Chief External Affairs Officer

Common Future; Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 290,000; Full time

Job summary

Common Future seeks a Chief External Affairs Officer to lead our revenue strategy and external communications. You will own a $10M annual fundraising goal across institutions, individuals, and investments, while shaping a bold fundraising and communications plan.

Travel 20-25% to build relationships and represent the organization in the field. You will collaborate with the Co-CEOs and Executive Leadership Team to align fundraising with program priorities, ensuring durable funding and a strong

Qualifications

• Experience leading fundraising or external affairs for mission-driven organizations.
• Ability to build and manage large funding portfolios with institutional funders and high-net-worth donors.
• Proven track record in developing diversified revenue models and securing multi-year funding.

Responsibilities

• Develop, own, and implement a comprehensive revenue strategy across fundraising channels.
• Manage a $10M annual fundraising goal including operations and investment capital.
• Build and steward a portfolio of funders and investors with strategic, long-term relationships.
• Guide communications and public relations to strengthen brand and thought leadership.
• Partner with C-suite and program teams to align fundraising with organizational priorities.

Skills

Revenue strategy

Donor relations

Capital raising

Public relations

Job description

Overview

Common Future works to close the racial wealth gap. Our current economic system does not work
for everyone. Generations of Black and Indigenous communities and other communities of color
have been and are currently intentionally locked out of wealth and power, holding us all back.

Founded in 2001, Common Future is building a future where all people—no matter their race and
class—have power, choice, and ownership over the economy.

As a women-led, multiracial organization, our diverse team of strategists, community organizers,
financial activists, and policy enthusiasts provides capital, operational support, and strategic
partnership to budding solutions addressing racial and economic injustice. To advance racial and economic equity, Common Future incubates, co-creates, and funds field-defining initiatives and influences key sectors. We collaborate with leaders who have the imagination and courage to rethink our economy. We bring initiatives that model how to build wealth and power in excluded communities to life.

Our culture values include centering equity, being the communities we serve, embracing
experimentation, reimagining what’s broken, collectively solving problems, and modeling a new
way of working. We strive to be an innovator that prioritizes the well-being of our employees.
Read more about us at commonfuture.co.

Purpose

Common Future is seeking a Chief External Affairs Officer to serve as a senior executive leader responsible for building and sustaining the financial foundation and brand reputation that makes our mission possible. This is a pivotal role at a pivotal moment: as the landscape for equity-focused organizations grows increasingly complex and the need for durable, flexible funding becomes more urgent, Common Future needs a bold, relationship-driven leader who can match the ambition of our programmatic work with an equally ambitious funding and communications strategy. The Chief External Affairs Officer will own Common Future's revenue strategy across institutional philanthropy, individual donors, capital raising, and emerging revenue streams, developing a business model that supports both organizational sustainability and economic independence.

Success in the role includes owning a $10M total annual fundraising goal, which includes $6 - 7M in operations and $3M in investment capital. The CEAO will hold a personal portfolio of funder and investor relationships, including high-net-worth and big-bet philanthropic prospects, and will be an active and visible presence in the field, traveling to conferences and convenings (20-25% time) to build new relationships and deepen existing ones.

In addition, the Chief External Affairs Officer will steward Common Future's brand and strategic communications, including providing guidance to the team managing public relations and cross-platform media. This senior leader will remain attentive to the external environment and develop strategies to support the positioning of the Co-CEOs, our organizational impact, and our collective thought leadership.

As a member of Common Future's Executive Leadership Team, the Chief External Affairs Officer will partner closely with the programmatic team leads on revenue strategy, ensuring that fundraising is tightly integrated with programmatic priorities, and will work in a matrixed fashion across the Impact Investments, Initiatives, and Finance teams. They will oversee Fund Development and Strategic Communications, and will set the tone for a culture of excellence, creativity, and deep relationship-building in service of an equitable economy.

Position Responsibilities

Revenue Strategy and Business Model (30%)

• Develop, own, and implement a comprehensive revenue strategy across institutional philanthropy, individual donors, high-net-worth giving, capital raising, and online/digital fundraising channels.
• In close partnership with the Co-CEOs, own a $10M total annual fundraising goal which includes $6 - 7M in operations and $3M in investment capital.
• Assess existing strategy and infrastructure quickly, identify what is working, and build forward without waiting for perfect conditions.
• Lead and steward Common Future's business model with a cross-organizational lens, identifying opportunities to diversify and strengthen revenue streams, increase unrestricted and flexible funding, and build long-term financial sustainability and economic independence.
• Partner with programmatic team leads and the CFOO to align fundraising strategy with programmatic priorities, ensuring that restricted and unrestricted funding opportunities are pursued in ways that serve organizational strategy and budgetary allocations.
• Collaborate across teams to align and integrate revenue strategies organization-wide, including: a) capital raising with Impact Investments and our affiliate organization, Community Credit Lab (CCL); b) restricted grant fundraising with our programs team; c) Finance; and d) digital fundraising.
• Track, analyze, and report fundraising performance to the Co-CEOs, Executive Leadership Team, and Board.

Funder and Investor Relationship Management (20%)

• Generate, hold, and actively steward a personal portfolio of institutional funders, high-net-worth individuals, and capital investors, with