado and nationally is also anticipated.
Chinook Fund offers a robust benefits package that includes: 100% employer paid health, dental, vision, short- and long-term disability insurance, Medical/Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, annual paid vacation (3 weeks), unlimited sick leave and paid parental leave, SEP IRA tax-deferred individual retirement account with a 5% employer contribution, professional development opportunities and leadership coaching, home office reimbursement, wellness funds, and 2-month paid sabbatical leave after 5 years.
To Apply
Equal Employment Opportunity
To further the principle of equal employment opportunity for all, Chinook Fund believes in maintaining diverse staff, board, and program participants. Chinook Fund’s recruiting, hiring, and advancement decisions will reflect its belief that representation of groups that make up a significant component of our constituency is important to the effective promotion of Chinook Fund’s mission and a means to address historical discrimination.