Mishkan Chicago leads people toward more purposeful, more connected, and more inspired lives. We create Jewish spaces to bring your whole self, and be part of something larger than yourself. As we connect to one another and to a life-affirming Jewish tradition, we breathe new life into Judaism and we change the world.
Since our first service in 2011, Mishkan Chicago has evolved from a small startup into a national presence with more than 25 full-time and part-time staff serving 650+ households both in Chicago and around the country.
We take our staff culture seriously, and we’ve developed workplace values to reflect how we show up for work: we innovate and see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow; we take care of ourselves and each other we belong to a team; we are invested in what we do, we create an enjoyable work environment; and we create a culture of respect, positivity, and empowerment amongst ourselves and for our community.
Director of Advancement
The Director of Advancement will direct the planning and implementation of a multi-layered fundraising strategy, serve as a strategic thought-partner to the Senior Leadership team, clergy and Board, and lead the Development & Engagement team with two direct reports. The primary responsibilities of this role will be to set strategy for development and engagement efforts, direct Mishkan’s annual fundraising campaigns, manage the major donor portfolio, lead the growth of Buildership/membership revenue, identify new opportunities for donors to make strategic investments in Mishkan’s growth, create a strategy around planned gifts and legacy gifts to our endowment, and develop strategies to amplify Mishkan’s story and impact to a wider audience. Mishkan’s annual budget is $2.8 million, $2 million of which comes from donations and memberships.
This role is important to Mishkan because it fosters a culture of joyful giving that is based on a feeling of purpose, connection and inspiration that our Builders/members find in this community. This role makes it possible for Mishkan to be a financially inclusive community where anyone, no matter their financial status, can fully participate. It allows Mishkan to be a best-in-class workplace by raising the funds that are needed to compensate our staff fairly, provide competitive benefits and robust professional development. And lastly, it creates a culture of abundance in which we can afford to experiment and take risks with our dynamic programming in order to best serve our diverse and growing community.
Responsibilities:
Fundraising, Development & Membership
- Execute and evolve our current fundraising strategy, identifying new strategies to increase philanthropic revenue
- Establish and meet revenue targets from Buildership/Membership & Fundraising in annual budget
- Manage a portfolio of major donors and prospects, being relational and strategic to grow their gifts over time and matching donor interests with strategic investment opportunities
- Develop strategy and vision for donor-centric events, work with Senior Director of Programs to plan and execute events
- Work closely with Director of Marketing & Communications on audience development, direct mail and digital campaigns throughout the year
- Working closely with the Buildership Experience Manager, oversee the growth of our Buildership/Membership base, including setting annual sliding scale dues and managing our annual renewal cycle for 650+ family units
Strategic Leadership and Collaboration
- Working closely with the Director of Marketing & Communications, develop strategies to amplify Mishkan’s story, impact, mission and values in order to inspire communal investment
- Provide leadership, guidance and messaging support in times of crisis
- Work closely with other departments to ensure a cohesive and unified communication, marketing, and brand strategy approach, with particular focus on increasing the impact of programs and initiatives to maximize fundraising opportunities
Engagement
- Coaches, manages & evaluates development and engagement team
- Understands Mishkan’s community member journey of “Explore Engage Lead,” and supports the Development & Engagement department in achieving their benchmarks
- Oversee the building of a community engagement plan incorporating small groups, volunteering opportunities and touchpoints with clergy
- Work closely with Senior Director of Programs to build engagement opportunities into our existing program plan
- Attend Shabbat and other key Mishkan programs regularly to build relationships with community members
Data Collection & Analysis
- Ensure donor data and interactions are accurately captured in our Shulcloud database
- Systematically manage lists for special attention by the Executive Director, clergy and members of the Board
- Perform ongoing data analysis of campaigns, donor trends, engagement, and tactics
Preferred Qualifications/Experience:
- 10+ years of direct experience with fundraising and development
- Proven track record of successfully soliciting five-and six-figure gifts
- Proven track record of successfully growing donors’ financial commitments
- Strong understanding of and passion for Mishkan’s mission
- Genuine curiosity about and memory for people’s interests, connections and relationships
- Strong supervisory skills with an emphasis on accountability, feedback and compassion
- Attention to detail paired with the ability to see the big picture
- Deep understanding of relational philanthropy and community building
- Ability to thrive in a collaborative culture with a strong practice around giving and receiving feedback for learning and growth
- Experience using Slack, Google Drive, Shulcloud CRM and project management software (Asana, Monday, Smartsheet, etc)
Supervisor
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Development & Engagement Associate
- Builder Experience Manager
Working Conditions
- This role is based in the city of Chicago. Mishkan’s offices are in the Ravenswood neighborhood
- Exempt, Full-time employee - 40 hours a week with some evening, weekend, and holiday hours required
- In-person presence at 5+ events per month, including Shabbat and other key programs
- Flexible working hours and conditions with the ability to work from home up to 3 days per week
- Workplace values/community norms
Compensation and Benefits
- Salary range of $120,000 to $140,000 commensurate with experience
- We offer excellent benefits including health insurance, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) with retirement matching, generous paid vacation and sick time, parental leave, and ample time off for office closures, federal holidays and some Jewish holidays. We offer a family-friendly, dynamic, and progressive workplace.
- This is a full-time, exempt, benefit-eligible position.
This job description may not cover a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned depending on Miskhan’s organizational needs. If you meet most but not all of the preferred qualifications for this position, we encourage you to still apply.