Executive Director

Center for Community Stewardship; Madison (WI); Hybrid; USD 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Center for Community Stewardship (C4CS) is seeking an Executive Director to lead a small, mission-driven team and coordinate with external partners. The role focuses on strengthening cross-project communication, governance, and financial robustness while enabling project leaders to succeed without taking over their work.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in nonprofit leadership, strong financial acumen, and a track record in fundraising and building scalable systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of nonprofit leadership or senior management experience, including supervising staff.
• Strong financial acumen: comfortable with financial statements and budgets.
• Experience in fundraising or revenue development, including relationship-based work.
• Ability to build systems and processes and adopt financial/project management tools.
• Natural connector who brings people and organizations together without taking over their work.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; credible as public face of the organization.
• Commitment to equity and reducing barriers for community-based organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support and develop a small team, and partner with an engaged Board.
• Strengthen communication across sponsored projects, staff and the Board.
• Establish consistent portfolio criteria for new projects and sponsorships.
• Build financial and operational foundations with budgets, reporting and controls.
• Provide transparent information and mechanisms to pool resources across the network.

Skills

Nonprofit leadership

Staff supervision

Financial acumen

Fundraising experience

Relationship building

Clear communication

Equity commitment

Job description

Help community organizations across Wisconsin do more, together.

The Center for Community Stewardship (C4CS) is a fiscal sponsor for about 50 community-led organizations across Wisconsin, from first-year grassroots projects to established programs. We handle the finances, compliance and administration so project leaders can focus on their missions. Our values guide the work: Taking Thoughtful Risks, Increasing Access, Building Community, and Fostering a Growth Mindset.

C4CS is entering a new chapter, and we are looking for an Executive Director to lead it. This is a hands‑on role in a small organization: an Executive Director, a Program Manager and an Accounting Manager carry the day‑to‑day work. Outside partners support specific functions: SustainableHR, our PEO, handles HR administration, payroll and benefits; Johnson Block is our independent auditor; and our Fiscal Sponsorship Commons membership offers a national peer network, templates and advisory support. The Executive Director is the connector who draws on these partners, rather than carrying every function alone.

The opportunity

Our next Executive Director will start by strengthening communication across projects, staff and the Board; clarifying how we manage and support our project portfolio; and strengthening the organization’s financial and operational foundations. From there, you will help our projects become more connected, more visible and better funded. You will not direct our projects; their leaders are capable and know their work. You will give them dependable systems, clear and transparent information, and ways to pool resources across the network so no project has to build every function alone.

Your first-year priorities

• Strengthen communication across sponsored projects, staff and the Board so project leaders understand their finances, know whom to contact, receive timely updates, and have clear expectations about available support and mutual responsibilities.
• Review the existing portfolio and establish consistent criteria for accepting new projects and managing sponsorships over time, with attention to mission alignment, administrative demands and staff capacity.
• Build the financial and operational foundations: a realistic budget, regular reporting on cash, reserves and revenue, strong financial controls, a review of our fee and cost‑share model, and documented processes so knowledge lives in the organization and not in any one person.
• Lead, support and develop a small team, and partner openly with an engaged Board.
• Then, with the Board and staff, sequence further work: a step‑by‑step rollout of tools that give each project up‑to‑date visibility into its funds, shaping our service model around what projects need, strengthening our brand and project spotlights, and connecting projects to one another and to funders.

Who we are looking for

• 5+ years of nonprofit leadership or senior management experience, including supervising staff.
• Strong financial acumen: comfortable with financial statements and budgets, and able to explain the numbers to a board and to non‑financial audiences.
• Success in fundraising or revenue development, including relationship‑based fundraising and proposal writing.
• A track record of building systems and processes, and comfort adopting financial and project management technology.
• A natural connector who brings people and organizations together without taking over their work.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, and credibility as the public face of the organization.
• Sound judgment and discretion with sensitive personnel and organizational matters.
• A genuine commitment to equity and to reducing barriers for community‑based organizations.

Helpful but not required: experience with fiscal sponsorship or shared‑services models; nonprofit accounting, grants management and government funding; organizational change in a small organization; branding, social media or storytelling; and familiarity with Wisconsin’s nonprofit and philanthropic landscape.

Compensation and location

Salary starts at $90,000, based on experience, with a full benefits package including health insurance, a 401(k) and paid time off. This is a hybrid position based at our office at 116 North Few Street in Madison, with some in‑office requirements, flexibility to work remotely, and some travel across Wisconsin.

C4CS is an equal opportunity employer. One of our core values is increasing access by reducing barriers for the people and organizations we work with, and we hold ourselves to that same standard as an employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. We welcome and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.