Description

Overview

Youth Eastside Services (YES) seeks a creative, strategic and entrepreneurial Vice President of Development to lead a comprehensive advancement program that fuels an $11M mission-driven operation and to manage a team of 4+ advancement professionals supporting our 60-year mission to provide life-saving mental health treatment to all children and youth in East King County regardless of their ability to pay.  As a key partner to the CEO, you will have the unique opportunity to be the driving force behind the relationships and philanthropic resources that make our mission possible and help scale the reach and impact of an organization deeply embedded in the community through offices in Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond, WA, as well as integrated programs within Lake Washington, Issaquah and Bellevue schools.  

Position Summary

Resourced with dynamic leadership, a compelling case for support, and a dedicated Board of Trustees, this role offers a unique opportunity to build a modern, high-impact fundraising program with both strategic ownership and hands-on execution.  You will shape the future of philanthropy at YES – designing the strategy while actively leading key donor relationships and initiatives like our signature Invest in Youth Breakfast and cultivating our "Champions for Youth" donor community.  Key results will include increased philanthropic giving, strengthened major donor and planned giving programs, new donor acquisition and retention strategies, and a diversified suite of engagement and stewardship activities.  

Building on the organization’s strong brand and reputation, the position will serve as a "player-coach," directly lead and develop the four-person Development & Community Relations team with shared management of the marketing and communications function, while personally managing a high-capacity donor portfolio.  As a member of YES’ Executive Leadership Team, the VPD will also play a key role in developing our organization-wide culture of philanthropy, strengthening intra-team collaboration and stewarding organizational resources. Your work will directly support the delivery of evidence-based services each year to 4000+ children and youth (0-age 22) and their families, including clinical therapy, substance abuse treatment, community-based groups, a Zero Suicide Initiative and early childhood behavioral health program.  YES addresses disproportionate needs facing our LGBTQ+ population, Latine, neurodivergent, and other groups, to focus on holistic youth development – ensuring that every young person in our community has a path to strong self-identity, recovery and hope.

Key Responsibilities

1. Advancement Strategy & Revenue Growth   

Develop and execute a multi-year advancement strategy across annual giving, planned giving, major gifts, corporate partnerships, and foundation support
Build a full donor pipeline and engagement journey from acquisition through stewardship
Lead planning and execution of the annual Invest in Youth Breakfast ($1M+ event)

2. Major Gifts Leadership

Manage a portfolio of high-capacity donors
Personally solicit and close six-figure gifts
Strengthen moves management and donor stewardship practices

3. Brand, Marketing & Engagement

Partner with marketing leadership to strengthen brand visibility and donor engagement
Ensure compelling, equity-centered storytelling across channels

4. Team & Board Leadership

Lead and develop a high-performing advancement team
Partner with the CEO and Board to expand fundraising capacity and engagement
Build a culture of philanthropy across the organization

5. Operational Excellence

Implement data-driven fundraising practices and KPIs
Strengthen systems, processes, and CRM utilization
Improve efficiency and scalability of development operations

Requirements

The ideal candidate is passionate about and personally connected to our mission as we seek to assure that youth from birth to age 22 and their families have access to behavioral health and outreach services in local schools, community centers, and YES sites. The selected candidate sees themself as a strategic and integral partner with the CEO and a part of a strong executive leadership team, supporting overall organizational health through collaboration, communication, education, and teamwork.  The VPD is a builder, with strong emotional intelligence, comfortable creating structure in a changing environment and leading cultural change to elevate team performance and create a culture of philanthropy. The ideal candidate likes to get your hands dirty with data and also enjoys tailoring presentations and conversations for a range of audiences including staff, Board of Trustees members, and high-net worth individuals. 

Key qualifications include:

10-15+ years of progressive fundraising leadership experience in a nonprofit setting; experience in a similarly-sized behavioral health, human services or youth services organization a plus. 5+ years major gift experience.
Proven track record of personally soliciting and closing six-figure gifts ($100,000+).
Demonstrated success in building a fully diversified and systematic development function and its supporting infrastructure with significant increase to revenues.  
Demonstrated experience in change management and team building.  Experience in matrix management and shared direct reports and supervision. Strong coaching skills.
Board of Trustees’ and CEO stewardship and engagement with demonstrated improved outcomes in strategic fund development, including stewardship of Board of Trustee advancement committee and team building.
High level event stewardship raising six-figure event-driven sponsorships and gifts, overseeing team, technology, contractors, audience development, program and budget.
Major donor and large foundation identification and direct stewardship yielding six-figure gifts ($100,000+).  Larger endowment campaign ($25M+) experience a plus.
Strong financial acumen, including budget analysis, revenue forecasting, and KPI management. Ability to rapidly generate high-level reports/themes.
High proficiency in CRM systems such as Donor Perfect or similar, with a commitment to data integrity.  Strong experience in Microsoft Teams, grant prospecting software, Constant Contact, ethical use of AI tools. Comfortable learning new and emerging technologies. Canva or other design tool experience a bonus.

Successful leadership of strong communications and marketing functions with demonstrated success in impact-oriented reporting, presentations, social media, digital communications, outreach/awareness events, and brand messaging.
Successful leadership of an endowment campaign, including preparation, strategy, stewardship and execution.
Demonstrated success executing individual contributor and leadership roles as needed.
Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Bachelor’s degree required; CFRE certification preferred.
 

At YES, we value our employees and offer a comprehensive benefits package to support your health, financial well-being, and work-life balance.  YES benefits include:

       Generous Paid Time Off including separate pools of vacation, personal days, sick time, and paid holidays

       Comprehensive Healthcare, Dental and Vision Coverage

       Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA

       401(k) Retirement Plan

       Free parking

       Life + Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance

       Short and Long-Term disability coverage.

       Employee Assistance Plan