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KickStart is an innovative, prize winning, social enterprise with a mission to help millions of people in Africa escape poverty by promoting sustainable employment creation and economic growth. KickStart believes that impoverished people in the developing world need precisely what any other poor person needs: a way to earn more money.

KickStart works by designing very low cost tools and equipment and mass marketing them to very poor, but entrepreneurial, African men and women, who buy them and use them to establish profitable small-scale family businesses. KickStart's best selling products are manually operated irrigation pumps which are marketed under the brand name "MoneyMaker." KickStart develops a private-sector supply chain to distribute and sell the equipment and it carefully measures its impacts to determine if the families who buy the equipment really do make enough money to get out of poverty. To date, more than 100,000 families have lifted themselves out of poverty with these tools. In summary, KickStart has developed and proven a cost-effective, replicable and sustainable model with the potential to take many millions of families around the world out of poverty.

KickStart was recently recognized by Fast Company Magazine and the Monitor Group. In addition, Nuwire has named KickStart "One of the Top 15 Charities for Investors." Newsweek also recently called the MoneyMaker pump one of the "Ten Inventions that Will Change the World."

KickStart is seeking an experienced executive to greatly expand and manage its development and communications functions. KickStart is in the midst of a major expansion with a goal of increasing its annual impacts by approximately 4x over the next 5 years. The Chief Development and External Relations Officer will be responsible for generating donor revenues and for developing and managing external relationships, partnerships and communications. Additionally, this person will be responsible for building and managing a growing, high performing development and communications team. This position will work closely with, and report directly to, the CEO.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Organizational Leadership:

• Serve as part of KickStart's senior management team, providing guidance and leadership on KickStart's overall direction and programs
• Manage CEO and Founding Directors' time/focus on development prospects that align with the overall strategy
• Inspire an organization-wide cultural focus on enhancing and supporting the fundraising function
• Serve as the lead staff member responsible for managing the Board Development Committee and serve as a key communicator with the broader Board of Directors
• Provide CEO, Founding Director and Board with strategic support to cultivate and manage donors
• Build and manage a high-performing, professional development and media relations team
• Work closely with CFO on the production of regular fundraising projections for budgeting, planning and management purposes
• Work with senior management team to assess and develop opportunities for innovative social investments in KickStart's programs

Development Leadership:

• Generate KickStart's fundraising strategy and objectives, devising key performance indicators and detailed fundraising plans
• Serve as a "public face" and thought leader for KickStart and its programs, representing KickStart at the highest level in public forums
• Assume a hands-on, creative leadership role in the identification, cultivation and solicitation of major gifts, personally cultivating and soliciting donors as appropriate; implement a structured program for generating new leads and responding to inquiries, involving, where appropriate, the CEO, Founding Director, other KickStart personnel and members of the Board
• Oversee and manage KickStart's fundraising program development and its execution, ensuring that KickStart runs an efficient and compliant fundraising operation
• Cultivate new donor relationships while developing and managing existing partnerships associated with KickStart's fundraising goals
• Manage African leadership, ensuring that essential information is effectively tracked and funneled to the US based development team

Donor Leadership:

• Ensure ongoing and high quality donor management
• Assess the current systems, processes and tools relating to all aspects of donor centered fundraising and create, where needed, new and enhanced systems to support professional and efficient donor management (for example, strengthen KickStart's donor communication, stewardship and recognition programs)

External Relations Leadership:

• Develop KickStart's brand strategy and oversee its execution, including designing and orchestrating a shift in KickStart's brand (i.e.: re-branding KickStart as an organization with multiple venues for fundable opportunities and centers of excellence)
• Develop KickStart's media relations strategy and objectives, responding to media inquiries and developing a metrics-driven, proactive communications plan.
• Develop and manage KickStart's marketing programs such as newsletters, social marketing campaigns and outreach, website, annual report and other tools

• Commitment to KickStart's mission, purpose and values, and to its methodology, history, culture, programs, personalities and constituencies
• Sophistication, with the intellectual depth and maturity to train and work with founders, executives, staff, Board members and others in development-related activities
• A record of success in raising significant amounts of money through some or all of the following: major gifts from individuals, annual giving campaigns, innovative partnerships, businesses, foundations, corporations and the public sector
• Broad-based knowledge of various development campaign activities, including: direct mail, proposal and grant development, annual fund and planned giving, event planning and management, direct solicitations, leveraging fundraising databases and support systems for donor segmentation, research and volunteer management
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal (e.g.: public speaking, presentations, solicitation letters, donor correspondence, proposals and other kinds of material for publication)
• Experience recruiting and managing staff and creating cohesive teams; strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative working style
• Demonstrated experience in managing budgets
• Ability to work in a hands-on environment with limited resources
• Self-confidence and strategic thinking skills with an entrepreneurial mindset
• Detail orientation, with an ability to operate in a highly organized fashion
• Charisma, able to use words to inspire through multiple formats (e.g.: in-person meetings, phone and video conference)
• Excellent listening skills, comfortable receiving input from many sources, analyzing disparate information to synthesize a sound, well-organized plan
• Flexibility and creativity, exhibiting determination while maintaining respect for others' concerns and an ability to find alternative ways of reaching funding objectives when barriers arise
• Discipline and a high energy level; a "doer" with a willingness to work hands-on in executing a variety of development and advancement activities
• Emotional maturity, with a very good sense of humor and with the sensitivity to work in a small, but growing office and with diverse personalities
• Willingness to travel (estimated at 60%)

Competitive compensation commensurate with experience