Senior Director of Philanthropy – New England

Hybrid work model in Greater Boston

Organization Overview
Youth Villages is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to help children and families live successfully. For more than 39 years, the organization has provided a continuum of services for young people who face a wide range of emotional, mental, or behavioral health problems. Its evidence-based and evidence-informed programming has a success rate of 87% across all programs. Youth Villages helps children and families achieve their full potential by providing tools, skills, and resources that create a path to long-term stability and well-being.

Youth Villages emphasizes the use of evidence-based treatments and interventions, employing methods that have been rigorously tested and proven effective, and the organization continually evaluates and improves its programs based on research and outcome data to ensure the best possible results for the youth served. Youth Villages recognizes the importance of collaboration and works closely with families, communities, and stakeholders to provide comprehensive support. Youth Villages actively involves parents and caregivers in the treatment process, collaborates with schools and community organizations, and engages the support of volunteers and mentors.

Position Summary
The Senior Director of Philanthropy – New England (Senior Director) is a key leadership role within Youth Villages New England’s leadership team and is employed by the Youth Villages Foundation. This position reports to the Executive Director of Youth Villages New England and works in close coordination with the Managing Director of Development for the Youth Villages Foundation. This role provides strategic leadership and operational oversight, as well as direct donor relationship engagement to ensure alignment and success with fundraising goals, communications strategies, and mission-driven initiatives across the New England region.

The Senior Director is responsible for leveraging the New England region’s distinctive profile as one of the nation’s most active, sophisticated philanthropic areas to secure major gifts in support of Youth Villages’ mission and local strategic priorities. Annual fundraising goals are established by the Youth Villages Foundation in alignment with state budget requirements. All funds raised in New England remain designated for New England-based programs.

The Senior Director oversees the regional development team comprising seven individuals, including direct supervision of the Assistant Director of Development and the Senior Regional Communications Manager. The Senior Director will be empowered to assess and optimize the organizational structure and functional alignment of the regional development team in consultation with the Executive Director.

In close partnership with the Executive Director, the Senior Director plays a central role in recruiting, onboarding, and continuously engaging the regional Advisory Board. They also serve as the staff liaison to the board’s Development Committee and Governance Committee, helping to foster strong board involvement in fundraising and organizational leadership.

This role is supported by the Foundation’s national development team, including grant writers, researchers, and development associates based at Youth Villages’ headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. It also receives strategic coaching and mission alignment from the Managing Director of Development.

The primary focus for this person is to build on the New England region’s historically strong events-based fundraising model to establish a sustainable, diversified major gifts program, cultivating high-net-worth individuals and families with a demonstrated interest in the well-being of children and families. The Senior Director will balance their own frontline fundraising efforts with managing prospect identification, cultivation, and solicitation initiatives that strategically involve the Executive Director, executive leadership team, regional Advisory Board members, or other key stakeholders, providing corresponding guidance and mentorship to these colleagues as appropriate. It will be critical for the Senior Director to maintain an entrepreneurial approach in building the major gifts pipeline for the New England region, and they will ensure alignment with philanthropic best practices and that data-informed decision-making informs development initiatives. They will also prioritize a strategic approach to donor giving levels and engagement that progressively deepens financial investments in Youth Villages New England’s work.

The successful candidate will have a strong track record of identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors capable of making commitments of $25,000 or more.

Ideal candidates will have deep professional roots in the New England region and be comfortable engaging with corporate executives, entrepreneurs, foundation leaders, and public officials.

Candidate Profile
While Youth Villages New England will consider a broad range of backgrounds, the ideal candidate will have the following qualifications/experience:

• Alignment with and passion for Youth Villages’ mission and values.
• Minimum of 10 years of fundraising experience, with a strong emphasis on individual and family giving. Knowledge of and fundamental adherence to the principles, ethics, and best practices of modern fundraising, including the integration of various giving programs to diversify the funding base and cultivate greater donor commitments.
• Proven success in securing five, six, and seven-figure gifts through personal solicitation, ideally within a national or multi-site organization.
• Track record of advancing prospect discovery and engagement at all levels of giving, examination of existing donors that may have greater capacity, and utilizing innovative methods of constituent engagement and connectivity.
• Demonstrated experience managing and mentoring staff, with a track record of building high-performing teams.
• Experience working closely with advisory boards and board committees, including recruitment, onboarding, and engagement of volunteer leadership.
• Comfortable serving as a staff liaison to board committees, with the ability to facilitate strategic discussions and support governance and development priorities.
• Demonstrated experience working closely with donors, volunteers, and senior-level stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build and sustain relationships.
• Strategic, self-directed, and highly organized with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Familiarity with Salesforce CRM and donor research tools (e.g., wealth screening) strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.

Hybrid work model in Greater Boston – The position may be based at any of the Youth Villages New England offices located in Woburn, Boston, Marlborough, or Raynham, Massachusetts; regardless of where the appointee is based, they must establish a significant presence at the Woburn office, where most of the regional development team, among other key stakeholders, are based.

Equal Opportunity Employer | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement
Youth Villages is guided in all things by its mission, values, and culture of respect, mutual support, decency, and civility.

Youth Villages is an equal opportunity employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Youth Villages is committed to not only advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace but also in our work with children and young adults. We know that children, families and young people of color can face inequity in child welfare and justice systems, and we train our employees to build the skills they need to work with the communities that we serve as well as with other employees from different cultures and backgrounds. Youth Villages is opposed to racism in any of its forms and is committed to inclusion, equity, and diversity. We believe that respect for each other is crucial in the work that we do each day.

Download the full position description via the following link:
https://dsgco.com/search/22529-youth-villages

Youth Villages New England has retained the DSG Fundraising & Advancement Practice of DSG Global to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) may be submitted via the following link or directed to the leader of the search team:

https://talent-profile.dsgco.com/search/v2/22529

Gerard F. Cattie, Jr.
Global Managing Partner and Practice Founder, DSG Fundraising & Advancement
[email protected] | 212.542.2587