Chief Development Officer

St. Louis Public Radio (STLPR) seeks a mission-driven, charismatic Chief Development Officer to serve on the station’s senior leadership team. This core team member is responsible for leading all philanthropic fundraising and membership activities at STLPR. We’re looking for someone with extensive and meaningful face to face fundraising experience, who will act as a skilled director and mentor for the development department and who can effectively and authentically communicate the importance of St. Louis Public Radio and its public service journalism mission in our region and beyond. 

The Chief Development Officer (CDO) is an active participant in strategic decision-making for the station, creating and implementing long-term fund development strategies to grow and sustain all fundraising for STLPR, and building strong and successful relationships with donors, board members and others. The CDO will be an enthusiastic representative of STLPR, building relationships across the community to advance a culture of inclusivity and opportunity, and to deepen St. Louis Public Radio’s visibility and impact by expanding its financial resources and ability to grow. 

Key responsibilities for this position include: 

• Strategic Leadership - Working frequently with STLPR leadership and board members to provide strategy, research and analysis as related to all station business development activity;

• Departmental Leadership - Defining and leading the execution of comprehensive, diversified and integrated plans to ensure the successful achievement of annual financial and long-term station goals; developing and managing actionable strategies, policies, procedures and techniques for membership, major and planned giving, capital campaigns, corporate/foundation giving and grants and special events;

• Recruitment, Training & Support - Recruiting, managing and supporting development staff to best achieve STLPR’s philanthropic goals; nurturing staff through team building, goal-setting, mentorship, coaching, evaluation and recognition; Commitment to holding staff and self accountable through regular reviews and feedback aimed at growing skills and abilities of less experienced staff;

• CEO Collaboration - Strategizing and planning major donor asks with the CEO;

• Corporate Sponsorship Oversight - Supervise the Sponsorship Operations Manager to provide high level leadership over all corporate revenue generating efforts; ensure smooth communication and collaboration between team members responsible for donor and corporate relationships;

• Portfolio Management - Managing a select donor portfolio and personally cultivating and building relationships with donors/listeners to facilitate significant leadership gifts, planned gifts and grants; Facilitating and supporting CEO’s major gift activities;

• Board Engagement - Maximizing participation and impact of the Friends of KWMU, Inc Board to further the board’s philanthropic and fundraising goals and objectives;

• Budgeting, Data Tracking & Analyzation - Establishing departmental budgets, overseeing revenue and expenses, projections and forecasting; preparing detailed reports and analysis; tracking revenue, fundraising metrics and trends and preparing related reports and analyses along with recommendations for action;

• Cross-departmental & Industry Collaboration - Building successful relationships with station colleagues across departments, and industry partners in philanthropy and public media (i.e. NPR, APM, Greater Public), to stay informed of trends and best practices and to recommend sound policy and implement strategic revenue generating plans;

• University Collaboration - Working closely with UMSL Advancement, UM System Procurement and other University departments to successfully manage and understand policies and cross-departmental collaboration and reconciliation.

Minimum Qualifications

A Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience, and at least six years of experience from which comparable knowledge and skills can be acquired is necessary. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree and/or CFRE is preferred, though not required; We recognize that advanced degrees and certifications aren’t the only paths to becoming a successful fundraiser and encourage all qualified applicants to apply;
• Demonstrated success in building a high performing team, and managing and developing dynamic and diverse staff;
• Commitment to holding staff and self accountable through regular reviews and feedback aimed at growing the skills and abilities of junior staff;
• Proven ability to lead and manage a complex, multi-faceted fundraising program;
• Extensive personal experience in major gift, campaign fundraising, planned giving, proposal writing;
• Proven ability and willingness to solicit $25,000+ annual gifts and $100,000+ campaign gifts;
• Ability to articulate and execute a fundraising vision;
• Familiarity with using donor software, and the ability to quickly become proficient in other industry-related software;
• A self-motivated leader, able to work in collaboratively in teams as well as independently;
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks to meet individual and departmental goals within deadlines;
• Excellent verbal and written communication, interpersonal, presentation and donor relationship skills;
• A high level of cultural competence, and professional or personal experiences involving diverse groups of people and ideas; 
• Demonstrated financial fluency, to develop and maintain financial projections/budgets;
• Demonstrated high level of competency with technology, an aptitude of mastering new technology and experience with CRM systems;
• Ability to exercise good judgment and professional ethics;
• Familiarity with public media and/or journalism fundraising, and willingness to think outside the box to design a fundraising vision bespoke to the St. Louis region and philanthropy landscape.

Supervision Exercised

The Chief Development Officer directly supervises four managers and indirectly supervises eight full-time staff members. 

Supervision Received

The Chief Development Officer reports directly to the STLPR CEO. 

Salary Range 

$100,000 - $135,000 annual, commensurate with experience

Other Information

St. Louis Public Radio is a service of the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), and through UMSL offers comprehensive benefits including health, dental and vision insurance, retirement and wellness programs through the University of Missouri System Total Rewards program. University employees receive discounts at the College of Optometry's Center for Eye Care, discounted passes for the Metrolink and UM System-sponsored programs. Additionally, UMSL staff and their dependents enjoy discounted tuition, and employees have access to a wide array of professional development opportunities.

Application Instructions

St. Louis Public Radio is a service of the University of Missouri - St. Louis. In order to be considered for this position or to view the posting in its entirety, please visit UMSL's employment site and complete an online application. Job ID: 53875. For additional information, contact Sarah Plumb: splumb@stlpr.org. 

St. Louis Public Radio committed to building and sustaining an organization that is demographically representative of the St. Louis region we serve. STLPR and UMSL are equal opportunity employers. We enthusiastically welcome members of groups underrepresented in fundraising and public media to apply.