Foundation Background

The Learning by Giving Foundation is a Boston-based 501c-3 private foundation that provides a national platform for college students to become thoughtful and effective givers by making real dollar grants to nonprofit organizations in their local communities.

The Foundation was founded by Doris Buffett with the goal of infusing significant amounts of capital into small local organizations while educating students at the same time. 

Over the past 13 years, Learning by Giving has built a platform whereby donors can fund grants to colleges and universities throughout the U.S. for the students to distribute while taking for-credit courses on philanthropy. With the supervision and direction of their professors, students source, conduct due diligence, and distribute the grant dollars to effective non-profit organizations in their communities.   

From one class at one school, the Foundation now works with more than 35 colleges and universities and has awarded close to two million grant dollars. Now the Foundation is looking for the right person to lead the Foundation’s strategic expansion, with the target goal of reaching 100 or more schools in the U.S. and abroad.

Position Overview

The Executive Director will have the opportunity to take the Learning by Giving Foundation to its next level of philanthropic impact, with a small team and in close partnership with the Board of Directors. The right candidate for this position will offer their vision for organizational growth and potential team hires for the Foundation in the first two years of the position.

As the Foundation seeks to expand the number of partner schools reached by its mission, developing and executing an inaugural fundraising campaign and marketing strategy will be integral to the Executive Director’s key responsibilities.

The Foundation is seeking a leader who demonstrates a passion and energy for the vision of the Foundation, with the skillset suited to lead an entrepreneurial, national venture. The Executive Director will work closely with and have the support of the Program Director and other resources.

Major Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a national expansion strategy, in partnership with the Board of Directors and other Foundation advisors
• Represent the Foundation with partner schools, program professors, supporters to increase local and national presence
• Build and lead a support staff to carry out the mission of the Foundation
• Develop an annual budget to support new levels of fundraising and growth projections
• Develop and execute the Foundation’s marketing and fundraising functions, including campaigns both on and offline
• Cultivate and secure partnerships and financial commitments from individuals, foundations, and corporations, including wealth advisors and philanthropic advisors
• Oversee planning and organization of mission-oriented special events

Qualifications

• Entrepreneurial self-starter, creative non-linear thinker and doer, able to work independently in a fast changing environment at an executive level
• Strong problem solving and execution skills
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Flexibility to travel for networking events
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA desired
• A minimum of 3+ years experience in executive management in comparable fields, including business development (experience in a philanthropic environment is an advantage)
• Boston-based is preferred but not required; ability to work remotely for right candidate
• Competitive salary with incentive package and excellent work/life balance

Contact:

To apply: Please send a letter of interest and your CV / resume by May 25, 2016 to our team at [email protected]. Qualified candidates will then be provided with a questionnaire to share more information about their history, personality, and previous work.

If you have any additional questions about the role prior to applying, we’d love to provide more details about the nature of the role and the type of candidate we are seeking to join our team.