THE OPPORTUNITY

YMCA of Southwest Florida is one of the region's most comprehensive non-profit organizations. For the past decade, the Y has been building significant momentum that inspires its volunteers, energizes its members and staff, and impresses its many partners. The force behind advancing the great mission of the YMCA has never been stronger and the opportunities of what we can collectively achieve are endless.

YMCA of Southwest Florida's history of progress is manifest in solid planning, positive involvement trends, an increasingly diverse participation of all Southwest Florida area residents and exciting program opportunities. Dynamic leadership and ambitious strategic planning have contributed to the success of this organization and expanded its reach in the communities we serve.

This is a truly unique time. The growth and momentum allow for endless opportunities to advance our mission and provide a special opportunity for an experienced Chief Advancement Officer to join the Y's highly collaborative senior management team during this advantageous time.

YMCA of Southwest Florida can celebrate many incredible successes within the past three years. For example:

• YMCA of Southwest Florida increased services and expanded its service area through community partnerships.
• YMCA of Southwest Florida is fiscally sound and creative collaborations with other entities have resulted in new opportunities to leverage the Y's legacy that are well within the scope of prudent balance sheet management.
• A transition to the Branch Executive Model has fostered an environment where local community leaders can focus on the local communities' needs. This shift allows YMCA of Southwest Florida to be regionally focused, yet engage all the communities it serves by meeting unique local needs and building meaningful relationships.
• Philanthropy has experienced growth in the annual campaign; donations over $1,000; and grants and major gifts.

The new Chief Advancement Officer will play a major role in bolstering the Y’s current momentum, ensuring that all potential stakeholders – whether volunteers, programmatic partners, current donors, or others in YMCA of Southwest Florida’s extensive network of relationships – have the opportunity to make the YMCA’s vision tangible and sustainable for generations of families to come.

THE RELATIONSHIPS

The CAO reports to the President & CEO, YMCA of Southwest Florida. Senior peers include the COO, CFO, and CHRO.

Direct reports: A development team including a VP of Philanthropy and other support staff.

Other key relationships: The Board of Directors, regional boards, executive directors of local branches, Heads of area foundations and other supporting partners, Key corporate sponsors (actual and potential)

THE LOCATION

YMCA of Southwest Florida is headquartered in Venice, Fl. With a service area encompassing seven counties (Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Hendry, and Glades)

THE MANDATE

YMCA of Southwest Florida’s new Chief Advancement Officer will be expected to instill a vibrancy in the Y’s fundraising efforts. In effect, the Y’s president and the Board of Directors now wish to attract a true strategic partner who can ensure that YMCA of Southwest Florida benefits from development processes, disciplines and data-based aspirations that are consistent with the Y’s strategic ambitions.

For example, YMCA of Southwest Florida has been consistently successful in attracting support for specific health & wellness; early childhood learning; youth development and sponsorship initiatives and has capitalized nicely on building relationships with a several key foundations. The necessity to create and reinforce active relationships with civic leaders and community-minded residents, who in turn will become the foundation of YMCA of Southwest Florida’s financial strength in decades to come. Similarly, it is critical for the CAO to nurture active, ongoing relationships with leaders across Southwest Florida. In concert with the president, the Chief Advancement Officer must be both a captivating ambassador for YMCA of Southwest Florida and a compelling manager of the processes that support the YMCA’s outreach.

In short, the CAO must be exceptionally good at telling the untold story while providing others the tools with which to spread that story even further. Balancing the strategic imperative of a comprehensive development plan with solid implementation tactics will be essential to long-term success. Accordingly, at this stage of the Y’s maturation and consistent with its hands-on, can-do environment, the CAO must be both strategist and project manager, proactively aligning organizational needs and donor commitment.

Accordingly, the Chief Advancement Officer must:

• Partner with other members of the senior staff in collaborative pursuit of strategic goals, especially those requiring outside financial support.
• Intuit YMCA of Southwest Florida’s cause-related story and find ways both creative and compelling to make that story tangible for personal and institutional stakeholders.
• Ensure the processes and activities of the development office support achievement of long-term development goals while furthering short-term priorities.
• Reinforce a philanthropic culture across the volunteer, staff and member populations to ensure the sustainability of YMCA of Southwest Florida’s special brand of programs and outcomes.
• Develop a network of relationships that complement and support those already in place. The CEO expects to remain personally involved in the most important relationships, of course, but he intends to attract a CAO with the capability, capacity, and credibility to initiate and sustain many relationships on his/her own.
• Guide and strengthen the Y’s development office so that it becomes consistently respected for impact and effectiveness, both internally and externally.

THE CANDIDATE

Expertise: The ideal candidate will offer…

• A record of clear success in strengthening and leading a comprehensive development strategy in an aspirational context.
• A facility for balancing projects and priorities within a strategic framework.
• Demonstrated respect for the difference an energized development function can make in an otherwise mature institution.

Culture: YMCA of Southwest Florida seeks a Chief Development Officer who exhibits…

• A collegial operating style informed by passion for the mission and respect for the culture; the CAO must be a leader whom colleagues and donors enjoy working with, even when they are being asked for new levels of performance or commitment.
• An affinity for federated settings combined with a penchant for execution and accountability within a collaborative framework.
• Intellectual curiosity and a pragmatic bent.
• The ability to model and apply best practices in a collaborative environment. Just as YMCA of Southwest Florida promotes innovative thinking, so too must the CAO embrace working priorities and relationships beyond the development silo.
• The cultural competence to work regionally and locally, a leader who can relate well to volunteer, staff and the organization’s ambitions that leverage far-flung aspirations and relationships.
• Alignment with the Y’s values and traditions.

Commitment: YMCA of Southwest Florida expects to hire a CDO who…

• Brings an infectious personal commitment to philanthropic engagement.
• Models the qualities the Y seeks to instill in its own volunteers and staff, among them personal engagement, intellectual curiosity, and tenacious pursuit of aspirational goals.
• Understands both the art and science of development—a savvy leader who knows how to leverage best practices for optimal impact.
• Has the experience and capacity to strengthen and lead a self-perpetuating development team, the members of which will come to be widely respected for their commitment to excellence, their sense of urgency—and their results.
• Understands impact, someone whose legacy will live on in the people, processes and pride of accomplishment to which her or she has contributed directly and substantively.