Vice President, Institutional Advancement

BENJAMIN ROSE; Cleveland (OH); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Benjamin Rose in Cleveland seeks an executive to lead integrated fundraising, communications, public relations, and events in support of its mission. As a member of the executive leadership team, you will shape organizational strategy, growth, and donor engagement while advancing program impact locally and nationally.

The role requires a track record of major gifts, institutional funding, and donor stewardship.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, nonprofit management, or business administration.
• Advanced degree preferred.
• Proven success in fundraising, marketing and communications strategies.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement an integrated advancement strategy.
• Oversee fundraising, marketing, communications, PR, and events.
• Cultivate donors, funders, board members, and partners.
• Partner with CEO and leadership to identify major gifts.
• Represent the organization in external engagements.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Fundraising strategy

Stakeholder engagement

Board relations

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, nonprofit management, business administration

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Raiser’s Edge

Job description

Position Summary:

• Leads the strategic development, execution, and oversight of integrated fundraising, communications, public relations, and event management in support of the mission and strategic priorities of Benjamin Rose.
• Serve as a member of the executive leadership team, contributing to organizational strategy, growth initiatives and decision making.
• Cultivates strategic relationships with donors, prospective funders, board members, community partners, and organizations locally and nationally, to advance organizational priorities and philanthropic support.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The following description is a general representation of the key duties and responsibilities of the position.

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement an integrated institutional advancement strategy aligned with organizational priorities and mission.
• Provide leadership and oversight across fundraising, marketing and communications, public relations, and special events.
• Collaborate with executive leadership and internal teams to advance organizational goals and strengthen community impact.

Fundraising and Philanthropic Development

• Lead strategies to grow individual giving, major gifts, planned giving, corporate and foundation support, sponsorships, and other philanthropic revenue.
• Develop and maintain a strong pipeline of prospective donors and funders through cultivation, stewardship and moves management strategies.
• Partner with the CEO, board members, and organizational leadership to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors and institutional funding partners.
• Identify and pursue new funding opportunities and strategic partnerships locally and nationally.
• Oversee fundraising campaigns, donor engagement initiatives, and stewardship activities.
• Collaborate with leadership and program teams to communicate organizational priorities and demonstrate impact to funders and donors.
• Provide strategic oversight of fundraising and signature events, ensuring alignment with revenue goals, donor engagement, and other organizational visibility.

Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations

• Lead the development and execution of integrated marketing and communications strategies that strengthen the Benjamin Rose brand and advance its mission.
• Guide brand positioning, messaging, and brand identity across platforms and communications.
• Build awareness of the organization’s programs, services, expertise, and impact among key audiences and stakeholders.
• Establish performance measures to evaluate marketing effectiveness, audience engagement and campaign outcomes.
• Partner with executive leadership to develop internal communications strategies that support organizational initiatives, change management and consistent messaging.

Board Relations and Strategic Partnerships

• Serve as the primary staff liaison to the Institutional Advancement Committee of the Board of Directors.
• Partner with the CEO and board leadership to strengthen board engagement in fundraising, donor cultivation, and organizational advancement.
• Prepare and present advancement strategies, performance reports, and recommendations to board committees and leadership.
• Develop and maintain relationships with potential funders, community organizations, corporate partners, and other stakeholders.
• Represent Benjamin Rose in external engagements and opportunities that advance organizational priorities.
• Build local and national partnerships that expand resources, visibility, and opportunities for collaboration.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen the organization’s reputation and position within the aging services and nonprofit sectors.

Team Leadership and Administration

• Lead, develop, and support institutional advancement staff, fostering collaboration, accountability, and professional growth.
• Establish departmental goals, monitor performance, and evaluate the effectiveness of advancement initiatives.
• Oversee departmental budgets, resource allocation, and performance reporting.
• Establish and monitor fundraising revenue goals, forecasts and key performance indicators.
• Use data to evaluate fundraising results, communications effectiveness, donor engagement, and event outcomes.

Requirements

Specific knowledge, training or skills required to perform the duties of this position including specific courses, training programs or required certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations, nonprofit management, business administration, or a related field; an advanced degree is preferred.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing integrated fundraising, marketing, and communications strategies that support organizational growth and mission advancement.
• Demonstrated experience in philanthropic revenue development, including major gifts, institutional funding, donor cultivation, and stewardship.
• Strong leadership, strategic planning, communication, relationship-building, and project management skills.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams managing budgets, establishing performance expectations, and holding staff accountable.
• Ability to translate organizational goals into effective fundraising, communications, and engagement strategies.
• Experience working with boards of directors and engaging board members in fundraising and organizational advancement.
• Experience using donor management software and performance data to guide decision-making; proficiency in Raiser’s Edge preferred.

Previous Experience that is necessary to qualify for this position:

• Minimum of 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising, marketing, communications or institutional advancement, including significant leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success in philanthropic revenue development and integrated marketing and communications is required.
• Experience in nonprofit or human services organizations is preferred.

Essential Physical Demands and Working Environment

(The physical demands and work environment described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.)

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, reach, stoop, kneel, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer, keyboard and telephone.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work.
• Light to moderate lifting is required, up to 15 pounds.
• Ability to uphold the stress of traveling.
• Regular, predictable attendance is required.
• Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic).
• Ability to work in a confined area.
• Ability to sit at a computer terminal for an extended period of time.
• Work environment is stressful at times.