Chief Development Officer

Since 1984, Larkin Street Youth Services has helped more than 75,000 young adults in San Francisco with outreach, shelter, housing, education, employment, healthcare, and other services.

Today, Larkin Street Youth Services is the largest provider of housing and services to homeless youth in the Bay Area. We serve 1,500 youth annually, operating or partnering to provide more than 500 emergency shelter, transitional, supportive, and subsidy-based housing beds at several unique sites across San Francisco.

Working at Larkin Street, no matter what department, means making a real difference in the lives of young people experiencing homelessness. Our team is skilled, diverse, and passionate. Our culture encourages achievement and professional development, as well as teamwork and self-care. Our focus is always on the young people at the heart of our mission and to nurture potential, promote dignity and support bold steps by all.

For more information about us, visit www.larkinstreetyouth.org.

BACKGROUND

Founded in 1984, Larkin Street Youth Services supports young people to move beyond homelessness by providing them with a continuum of wraparound care including outreach/engagement, health/wellness, education, housing and employment services. Services are tailored to meet them where they are - making programs easy to get into and hard to fall out of - with the ultimate goal of helping young people develop the knowledge and skills needed for independent adulthood. Three out of four people who get help from Larkin Street exit homelessness forever, impacting the overall state of homelessness by taking people out of the pipeline.

Located in the Tenderloin District, Larkin Street is San Francisco’s largest nonprofit provider for young people experiencing homelessness and is part of the movement to end youth homelessness on a national scale through policy partnerships with national organizations and fellow nonprofits. Youth homelessness is deeply rooted in racism, homophobia and transphobia, and solving youth homelessness for all means we must identify and eliminate barriers faced by those most impacted. Over the years Larkin Street has helped more than 75,000 young adults and serves 1,500 young adults annually. It operates or partners to provide more than 500 emergency shelter, transitional, supportive and subsidy-based housing beds at several unique sites across the city each night.

With a mission to create a continuum of services that inspires youth to move beyond the street, Larkin Street nurtures potential, promotes dignity and supports bold steps. The organization is known for providing compassionate, high-quality programming and has measurable outcomes that demonstrate that young people’s trajectory can change with the right support.

Larkin Street recently completed its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan with three overarching goals that requires the identification of new funding in order to:

• Grow impact of direct service model – Increase individual and institutional fundraising and expand development and communications work into new regions.
• Grow systems-level impact via Larkin Street Institute – Secure resources for policy/advocacy work and utilize strategic communications to support this work.
• Ensure best-in-class operational excellence – Embark on a three-year plan for the department to gradually increase revenue by segmenting donors and maximizing the use of strategic, tailored communications and storytelling.

For fiscal year 2024/25, Larkin Street has an operating budget of $35M. Of that, approximately 65% comes from institutional funders and 35% from individuals. Larkin Street will likely kick off a growth campaign to raise an additional $7.7M over the next three years to fund strategic investments.

The organization is led by an inspiring CEO – a pillar in the community – who is an authentic and passionate storyteller, fundraiser and advocate. The Chief Development Officer reports to the CEO and oversees a team of 11. Overall, Larkin Street employs 250 professional, compassionate and committed team members.

THE POSITION

The Chief Development Officer is responsible for developing and implementing Larkin Street Youth Services’ fund development and communications strategy. They will ensure that the organization meets its annual revenue goals and effectively communicates its mission and impact to current and prospective supporters. The CDO leads the team responsible for corporate and foundation grants, individual giving, funder events, volunteer opportunities, strategic communications and marketing. As a member of the Senior Executive Staff, the CDO will hold shared responsibility for shaping the culture of the organization, strategic planning, budgeting and internal/external communications.

Strategy and Planning

• Design and execute a yearly fund development plan in alignment with the organization’s mission and strategic plan, considering multiple revenue sources including private foundations, corporations, major gifts, individual/monthly donors, events and legacy gifts.
• Design and execute a yearly communications and marketing plan that enhances the organization’s brand, position and reputation; ensure Larkin Street has a strong and consistent voice.
• In partnership with staff and consultants, develop and oversee timebound fundraising and communications campaigns, beginning with a three-year growth campaign to implement Larkin Street Youth Services’ 2025-2028 strategic plan.
• Work closely with the Chief Financial Officer to ensure thorough and accurate financial reporting, compliance and budget forecasting in all categories of fundraising.
• Actively participate in annual strategic and operational planning sessions. Report regularly to the CEO and Board of Directors on the progress of Fund Development and Communications work.

Leadership and Management

• Promote a culture of philanthropy across Larkin Street, building strong relationships with other departments, support staff and Board members to develop their skills and confidence to serve as ambassadors for the organization.
• Manage, inspire and develop a creative, focused and high-performing team; review the current Development operating environment to ensure the team has the training, skills and tools to do their best work; lead staff in the creation of annual work plans that guide the department’s efforts to achieve its goals. Monitor the team’s progress against benchmarks, provide feedback and supervision, and adjust plans as needed.
• Encourage cross-functional collaboration and cohesion; promote a culture where new ideas are embraced; encourage the team to fully implement effective portfolio management, decision-making and problem-solving.
• Participate in staff meetings and trainings as required, including joining a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Work Group.
• Track fundraising progress and report to CEO and Board; develop and oversee necessary dashboards and protocols.
• Provide staff leadership to the Board’s Development Committee; work with Committee members to review and approve the annual Development budget and plan, including the goals and metrics for the Committee itself. Report on progress against plan at Board meetings.

Institutional Giving and Community Impact

• Provide guidance to the Institutional Giving team who assumes primary responsibility for identifying, cultivating, applying and reporting to private foundations and corporations.
• Provide oversight of internal systems to ensure funders are properly acknowledged, grants are allocated according to funder restrictions, appropriate data is collected, and all reporting requirements are met.
• Ensure the Community Impact Program which curates engaging opportunities for staff, volunteers and corporate partners to deepen their understanding of the organization’s programs has a clear strategy that incudes goals and metrics.

Individual Donors and Major Gifts

• Provide support to the CEO, Board and Individual Giving team to develop and implement individual donor fundraising efforts, including annual giving and fundraising campaigns.
• Actively manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors.
• Guide prospect research, portfolio management, targeted cultivation and solicitation, donor recognition and stewardship, and fundraising committee meetings and events.
• Direct team in managing and producing print and electronic appeals and publications, direct mail, monthly giving, major gifts and planned giving appeals. Work with staff to review donor lists to ensure effective segmentation and coordination of mailing lists.
• Ensure the fundraising database is being used consistently and in line with best practices.

Marketing, Communications and Events

• Guide staff as they design and implement events and communication efforts, ensuring activities and messages are effective and consistent with the organization’s brand and goals.
• Provide guidance and feedback to staff in the creation of content for print, social media, website, video and multimedia projects, annual report, e-news, event materials, press releases, talking points, marketing collateral, programmatic materials, and other communications needs.
• Collaborate with colleagues and external partners to develop messaging and communications strategies to advance policy, advocacy and narrative change goals.
• Oversee the organization’s PR and media strategy and calendar.
• Assist with crisis communication strategies; respond to sensitive issue inquiries as needed.
• Represent Larkin Street at external events and speaking engagements, including networking events, panels and other community events.

EXPERIENCE & CHARACTERISTICS

Larkin Street seeks a servant leader who is inspired by the mission to end youth homelessness, is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism best practices, and has worked with a diverse staff and excelled in a multi-cultural environment. While no candidate will possess every attribute, Larkin Street will consider candidates who have combinations of:

• At least seven years of significant nonprofit fundraising experience with organizations that have a reputation for strategic thinking, operational excellence, and aggressive action.
• At least five years of experience managing and motivating a team and consultants; coordinating and supporting others’ fundraising activities; and fostering teamwork in a multicultural environment.
• A record of personal success in raising major gifts from individuals, businesses, foundations or corporations; some experience with government funding would be an advantage.
• Broad-based knowledge of various development activities including: direct solicitations, online/digital, campaigns, direct mail, proposal and grant development, planned giving, event planning and management, leveraging fundraising databases and systems for donor segmentation, research and volunteer management.
• A broad knowledge of marketing and communication strategies, social media, advertising and public relations.
• An understanding of process & moves management, donor segmentation, stewardship and donor recognition programs.
• Strong understanding of nonprofit operations, including financial statements and budgets.
• An effective communicator, able to build enthusiasm for Larkin Street, its programs, and for its advocacy; exceptional verbal and written skills; adept at crafting proposals, solicitation letters, and donor correspondence that effectively convey program impact; comfort with public speaking, including during tours/site visits and external speaking engagements.
• A good listener and strategist; comfortable receiving input from many sources and able to analyze and formulate disparate information into a sound, well-organized plan.
• Intrepid yet tactful; determined yet respectful of other’s concerns; someone with the flexibility and creativity needed to find alternative ways to reach funding objectives when barriers arise; a skilled negotiator who is open to other viewpoints.
• Tenacious and gritty; a “doer” with a high energy level and willingness to work hands-on in developing and executing a variety of development and advancement activities; someone who is committed to fostering a collaborative work environment.
• Emotionally mature with a very good sense of humor and the flexibility and sensitivity to work with diverse personalities and situations.
• Experience with fundraising databases; Salesforce preferred.
• Experience with WordPress open-source platform, Hootsuite, Salesforce, Classy, Predictive Response, MailChimp, Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, media monitoring tools, web analytics tools and software, and search engine optimization techniques preferred.

The compensation range for this position is $180,000-$200,000. This is a full-time position requiring onsite work at 711 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco for a minimum of three days a week.

For more information, to express interest or to nominate someone else, please contact:
Lisa Grossman
(650) 323-3565 or lisag@moppenheim.com
m/Oppenheim Executive Search
558 Presidio Boulevard, Box 29625
San Francisco, CA 94129-0625

Larkin Street Youth Services is an equal opportunity employer. Larkin Street Youth Service seeks qualified candidates with an interest in the non-profit sector. We are committed to embracing diversity and consider all applicants for all positions without regard to color, ethnic background, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, HIV/AIDS status, veteran status, or any other legally protected class. We encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply for any open position in which they feel qualified. 

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. 

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