Non-Profit Tech Blog

Ok, ok, not APPLICATION development. It’s a fundraising position. If you’re a techie who has got fundraising chops too, the Wikimedia Foundation has got the job for you! This may be the first Development director position that I’ve seen that has called for experience with Internet Relay Chat.

Don’t forget that despite the fact that it IS the Wikimedia Foundation, the job will present an interesting challenge for the tech-savvy fundraiser. They don’t allow scripts that track IP addresses for site analytics on any of Wikimedia’s web properties. Can you raise money on the Web without the ability to track your site traffic or indeed, without cookies? Wikimedia Foundation is already raising money and they’re definitely having an easy time with a simple donations banner and a Paypal donations page. Because of their mission and their popularity, I believe this has got to be one of the most honorable and frankly, easiest fundraising jobs out there. I think Wikimedia is poised for even more fundraising success in this field. They’ve got the Web cred, they’ve got the site traffic, and a great hire will just take them to new heights.

Here’s the job description:

== WMF Job Description: Head of Development ==

JOB TITLE

Head of Development, Wikimedia Foundation

JOB PURPOSE

As head of development, your job is to develop and execute a
fundraising strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation in the context of
its overall mission, vision, values and goals. This position reports
to the Chief Financial and Operating Officer.

JOB SUMMARY

This position will develop and execute a fundraising strategy for the
Wikimedia Foundation in the context of its overall mission, vision,
values and goals. This is a critical role: 96% of the Foundation’s
revenue is derived from individual donations. The role will include a
mix of major donor cultivation and online fundraising, as well as
other fundraising initiatives.

Responsibilities:

* Develop and execute a fundraising strategy to ensure financial
sustainability for the Foundation;
* Identify and cultivate major donors (100K+);
* Manage projects such as the annual online fundraiser and special donor events;
* Develop new initiatives such as donations-by-SMS, donations-on-Facebook, etc.;
* Explore other sources of funds such as foundations, grants development, etc.;
* Develop and maintain a database of donors and prospective donors;
* Develop and manage a responsive and effective donor communications
program including query response, appeal and acknowledgement letters;
* Achieve annual financial targets, as established during the budgeting process.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

* Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred;
* 7+ years of non-profit fundraising experience, preferably in a
well-known organization that is active internationally;
* Experience creating and executing strategic plans, staging special
events, and measuring project success;
* Good knowledge of donor pools, trends in giving and the process of
foundation, corporation and individual prospect research, cultivation
and solicitation;
* Basic understanding of tax, financial and estate planning issues;
* Excellent interpersonal communication skills including the ability
to persuade, motivate and negotiate with a diverse array of people,
both verbally and in writing;
* Technology literate; comfortable and proficient using a wide variety
of communications and networking tools (e.g., mailing lists, IM, IRC,
wikis, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.);
* The ability to speak multiple languages is a major plus;
* Experience living or working outside the United States is a major plus.

ABOUT WMF

The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable corporation.
It is fully audited and has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United
States. The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to empower and
engage people around the world to collect and develop educational
content under a free license or in the public domain, and to
disseminate it effectively and globally. The Wikimedia Foundation
operates some of the largest collaboratively edited reference projects
in the world, including Wikipedia, one of the 10 most-visited websites
in the world.

TO APPLY

Please send a CV and cover letter to jobs@wikimedia.org. Please put
“Development” in your subjectline. Please be aware that applications
which do not include a cover letter will not be considered.

In your cover letter, please lay out some opening thoughts about how,
in your view, the Foundation might best approach major donor
cultivation.

Please copy and paste the text of your CV into the e-mail, in addition
to attaching the file.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we regret that only
people selected for an interview will be contacted. Regardless of
whether you are interviewed, we thank you for your application.

This position is based in our San Francisco headquarters. If you are
not currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area, please make that
clear in your cover letter.