Managing Director - First Coast Chapter
BACKGROUND
Blessings in a Backpack (Blessings) mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. Each week of the school year, Blessings and its thousands of volunteers and partners send a bag of food home with children who, during the week, are fed by the free and reduced meal program.
During the 2022-2023 school year, Blessings provided more than 3.3 million hunger-free weekends to children at over 1,100 program locations across the county. The First Coast Blessings Chapter, established in 2017, currently serves over 5,400 children at more than 40 schools.
Position Summary
This position requires a take-charge, self-starter to lead the First Coast Blessings Chapter in Jacksonville, Florida. The Managing Director will have overall responsibilities for implementing Blessings’ strategic plan with a focus on board development, local fundraising, food logistics, school relationship management, volunteer management, program sustainability and expansion, and operations. The Managing Director will conceptualize and manage complex project plans, working in close collaboration with the Blessings senior management team and local advisory board.
The Managing Director is a direct report to the Vice President of Chapter Relations and will manage a part-time Chapter Coordinator. The First Coast Advisory Board is a key stakeholder.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The managing director is responsible for the overall performance of the chapter and is accountable for fund development, budget management, programming, and meeting the needs of its volunteers and board.
Key responsibilities include:
- Securing revenue to fund the chapter’s operations and mission
- Oversee all areas of fundraising for the chapter, including corporate partnerships,
- annual fund, major giving, foundation relations, grant writing, and some event
- management
- Monitoring the financial health of the chapter
- Ordering and ensuring delivery of food to program locations
- Thinking strategically about the long-term direction of the chapter
- Recruiting, training, and supporting local program volunteers and ad hoc
- volunteers for special events and specific tasks, including providing fundraising
- support and training
- Working with and overseeing school coordinators to ensure weekly program
- management and operations
- Maintaining and enhancing brand recognition and relationships in the geographic
- region, utilizing materials and campaigns created jointly with the national
- marketing team and local materials
- Serving as the chief media representative for the chapter, making appearances in
- local news and radio programs as needed to promote chapter initiatives
- Managing the local advisory board, including recruiting to strengthen its
- membership and utilizing their time and talent to engage and fundraise within the
- community and help execute local events and other projects
- Acting as liaison with the national office
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum five years of fund development experience in the chapter area, or
- comparable sales/revenue generation experience
- Proven track record of raising funds from diverse sources including major gifts
- from individuals, foundations, grant writing, events, and corporations
- Understanding of the donor life cycle and how to progress donors through it
- Knowledge of and connections in the chapter’s geographic range
- Experience in working with a Board (Advisory Board or Board of Directors)
- Ability to build and maintain effective internal and external interpersonal
- relationships
- Experience in budget development
- Experience in managing the overall P&L of an operating unit or department
- Creative and persuasive writing skills for effective presentations, reports, memos,
- and grants
- Public speaking experience in addressing various-sized groups in both informal
- and formal meetings
- Ability to communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders across a
- variety of sectors
- Familiarity with volunteer management and email management tools
- Demonstrated success in working in organizations with accountability systems,
- and with metrics for outcomes and result
- Ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks/projects while maintaining attention to detail
- Willingness and ability to attend local business and social events that require both workday and evening availability, plus travel within the chapter area
- Ability to travel overnight by airplane on a limited basis
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs
- Home office in the chapter area
- Personal car transportation (mileage is reimbursed in accordance with IRS rules)
- Valid driver's license
- Desire to make an impact on food-insecure children in your community
- PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Sales and customer relationship management experience
- Knowledge of effective marketing strategies and tactics
- Work experience in a face paced, growth oriented, entrepreneurial organizational
- environment
- Project management experience
- Experience in logistics
- Knowledge of Raisers Edge
