The Wiki Education Foundation, located in the Presidio in San Francisco, is seeking a hands-on development professional to help create a sustainable funding base for this young nonprofit. This position will have a key role in the small, successful team which runs this unique organization.
BACKGROUND
The Wiki Education Foundation supports innovative uses of Wikipedia and related projects in communities of teaching, learning, and inquiry in the United States and Canada. The Foundation aims to improve the breadth, scope and quality of Wikimedia content; enhance student information fluency; and increase the number and diversity of contributors to the free knowledge movement by engaging educators, researchers and students.
The Wiki Education Foundation (Wiki Ed) serves as the bridge between Academia and Wikipedia. Formed in 2013 as the education program spin-off of the Wikimedia Foundation (the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia), Wiki Ed runs programs that seek to build connections between universities and Wikipedia. Since 2010, more than 300 university instructors participating in the program have assigned students to contribute course-related content to Wikipedia. Students gain key 21st century skills including media literacy, writing and research development, and critical thinking, while content gaps on Wikipedia in areas such as medicine, psychology, sociology and others are filled as a result of students’ contributions.
Wikipedia is the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, with over 33 million volunteerauthored articles in over 287 languages, and more than 430 million visits each month. As a resource used by most universities, many instructors use Wikipedia as a teaching tool in their classrooms. Through outreach, both online and print tools, and ongoing support, Wiki Ed seeks to expand the number of universities and teachers that incorporate this method of teaching as part of their overall curriculum.
To support activities, new pilot programs and scalability going forward, Wiki Ed must build a sustainable base of funding. To this end, they need to develop relationships with individuals and foundations that have an interest in advancing knowledge, knowledge sharing, pedagogy, and learning.
The Wiki Education Foundation is thriving and has had excellent results and proven impact in its program areas. The organization has grown and matured and now has a staff of 12 and governance board of 9. Its operating budget for the fiscal year ending June 2015 is approximately $1.9M. Wiki Ed received early funding commitments from generous donors to cover programmatic and operating expenses through 2016. For the foreseeable future, the Senior Manager of Development will be the only person entirely focused on fundraising initiatives.
BASIC FUNCTION
As the individual focused on developing sustainable support for Wiki Ed, the Senior Manager will report to and work most closely with the Executive Director to drive fundraising efforts, but will also collaborate with the program staff to ensure that current and future programs are sufficiently resourced. Succeeding in this environment will require a hands-on approach to connecting with a broad array of donors – primarily grant making foundations and individuals – while implementing the infrastructure required for developing sustained annual stewardship and support.
This person must be process-oriented, yet not get bogged down in process that it precludes them from developing a robust funding pipeline. They will need to have a dealmaker’s creativity and speed, and a passion for Wiki Ed’s mission so that the value of programs, initiatives and its successes can be clearly conveyed to broad audiences.
IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES
The Senior Manager’s immediate priorities are to:
Thoroughly understand the Wiki Education Foundation – its values, history, culture, traditions, communities, programs, personalities, constituencies and governance structure; understand its base of financial support and the short and long-term funding requirements;
With the Executive Director, actively engage in co-creating a fundraising strategy to increase contributed revenue with individuals and foundations, a pivotal effort for Wiki Ed and arguably the number one priority for its growth and health; implement strategy and provide transparency so that the state of play and funding pipeline is clear and understood;
Develop relationships with and secure the trust and confidence of the Executive Director, key funders, board members, staff, influencers, and others critical to individual and institutional fundraising efforts;
Immediately assess potential funders known to Wiki Ed and understand their funding priorities; assume a hands-on role in the identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of major individual and institutional gifts, as appropriate.
ONGOING RESPONSIBILITIES
The Senior Manager will execute the following responsibilities on an ongoing basis:
In collaboration with the Executive Director, develop a systematic fundraising plan that includes both individual (major gift) and institutional (business and foundation) targets: a) Donor segmentation (individual, foundation, business sponsorship of events) b) Objectives for individual and institutional fundraising and success metrics;
Collaborate with Director of Programs to understand funding needs to help the organization reach its programmatic goals; remain informed on programmatic innovations or successes; proactively reach out to potential funders to convey new “opportunities” for them to support;
Develop a fundraising infrastructure that supports fundraising initiatives, including information systems for tracking, stewardship and recognition, built on an open source platform; ensure successful adherence to grant and restricted giving agreements.
Manage day-to-day fundraising at the Wiki Ed, including: a) Undertake direct individual donor solicitations as appropriate with the support of the Executive Director, other Foundation staff, and members of the Board; b) Establish and cultivate relationships of institutional donors for restricted and unrestricted giving; implement a structured program for fostering strong, longterm relationships with targeted individuals; sponsor and/or attend events that boosts institutional and individual fundraising efforts; c) Provide training and support, as needed, to Board members in the solicitation process; d) Work with the Executive Director and the Communications Associate in the development of materials (on-line and published; text and multi-media) that tell Wiki Ed’s story to donors and prospects, ensuring that these materials are segmented and distributed in a targeted, regular, timely and consistent fashion; e) Collaborate with the senior leadership of Wiki Ed in the preparation of annual operating plans and budgets, incorporating fundraising projections into the budget of the organization.
Strengthen the Wiki Ed brand among donors and prospective donors utilizing the internet and other low cost, high visibility methodologies;
Eventually, grow an appropriately lean fundraising team scaled to the results and requirements of the overall fundraising effort.
IDEAL EXPERIENCE
Candidates should have the following type of experience and qualifications:
Broad-based knowledge of various development activities, including internet, proposal and grant development, annual fund, direct solicitations, and support systems for donor research and segmentation;
Success in raising money for a high-growth, rapidly changing and evolving entrepreneurial organization from individuals and/or foundations; experience building relationships through mission-supporting ventures; comfort and background in a technology-driven environment;
An exceptional communicator, in writing as well as verbally; adept at writing solicitation letters, donor correspondence, proposals and other kinds of material for publication; experience preparing and making effective presentations to diverse groups large and small;
Demonstrated skills in motivating, coordinating and supporting the fundraising activities of others.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
The successful candidate should be:
A mission-driven individual with an understanding of, belief in and commitment to the benefits of the free exchange of information; a passion for communicating how these principles are important in our world; an ability to communicate that passion without losing focus;
Curious and self-directed with a high energy level; a “get it done” attitude, always staying focused on the end goal;
An independent and open-minded individual who values and appreciates diversity, input and collaboration from various constituencies;
A solid, easy communicator, both in writing and speaking, and particularly able to recognize the alignment of funders’ interests with the value of Wiki Ed programs; the ability to be the public face of fundraising, when appropriate.
A good listener and strategist; comfortable receiving high-context, detailed input from many sources;
Emotionally mature and self-reliant; someone who will thrive working in a small, collaborative, collegial environment; a sense of humor.
How to apply
For more information please contact:
Lisa Grossman
(650)323-3565
m/Oppenheim Associates
425 Market Street, Suite 1020
San Francisco, CA 94105