Vice President of Development

ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION

STEM From Dance equips girls to become the innovators, engineers, and creators the world needs, building creativity, confidence, and skills through the transformative power of dance.

Founded in 2012, we reach girls in more than 30 cities. 76% of our participants report a sense of belonging, against a national average of 35% for girls their age, and 73% report confidence in STEM. We are building toward 20,000 girls by 2028.

Our revenue has grown from $349,000 to $2.7 million. Reaching 20,000 girls a year takes revenue that grows faster still, and a development function the organization owns and can grow with. Building that function is what this role is for.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President of Development is responsible for the acquisition and growth of STEM From Dance's philanthropic revenue. You would personally build and close the relationships that fund our national growth.

The mandate. More than half of what we raise in a typical year comes from funders who were not supporting us twelve months earlier. Renewing and upgrading our existing base covers part of what we need. The rest has to come from funders who are not with us yet. Your charge is to bring in significant new commitments at six figures and above, and to build a pipeline deep enough that next year's number is achievable before the year begins.

Where your time goes. STEM From Dance has built an infrastructure powered by AI and technology that handles the production side of development: proposal drafting, prospect research, application assembly, and pipeline maintenance, with cross-functional support behind it. That keeps this role on the work that produces revenue. Funder conversations, donor relationships, representing the organization in the room, and the judgment calls about where to aim. We want someone who wants to be out front.

The Vice President of Development sits on the executive team, and the role is built to grow into Chief Development Officer as the development operation does. A dedicated development hire is budgeted for next fiscal year and would report to this role.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• New funder acquisition and major gifts (40%)
• Major individual giving (20%)
• Strategy, positioning, and portfolio performance (20%)
• Board engagement and external representation (15%)
• Executive leadership (5%)

Requirements

• Required Qualifications
• Track record of personally closing philanthropic or commercial commitments of $100,000 or more.
• Demonstrated net-new fundraising origination, with a substantial share of funds raised coming from funders personally identified and acquired.
• Experience building fundraising revenue without relying on an established institution's name and donor base.
• Direct fundraising experience across at least two of the following funder types: private foundations, corporate partners, and individual major donors.
• Experience operating effectively in a rapidly growing organization where priorities sharpen and structures are built over time.
• Sound judgment in deciding which fundraising opportunities to pursue or decline, with accountability for those decisions.
• Working fluency with AI tools used in fundraising workflows, with the ability to identify incorrect output before it reaches a funder.
• Experience representing an organization independently in executive-level funder conversations as the most senior person in the room.

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience closing major philanthropic or commercial commitments with direct responsibility for making the ask.
• Experience closing commitments above $250,000.
• Experience building a major individual giving program from an early stage.
• Experience at an organization in a comparable growth stage, scaling from a single city to a national footprint.
• Prior participation on an executive team.
• Familiarity with investment-level or unrestricted giving methodologies.