Executive Search
Chief Development Officer
Client Overview
Sterling Martin Associates has been retained by Food & Friends® to search for its next Chief
Development Officer. The position is located at Food & Friends’ northeast Washington, DC
headquarters.
Founded in 1988, Food & Friends® provides freshly prepared meals, nutrition support, and
friendship to people living with AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and other life challenging illnesses. Since
its founding, Food & Friends has served more than 27,000 individuals in the Greater
Washington, DC area. In 2014 alone, over 1.3 million meals were delivered to nearly 3,200
individuals residing in a 5,300 square mile radius. There is no charge or income qualification for
Food & Friends’ services, which are rendered solely on the basis of medical need.
Food & Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a budget of approximately $9M. Public
support from federal, state, and local sources accounts for about 38% of the budget, and the
remainder is derived from individuals, corporations and foundations, and special events. An 18member Board of Directors governs Food & Friends, and the team of 55 employees and over
10,000 volunteers delivers meals and hope to people living in the District of Columbia and
multiple counties across Maryland and Virginia.
Food & Friends has been recognized by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the region’s Great
Places to Work (2007 – 2011 – 2013). For more information about the organization, please visit
www.foodandfriends.org.
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Food & Friends | Chief Development Officer | Position Description
Chief Development Officer
The Chief Development Officer will have overall responsibility for leading and growing Food &
Friends’ $9+ million fundraising program. He or she will supervise a team of nine fundraising,
gift administration, government relations, and communications staff (including five direct
reports) and will actively manage and solicit a portfolio of major donors. The Chief
Development Officer will also provide leadership and strategic vision to the organization’s
communications activities.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Chief Development Officer will be responsible for the
following activities:
 Providing overall leadership and strategic vision to the organization’s fundraising
activities, including major donor giving, special events, corporate/foundation giving,
government relations, direct mail, and planned giving.
 Supervising senior staff responsible for fundraising, marketing, government relations,
and gift administration.
 Developing annual revenue targets, donor acquisition goals, and key metrics and
continuously monitoring progress towards those goals and metrics.
 Supervising fundraising activities with emphasis on best practices, donor stewardship
and satisfaction, and revenue goals.
 In collaboration with the Executive Director and Associate Director of Development,
developing communications and public relations strategy pertaining to fundraising
initiatives (including the case for support) and overall organizational operations in ways
that will enhance visibility of the organization and position it well within key donor
constituent communities.
 Playing an active and personal role in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of
major individual donors, and corporate and foundation officers.
 In collaboration with the Government Relations Director, assisting with cultivation of
relationships with elected officials and government employees who influence public
funding streams.
 Developing and analyzing fundraising metrics and collaborating with staff to optimize
usage of development databases and software.
 Collaborating with key staff throughout the organization to create synergy between
development and programmatic initiatives.
 Identifying departmental training and mentoring needs and fulfilling those needs
through a variety of internal and external resources.
 Responding to donor questions, concerns, and suggestions.
 Managing relationships with key vendors and consultants.
 Managing the departmental budget, and monitoring progress toward budgeted revenue
goals.
 Serving as a liaison between the Development Department and Executive Director.
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Food & Friends | Chief Development Officer | Position Description
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Providing regular updates to the Board of Directors regarding fundraising activities,
accomplishments, and challenges.
Collaborating with, and providing training to the Development Committee of the Board.
Representing and supporting Food & Friends through participation or assistance with
preparation at some of its many events.
Handling other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.
Requisite Background & Experience | Desirable Qualifications & Characteristics
Suitable candidates for the position will be seasoned development professionals and leaders
who will bring a successful track record in fundraising and communications. At a minimum,
qualified candidates will have the following background, experience, qualifications and
characteristics:
 Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
 CFRE or ACFRE certification a plus.
 At least seven years of broad, senior-level development experience, including at least
three years managing and supervising development professionals.
 Experience with human services or healthcare nonprofit organizations, or experience
across multiple nonprofit organizations preferred.
 Experience with advanced nonprofit development activities, including major donor gifts,
institutional gifts, special events, and planned giving.
 Proven ability to identify, cultivate, and solicit major gifts from individuals.
 Experience with direct mail programs a plus.
 Experience managing communications, marketing, and public relations activities.
 Experience working with a governing board, including experience working hand-in-hand
with a board’s development committee.
 Deep experience working with staff, including supervising, managing, mentoring, and
motivating a staff that possesses a diversity of skills, experience, and backgrounds.
 Experience working with development databases/software, including knowledge of how
to use software to manage solicitation, prospecting, and generation of key fundraising
metrics.
 Highly developed interpersonal and communications skills in order to establish
relationships with internal (staff), external (public), and fundraising (donors) audiences.
 Ability and willingness to engage donors both in person and on the telephone.
 Demonstrated experience creating and delivering persuasive public presentations.
 Ability to respond to difficult issues, solve problems, and engage staff/board in
developing solutions.
 Experience thinking and planning strategically to achieve short-, mid-range, and longterm goals.
 Experience identifying, cultivating and providing stewardship with a diverse range of
individuals and entities.
 Experience identifying and implementing “best practices” in development and
communications.
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Food & Friends | Chief Development Officer | Position Description
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Ability to manage multiple projects while adhering to strict deadlines.
Experience and comfort working in a fast-paced environment.
Experience and comfort within an organization that is inclusive and welcoming with
respect to all forms of personal diversity, including but not limited to gender, race,
ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation.
All candidates for the position will be expected to be thoroughly familiar with commonly-used
office communications tools (Word®, Excel®, PowerPoint®). Any job offer will be contingent
upon a pre-employment background check and pre-employment drug test.
Compensation and Availability
Food & Friends provides a competitive salary and generous benefits. A negotiated relocation
package will be available as needed. Food & Friends is Metro accessible. The position is
available immediately.
Food & Friends is an equal opportunity employer, committed to diversity in the workplace.
For more information, please contact:
Sterling Martin Associates
1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW | Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036
p. 202.327.5485 | www.smartinsearch.com
David S. Martin
Managing Partner
p. 202.257.1627
foodandfriends@smartinsearch.com
Kimmo Kartano
Principal
p. 202.549.4448
foodandfriends@smartinsearch.com
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Food & Friends | Chief Development Officer | Position Description