Position Summary:
The Director leads CAA’s individual giving and donor engagement strategy, overseeing systems, workplans, and cross-department coordination to cultivate and steward donors at all levels. This role translates programmatic and advocacy work into fundraising strategies, leads the individual giving function, and supervises a Senior Development Manager position.
About Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA)
Chinese for Affirmative Action was founded in 1969 to protect the civil and political rights of Chinese Americans and to advance multiracial democracy in the United States. Today, CAA is a progressive voice in and on behalf of the broader Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We advocate for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and remedies racial and social injustice.
At the grassroots level, our community building work nurtures the ability of immigrants to participate fully in civic life. These activities include direct services, leadership development, and civic engagement with limited-English proficient newcomers and immigrants on issues that impact our community. At the systemic level, CAA leads advocacy, communications, and movement building work to improve public policy and shape public discourse. We produce community-based research, publish policy analyses and recommendations, influence opinion through media, organize to engage elected and government officials, and nurture a range of progressive coalitions.
In 2014, CAA helped to launch the Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) network, which focuses on long-term movement building, capacity infrastructure, and leadership support for Asian Americans committed to social justice. Including CAA, there are currently 11 partnering member groups with unique strengths. Fiscal sponsorship, administrative, and operational support is provided centrally for all of these groups so they can focus on their core programs.
In 2020, CAA was one of the founding organizations of Stop AAPI Hate (SAH), a U.S.-based coalition dedicated to ending racism and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAs & PIs). SAH strives to advance the multiracial movement for equity and justice by building power for our communities, working in solidarity with other communities of color, and advocating for comprehensive solutions that tackle the root causes of race-based hate.
With local offices anchored at its San Francisco Chinatown headquarters, CAA provides direct services and maintains an active state policy presence through an office and partnership in Sacramento, and statewide and national advocacy through English and Chinese-language strategic communications and a variety of active relationships with allies.
Position Description
CAA is seeking a strategic, relationship-oriented fundraising leader to serve as its Director of Individual Giving and Donor Engagement. This senior leadership role is responsible for developing and guiding CAA’s individual giving and donor engagement strategy within a distributed fundraising model that also includes institutional fundraising and government funding led through other parts of the organization.
CAA’s individual giving model is highly customized, relationship-driven, and rooted in community building. The Director provides overall leadership and responsibility for the systems, strategy, and practices needed to cultivate, steward, and deepen relationships with donors at all giving levels over time, helping build a broad and enduring community of people invested in CAA’s mission. The Director works closely with the Co-Executive Directors, board members, program and other organizational leaders to guide donor engagement, maintain shared visibility into relationship development, and ensure that opportunities and next steps move forward effectively.
The Director works across departments to understand CAA’s programmatic, policy, advocacy, communications, and organizational priorities and translate that work into compelling donor engagement strategies. The Director provides strategic direction and leads implementation for the individual giving function, supervises the Senior Development Manager in their leadership of donor events, and partners with AACRE Capacity and other colleagues to ensure that development systems, information, communications, and workflows support strong donor stewardship and fundraising results.
Key Responsibilities
Individual Giving Strategy and Fundraising Leadership
Lead CAA’s individual giving and donor engagement strategy to grow revenue, deepen donor relationships, strengthen retention, and build a broad and enduring community of supporters.
Set annual and multi-year priorities for individual giving in alignment with CAA’s organizational goals, fundraising needs, and relationship-based development model.
Lead the implementation of CAA’s individual giving work, including donor research, engagement planning, solicitation, stewardship, regular appeals, donor-specific communications, and other strategies to deepen donor relationships over time.
Provide strategic oversight for donor events and partner with the Senior Development Manager to ensure that events advance individual giving, donor engagement, and community-building goals.
Establish systems and practices that support real-time visibility into donor relationships, next steps, and engagement opportunities across staff and leadership.
Monitor progress toward individual giving goals, assess fundraising results, identify trends and opportunities, and make strategic adjustments as needed.
Coordinate with colleagues leading institutional fundraising and government funding so that CAA’s overall resource development work is aligned and mutually reinforcing.
Donor Relationship Leadership and Board Engagement
Provide leadership and accountability for donor relationship development across CAA, working with the Co-Executive Directors, board members, program leaders, and other organizational leaders to advance donor engagement, stewardship, and fundraising results.
Match and coordinate donors and prospects with the right organizational messenger, information, opportunity, and next step based on the nature of each relationship and the goals for engagement.
Prepare leaders and board members for organized donor meetings, support follow-up, and ensure that relationship commitments, opportunities, and next steps are tracked and advanced over time.
Support board members in participating effectively in donor cultivation, stewardship, and fundraising efforts.
Foster a culture of philanthropy in which donor engagement is understood as a shared organizational responsibility and is grounded in CAA’s mission, values, and substantive work.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Build strong working relationships across CAA departments in order to understand current work, emerging priorities, and opportunities that may be meaningful to donors.
Work with program, policy, advocacy, communications, and other organizational leaders to connect CAA’s substantive work with donor engagement and fundraising strategy.
Ensure that individual giving strategy is informed by CAA’s broader organizational priorities and that donor engagement is integrated with, and supportive of, the organization’s work.
Partner with colleagues responsible for communications and content development so that donor-facing materials support individual giving goals and relationship needs.
Development Systems and Operations
Oversee the use of donor information, research, and fundraising data to inform strategy, prioritize opportunities, and support high-quality stewardship.
Partner with AACRE Capacity and development staff to ensure that database systems, gift-processing support, reporting, and development workflows meet the needs of CAA’s individual giving work.
Help develop and maintain clear systems for donor information, relationship notes, next steps, and shared accountability across the development function.
Ensure that individual giving work is carried out in accordance with applicable policies, procedures, and nonprofit fundraising standards.
Team Leadership and Staff Supervision
Oversee and supervise the Senior Development Manager position, including assigning and directing work, setting clear expectations, providing guidance and coaching, identifying training needs, offering regular feedback to staff, ensuring team members meet their objectives/ deadlines and that supervisory practices align with organizational policies
Support the Senior Development Manager in supervising the Development Coordinator and maintaining clear, effective team dynamics and workflows.
Oversee the development and execution of team members' professional growth plans, providing ongoing support and conducting comprehensive performance evaluations
Make informed recommendations for corrective actions when necessary, while proactively addressing and resolving conflicts, and promote a positive, collaborative, and high-performing team culture.
Provide strategic direction for the development team’s individual giving, donor engagement, appeal, event, and stewardship work.
Develop and implement strategic goals, resolve complex issues, and make significant decisions that affect team operations and fundraising strategy.
Collaborate with other supervisors and coordinate work across multiple teams, resolve complex issues within and across teams to ensure successful outcomes
Lead complex work across departments, teams, senior leadership, and board members, providing clear objectives, priorities, and coordination.
Other Duties
Perform administrative duties as required for the position.
Perform other duties as assigned to support the overall mission of the organization.
Contribute to a positive work environment in alignment with organizational values.
