Habitat for Humanity of Orange County (HFHOC) is an $8.5 million non-profit organization that works to provide affordable ownership to families throughout Orange County. Through building, renovating, and repairing affordable, energy efficient homes we work to establish communities of hope, dignity, and opportunity for low-income families who have a need for better housing, the ability to pay, and a willingness to partner. HFHOC’s parent organization, Habitat for Humanity International, was named a Top Diversity Employer for 2021 by DiversityJobs.com.

HFHOC has recently experienced some leadership changes, following the retirement of their long-tenured President/CEO a couple of years ago. Michael Valentine, a long-time Board Member, and former Board Chair, is the new President/CEO. Valentine brings with him a long-tenured career in real estate development and construction and has rapidly built a pipeline of 35 new homes for construction with another potential 24 homes in the pipeline for the next quarter. Valentine and HFHOC’s Board of Directors’ goal to build 200 new homes over the next five years.

Be part of the transformation of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County as it expands its reach in providing affordable homeownership to Orange County residents.

This is a senior leadership position and a high-profile role that will provide strategic direction focused on building partnerships and developing a robust philanthropic program in support of a critical mission.

If you have senior fund development experience along with strategic vision and the ability to develop systems and processes, this position offers you many compelling opportunities. You will:

• Take a square one approach to fundraising, enhancing existing efforts and building new approaches to help HFHOC prepare for future growth.
• Join a highly respected organization that consistently delivers real results that improve the quality of life in communities around the world — with a focus on Orange County.
• · Highlight your leadership skills and innovation, working closely with a new and impressive President/CEO and Board of Directors who are strategically taking the organization from building 10 housing units a year to building hundreds.
• Play a key role in a diverse organization that includes home building, home repair, neighborhood revitalization, retail stores and education.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the President/CEO, you will be responsible for the growth of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s fundraising budget of approximately $3 million annually, through the solicitation of major gifts, grants, special events, and corporate and foundation support. HFHOC will look to you to assess the current state of fund development, identify strengths and gaps, and develop a three to five-year strategic plan to facilitate increased philanthropic funding streams. The plan should account for staffing, technology, operational processes internally, as well as external-facing tactics and strategies for building relationships with individual donors, faith-based and interfaith partners, corporations, foundations, and government agencies.

You’ll provide leadership, strategy, planning and guidance for comprehensive fundraising efforts and day-to-day management for all fund development-related programs and activities, including identification, qualification, and assignment of prospects, as well as donor cultivation, direct solicitations, closing gifts, and donor stewardship.

In addition, as a member of the executive management team, you will play a key role in setting Habitat OC’s strategic direction, contributing strong knowledge of the national, state, and local funding landscapes to identify and take advantage of opportunities for growing the organization’s resources. Among the challenges HFHOC faces locally are resistance to low-income housing and competition from the private sector in relation to high property prices.

In what HFH is calling “HFH 2.0” is a new partnership with Habitat International (HI). HI will be taking over all marketing for local affiliates including all direct marketing (email, hard mail, TV, etc.) and HFHOC will, in turn, keep 42% of all local donations. This will help propel future financial growth and stability in the greater OC market. This partnership will also help build a pipeline of new Major Gift prospects, allowing the VP to build and expand the Major Gift program.

More good reasons to join HFHOC:

Make a good thing even better

HFHOC has established fund development programs in place. This isn’t a case of fixing something that’s broken, but of infusing new visionary leadership. A key goal is to build highly strategic and sustainable long-term programs, powered by robust and scalable infrastructure.

Highlight your creativity

We won’t sugarcoat it: Orange County is a very challenging market for HFHOC’s organizational model, with high land prices and resistance to low-income housing from the community and local government. While there are multiple potential sources for funding, competition for every dollar is high. Habitat OC will look to you to create new approaches to help increase both the number of families in housing, and the rate at which they are placed.

Entrepreneurial with a mission

HFHOC is a non-profit organization with an important mission: establish communities of hope, dignity, and opportunity for low-income families. The best way to achieve this mission is to take an entrepreneurial approach. The leadership welcomes new ideas and remains open to new opportunities.

Expand your knowledge and capabilities

HFHOC is diverse, and you will gain exposure to mortgages, construction, retail operations, training, family selection and more. You’ll be a change agent, building a fund development function that will help Habitat families today and into the future.

The Role

• Work closely with the CEO, Board, staff, and community leaders to engage new foundations, corporations, and individual donors to provide a deep investment in program expansion, as well as policy and evaluation efforts.
• Provide leadership and strategy for all fundraising efforts of the organization, including:
  • Annual giving (direct marketing, special events).
  • Individual and planned giving.
  • Corporate and foundation giving (including grants).
  • Faith gifts from individuals and organizations.
  • Identifying new major gift prospects.
• Interface and coordinate with HI to share data and knowledge of the OC philanthropic community, maximizing local donors’ gifts for HFHOC.
• Serve as the organization’s primary knowledge source for funding opportunities.
• Meet and exceed monthly, quarterly, and yearly fundraising goals, both team and individual.
• Implement a stewardship program focused on cultivating deeper ties with donors, program officers, and funding sources.
• Represent Habitat OC at key donor meetings and fundraising events.
• Collaborate with the Board of Directors’ fundraising committee.
• Monitor all donor information; provide and present statistical analysis to the board and senior leaders.
• Lead, develop, and mentor the development team.

The Requirements

Senior professional fundraising experience in nonprofit organizations and demonstrated success in the development function, forging and managing relationships with multiple donor sources.

• Proven experience in cultivating and expanding donor relationships over time.
• Experience developing and implementing new strategies, operational processes, and technology solutions, ideally to help to scale the organization.
• Exemplary leadership and management skills.
• The ability to coach and mentor others.
• Demonstrated organizational, problem-solving, decision-making, and negotiating abilities.
• Strong financial acumen and financial management skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with ability to influence and engage a wide range of donors; you’ll need the gravitas to interact effectively with donors, faith groups and other stakeholders.
• Proficiency with MS Office and experience with fundraising software, ideally Bloomerang.
• Experience as an Affiliate or Chapter Senior Fundraiser with an understanding of navigating the nuances of the relationship between National /International partner and local fundraising efforts is preferred.
• A bachelor’s degree; an MBA, MPA or other relevant advanced degree is preferred.
  

In addition to possessing these core functional competencies, you should be:

• Deeply committed to the mission of HFHOC.
• A strong, visionary leader who thinks strategically and can implement tactically.
• A positive influencer who leads with transparency.
• An articulate communicator and storyteller who inspires investment.
• Willing to work a flexible and, at times, demanding schedule.
• Respectful of all constituencies and willing to engage across constituencies whether in the office, in the community, or at a construction site.
  

Keys to Success

Leading change is a key part of this role, but you should also maintain a healthy respect for the successful history of HFHOC’s past. You’ll need to influence and motivate others to get on board with new ideas. No doubt you will score some early victories in fundraising, but the right candidate will understand the value of taking a long-term approach to building relationships and cultivating donors.

Character counts. In many situations you will be the face of HFHOC and expected to be an upstanding citizen and respected leader, both internally and externally. You’ll need to be able to establish credibility in short order and leverage your people skills to build from there. You should be able to strike the right balance between assertiveness and compassion. In addition, to be an outstanding Chief Development Officer, you will:

• Empower staff while also holding them accountable.
• Promote teamwork, consensus, and collaboration among diverse partners.
• Multi-task effectively, balancing internal and external stakeholder needs.
• Remain approachable and genuine.
  

The salary range is $170,000 to $185,000 plus health and wellness benefits, a 403B and generous vacation policy. The Chief Development Officer is a leadership role and a hybrid position.