KABOOM! has been building playgrounds in partnership with communities across America, particularly those that have experienced racialized disinvestment. In the past 27 years, KABOOM! has built or improved 17,000+ playspaces, engaged more than 1.5 million community members, and brought joy to over 12 million kids nationwide.
KABOOM! works to achieve playspace equity so that every child in every community has access to a great place to play. Too often, kids of color are disproportionately impacted by a lack of access to high-quality playspaces. A financially stable organization with more than 65 staff members (known as Boomers), KABOOM! teams up with communities so that every child can have access to the same opportunities to thrive.
KABOOM! centers its work around three core values: Racial Equity, Community, and PLAYce. To advance playspace equity, KABOOM! is committed to eliminating racial disparities in access to quality playspaces caused by disinvestment which has, and continues to, disproportionately impacts kids and communities of color.
At the heart of the KABOOM! Community Engagement Model is a process which empowers communities. KABOOM! brings together diverse partners to drive resources to systems with limited access to quality playspaces, while ensuring communities guide the process, designing the physical playspace itself, and determining the impact we’ll achieve together. This results in an incredible space that aims to inspire active play and foster belonging.
The Opportunity:
The Director of Development – West Coast will play a vital role in expanding new funding for KABOOM! by shepherding prospects through every phase of the moves management cycle. This role will focus exclusively on increasing funding support from foundations, corporations, and major donors based in the West Coast — particularly major markets such as the Bay Area, Seattle, and Southern California. This is an especially fun opportunity for a creative, strategic frontline fundraiser to take advantage of several innovative public-private partnerships that already exist on the West Coast and are ripe for inspiring site visits with prospective donors and funders.
In collaboration with the VP of Development, a crew of directors, senior directors of development, and a development associate, the Director of Development – West Coast will partner closely with the executive team, partnerships team, and finance team to advance smart fundraising strategies. This position reports directly to the Senior Director of Development.
Responsibilities:
- Lead a portfolio of existing and prospective West Coast-based funders and donors with the capacity to make five, six, and seven-figure contributions to KABOOM! to gradually secure $5+ million annually towards a $32 million annual organizational goal.
- Develop initiative-level campaign strategies to support public-private partnerships, which may consist of cultivating regional funder partnerships, seeking planning grants, hosting donor events or site visits of our state-of-the-art playspaces.
- Collaborate with colleagues to develop compelling proposals, reports, budgets and other fundraising materials.
- Serve as a thought partner with the VP of Development in specific areas of subject matter expertise.
- Stay abreast of philanthropic trends and proactively explore partnerships with mission-aligned organizations and funders in the public and private sectors.
- Contribute to our equity-informed and inclusive work culture by taking an active role in promoting practices that support diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
- Engage in peer mentoring within the Development team and across the organization.
- Embrace our organizational values of partnership, humility, equity, play, and accountability.
Ideal Candidate:
KABOOM! is looking for an experienced, self-motivated team player who has the ability and willingness to build relationships across differences and discuss issues of structural and institutional racism. The successful candidate will have a proven ability to grow revenue by developing strong cases for support aligned with funders’ priorities. The candidate will develop and sustain meaningful relationships with corporate and foundation officers, community and non-profit leaders, and other organizational and individual stakeholders to help KABOOM! realize its ambitious fundraising goals.
- At least 7-10 years of direct fundraising experience.
- Bachelor’s degree is required.
- Proposal writing experience; some event planning experience is a plus.
- Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial setting with aggressive deadlines; management of multiple priorities and projects while balancing long-term goals.
- Exceptional and persuasive written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills with the ability to effectively interface with staff, community leaders, and senior-level executives.
- Working knowledge of West Coast philanthropic networks and organizations – particularly the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and/or Seattle is strongly preferred.
- A sharp mind, top-notch critical thinking, and organizational capabilities, adept at quickly absorbing information from various angles, always keeping an eye on the big picture while maintaining superior attention to detail.
- High level of integrity, trust, and accountability along with excellent judgment, intuition, and common sense, as well as the right blend of professional confidence with a keen sense of diplomacy.
- Collaborative, team-oriented work style with self-motivation and drive to get the job done.
- Adept at using Salesforce or similar, Microsoft Suite, Google Docs, and Teams.
- The Director of Development – West Coast role is a remote position based in California with a preference for candidates in the Bay Area.
- Occasional travel (30%) to the DC region and cities on the West Coast where donors live and work.
Location:
Remote Position, Based in California
DRiWaterstone is proud to lead this search on behalf of KABOOM!.
