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Chief Executive Officer

Giving Compass

Job Description

Chief Executive Officer

Full Job Description

Giving Compass Network (“Giving Compass”) is a 501c(3) nonprofit that connects individual donors and advisors to curated philanthropic knowledge, insights and actions they can take to give with impact. As part of its mission to transform more resources into meaningful change for communities and society, Giving Compass shares knowledge and tools to help donors understand the historical and racial context of issues; learn about what works; explore new ways of giving; and deepen their ability to make a difference. With its recent acquisition of X4Impact, now a for-profit subsidiary of Giving Compass, it also can provide data and insights to guide leaders in the social impact space.

In 2021, Americans gave over $471 billion dollars to charity, with over $334 billion directed by individuals. It’s an incredible expression of generosity by any measure. But, during that same time period, wealth continued to accumulate for those in the top 5%, and more importantly, there is a mismatch between what communities want and need, and where and how these dollars flow. We can support donors who want to get better at giving and contribute to a more just and thriving society.

The team at Giving Compass believes that informed donors are key to advancing social justice and racial equity, and connecting donors directly to grassroots, community-led nonprofits is a catalyst for long term impact. Accordingly, Giving Compass has built a platform predicated upon a conviction that technology provides an effective bridge between donors, organizations that work with donors to accelerate their learning, and nonprofits to drive meaningful change at scale. This platform was created to drive awareness & help donors find credible, trustworthy resources to guide their giving journey.
Grounded in equity, effectiveness, & systems change, Giving Compass is the largest portal to Impact-Driven Philanthropy with 100K and growing monthly active users. Individual donors, advisors, foundation & nonprofit staff are using Giving Compass as a go-to-destination to inform their strategies. Today, Giving Compass is supported by a wide range of catalytic funders including the Raikes Foundation, The Ballmer Group, and Fidelity Charitable Trustees Initiative. To ensure long-term sustainable growth, Giving Compass is working to diversify its funding sources across several categories by expanding existing support from strategic funders, soliciting contributions from users, and accelerating earned revenue by driving greater adoption of its suite of SaaS products and premium programs. With greater, diversified funding, Giving Compass anticipates furthering business development and product development efforts while also continuing to invest in the infrastructure required to educate and connect more donors to the resources most likely to make a difference.

Giving Compass seeks its next Chief Executive Officer. This is an unusual opportunity to take the reins of an innovative organization that is transforming the field of impact-driven philanthropy. Giving Compass is poised to build on its early, but significant momentum by leaning into earned revenue strategies that will both broaden impact and sustain the enterprise. The next CEO will be charged with continuing to scale Giving Compass, evolving the funding model, and substantially increasing the visibility of the organization among its stakeholders.

Reporting to the board of directors and based in Seattle, WA with remote team members across the U.S., the CEO will lead a staff of 14 individuals. This includes a management team of seasoned technology, editorial, and philanthropy leaders. The current operating budget for Giving Compass is $3 million, enabling the organization to reach 100K monthly active users. With the recent acquisition of x4impact (a data intelligence company for social innovation), the combined organization is positioned to unlock billions of dollars in social impact giving.

The CEO will be responsible for building the organization’s sales, business development, and fundraising functions to accelerate realization of the vision: moving donors and dollars to support nonprofit organizations and movements and amplifying voices in the sector that are not always heard. In doing so, the CEO will also help Giving Compass drive awareness and action toward advancing social justice and racial equity.

The passionate commitment and multi-functional expertise of the team at Giving Compass has been a core part of the organization’s growth to-date. To build on that momentum, the CEO will bring a strong understanding of the social sector and tech4good landscape, an understanding of equity and social justice, and passion for how technology can be a positive force in shifting resources.
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Key Responsibilities*

  • Implement scalable fundraising & business development strategies that will drive sustainable growth from multiple sources of revenue.
  • Successfully manage and influence existing partnerships and continue to cultivate and build innovative partnerships to further the mission.
  • In coordination with the Executive Board, drive strategic planning and organizational management. Lead the budget development process and maintain a high level of fiscal responsibility.
  • Lead the organization in efforts to engage community voices in decisions: sharing power with our nonprofit community, co-creating and implementing responsive feedback loops and measurements of success.
  • Drive the development of core products and services aligned with Giving Compass’ mission, define/ strong business models, and clear value propositions for relevant stakeholders.
  • Establish measurable programmatic, team and staff goals, and track results against these goals in consistent and transparent ways. Invest in professional and DEI growth for the staff and the organization.
  • Represent Giving Compass on relevant group initiatives, as well as speaking engagements and conference panels, to advance our ability to influence the sector to support donor education, infrastructure and community-led practices.

Target compensation for this role is in the range of $240,000-255,000 plus a potential bonus of up to 10% based upon performance, determined at the discretion of the Board, and a generous benefits package.

Candidate Profile
The ideal Giving Compass CEO will be an outstanding leader and manager with demonstrated expertise guiding the growth of a B2B and B2C digital organization, who will strengthen the credibility of Giving Compass within the sector. They should be a storyteller and visionary who is passionate about the potential of leveraging technology platforms for social impact. The successful candidate will be an action-oriented, entrepreneurial and adaptable operator who will pair innovative thinking with the ability to delve deeply into the target audience mindset and behaviors to inform strategy. An ideal candidate brings experience in the philanthropy or social impact sector with a strong network to accelerate fundraising and business development efforts.

The successful candidate will be a servant leader who inspires, invests in, and empowers the team and develops followership. The CEO needs to be decisive and make hard decisions, while ensuring a transparent style that brings the team along. This is a leader who will set direction, help the team prioritize and focus on what matters, and then give them the tools and support to execute. They will be an outstanding leader of people with very high organizational EQ and excellent communication and listening skills who is open, approachable and readily engenders trust.
They must be committed to creating and maintaining a diverse, inclusive and equitable work environment that is collaborative and enfranchising.

The ideal candidate may come from any number of functional and organizational backgrounds. This individual may be a sitting executive within non-profit or social impact organization, a Product- or Business Development-oriented leader within a for-profit technology company, or a senior member of a “tech4good” team within a scaled technology business.

Alignment of Beliefs, Values, and Motivations
For the Giving Compass team to be a good fit, these criteria should resonate with the ideal CEO candidate:

  • A strong analysis and understanding of who has been least well-served by traditional philanthropy and a commitment to shifting resources.
  • A passionate belief in the mission of Giving Compass and a commitment to excellence in fulfilling the organization’s core values along with a demonstrated capacity to deliver quality content and work products as well as delivering results on time.
  • Clear understanding of the nature of working in a cause-driven, entrepreneurial environment; a keen sensitivity, passion and respectfulness for the organizational purpose.
  • A continuous learning orientation.
  • A hunger to continuously deepen knowledge on philanthropy and the social sector; passion for our mission of driving more resources to more good; and staying connected to shifting trends in technology to inform innovation.
  • An entrepreneurial mindset, ideally evidenced through success at scaling organizations with sustainable/self- reinforcing operating models.
  • A deep belief in power-sharing and community-led approaches as more equitable and impactful.

Professional Background and Experience
The ideal CEO candidate will bring a range of professional experiences and resources, which should include:

  • Experience growing, scaling and running successful social impact organizations, ideally grounded in social justice work, and demonstrated ability to engage funders for sustained capital funding.
  • Track record of scaling an organization through critical inflection points.
  • Experience with business development, fundraising, or running a revenue generating social enterprise, along with the financial acumen to deliver multiple funding / revenue models.
  • Strategic and operational chops drawn from wide-ranging professional experience - ideally at the intersection of the social enterprise, fundraising, and tech - would be considered valuable.
  • Strong credibility in the sector as a trusted voice with demonstrated ability to elevate the needs of marginalized communities and drive action.
  • A cultivated network of existing personal and professional relationships that the organization can leverage.

Leadership Competencies

In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, we highlight the following:
Setting Strategy

  • An entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will stretch the organization and push the boundaries within the industry.
  • Demonstrated record of setting operational priorities; a strategic thinker who will be capable of partnering to create and implement an operational vision, framework, and culture that has the potential to forge a lasting legacy of impact.

Executing for Results

  • The ability to set clear and challenging goals while committing the organization to improved performance; tenacious and accountable in driving results.
  • A decisive leader who will help move the organization forward while balancing multiple perspectives and bringing the team along.
  • A leader who is viewed by others as having a high degree of integrity and forethought in their approach to making decisions; the ability to act in a transparent and consistent manner while always taking into account what is best for the organization.
  • Experience managing investments in core organizational functions while evolving structures and systems that allow for increased partner and staff satisfaction and impact.

Leading Teams

  • The ability to attract and recruit top talent, motivate the team, delegate effectively, celebrate diversity within the team, and manage performance; widely viewed as a strong developer of others.
  • The ability to persevere in the face of challenges, and exhibit a steadfast resolve and relentless commitment to higher standards, which commands respect from followers.
  • A leader who is self-reflective and aware of their own limitations; leads by example and drives the organization's performance with an attitude of continuous improvement by being open to feedback and self- improvement.

Relationships and Influence

  • Naturally connects and builds strong relationships with others, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively.
  • An ability to inspire trust and followership in others through compelling influence, powerful charisma, passion in their beliefs, and active drive.
  • Encouragement of others to share the spotlight and visibly celebrates and supports the success of the team.
  • Authenticity, diplomacy, flexibility, warmth, sensitivity, drive, passion, and determination.
  • Exceptional communication and external representational skills, including as a public speaker and communicator.
  • An ability to be equally at ease with leaders of grass-roots social change organizations as with foundation leaders, business executives and advisors and other professionals is critical to success in this role.
  • Multi-constituency sensitivity and demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Contact and Application Instructions
Cecyl Hobbs
Russell Reynolds Associates
101 California Street
Suite 4200
San Francisco, CA 94111-5867
Direct: +1-415-352-3375
Mobile: +1-617-869-8545

Please send your application materials to:
GivingCompassCEO@russellreynolds.com
Preference will be given to candidates applying before November 30th.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $240,000.00 - $255,000.00 per year

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