Associate Vice President, Principal Gifts

About The Foundation

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, in partnership with Stanford Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, unlocks philanthropy to transform health for children and families in Northern California - and around the world. Through fundraising and grantmaking, the Foundation drives scientific research, innovation, and policy change that will improve care, advance cures, and reform healthcare systems for this and future generations.

MAIN FOCUS: The Associate Vice President, Principal Gifts serves as both leader and individual contributor, driving growth of the Principal Gifts team’s revenues, pipeline, and processes, staffing their own portfolio of high-net-worth donors to build deep relationships and maximize philanthropy from this group, and working collaboratively with partners across the Foundation, Hospital, School of Medicine, and Boards to ensure the success of the program.

LOCATION: Palo Alto, CA (hybrid); the successful candidate for this role will be based in the Bay Area.

What You'll Do...

The Associate Vice President, Principal Gifts plays a pivotal role in advancing the philanthropic efforts of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the child and maternal health programs of Stanford Medicine by leading the Principal Gifts team. The team focuses on securing donations of $5 million and above from individuals and family foundations, with a strong reputation for being nimble, accurate, and creative.

The Associate Vice President, Principal Gifts oversees a team of experienced gift officers and operations and support team members with a goal of increasing revenue from gifts in the $5M+ range. The Principal Gifts team is a revenue leader for the Foundation, delivering an average of $40-50 million or more annually (and growing) and works to develop strong donor relationships across the organization that lead to transformative philanthropy from donors with the capacity to make gifts of $10 million dollars or more.

This leadership position combines strategic management responsibilities with the critical task of cultivating and stewarding principal gift prospects, particularly in discovering, cultivating, and soliciting new and unaffiliated prospective donors. The Associate Vice President will develop and execute a strategic plan for the principal gifts program which will position it for significant revenue growth over the next 4-6 years. Key elements of the plan will address pipeline development, portfolio optimization, development of principal gift opportunities, and alignment with campaign priorities.

Primary Responsibilities

Principal Gifts Revenue Leadership

1. Build and grow relationships to inspire philanthropy from a personal portfolio of ~50 prospects who have the capacity to give $10M+ or more. Be a consistent revenue leader for the Principal Gifts team, with a target goal of $10M+ annually.
2. Partner with, coach and support faculty, physicians, administrators and senior leaders from the hospital and School of Medicine in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding potential donors.
3. Proactively collaborate with colleagues and leadership across the Foundation to develop effective and coordinated strategies for each donor. Ensure each gift is well-stewarded to inspire future philanthropy.
4. Convene gift officers across the Principal Gifts team to drive fundraising for priority initiatives, facilitate effective collaboration to develop donor strategies, share best practices, drive activity, and engage board members and senior leaders.
5. Coach and mentor gift officers in driving revenue and activity from their assigned portfolios and working with faculty, the CEO, boards, and institutional leaders.
6. Lead the revenue goal setting process and tracking of revenue and activity goals across the team to help drive attainment of revenue goals and activity metrics.
7. Serve as a member of the Foundation’s Revenue Leadership Team.
8. Build strong partnerships with the Vice President, Major Gifts and Vice President, Transformational Giving.

STAKEHOLDER AND DONOR ENGAGEMENT

1. Engage Foundation and hospital Board members and select principal gift donors in support of the team’s qualification, cultivation, and solicitation efforts. Partner directly and help coach team gift officers in partnering with board members and volunteers to build pipeline and cultivate new and deeper donor relationships.
2. Selectively initiate and oversee Foundation-wide strategic events to advance cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation of principal gifts. Consult on Foundation-wide events strategy to ensure events meet the needs of the Principal Gifts team.
3. As needed, lead the content creation and development strategy for one volunteer task force, and partner with gift officers across the Foundation on strategies that advance donor engagement, cultivation, and stewardship with task force members.
4. Ensure tracking of Principal Gifts work with board members and stakeholders so the Foundation can report back on results from stakeholder partnerships.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP AND PIPELINE BUILDING

1. Develop compelling gift opportunities and proposals in partnership with faculty and senior leaders for a variety of areas including research, clinical programs, supportive services, and facilities projects. Ensure each proposal is appropriately scoped, vetted, well-crafted, and meets the priorities of both the donor and the organization. Coach team gift officers in program building to grow this skill set across Principal Gifts team.
2. Manage portfolio development for Principal Gifts officers, including the assignment of prospects.
3. Review and fine-tune operating standards for gift officers to ensure robust donor activity and maintenance of donor records including moves management, contact reports, proposals, briefings, acknowledgements, stewardship, and recognition.
4. Work closely with Prospect Development to manage and grow the principal gift pipeline.

Management

1. Manage several direct reports, including senior gift officers and the leader of the operations vertical.
2. Grow the team: recruit and onboard new team members as needed and facilitate professional development for team members’ advancement.
3. Develop short and long-term operating and strategic plans.
4. Allocate team and partner team resources in ways that align with Foundation priorities and revenue opportunities.
5. Provide regular updates for Senior Vice President and Revenue Leadership Team on team revenue performance, board work, pipeline health, field officer metrics, recruitment and retention, relationships with partner teams, budget, and wins and challenges.

YOU MUST HAVE...

1. A bachelor’s degree and at least 10 years of experience successfully closing 6, 7, and 8 figure gifts with progressively responsible fundraising and leadership responsibilities.
2. At least three years of previous management experience, including recruiting and developing others, program management, and portfolio management and accountability.
3. A demonstrated ability to guide, lead, and coach seasoned fundraisers to achieve and surpass goals.
4. Proven success with academic medicine, science, and/or hospital fundraising and comfort negotiating complex gifts.
5. A demonstrated ability to craft proposals that inspire significant philanthropic gifts in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders.
6. Deep experience and sophistication working on gifts that resulted in the creation of new programs and business plans including the required collaboration with institutional partners to deliver results on philanthropic investment.
7. Values and demonstrates highest integrity and ethical standards.

Preferred

1. A passion for child, adolescent, and maternal health.

Competencies the Associate Vice President, Principal Gifts must possess.

Strategic Leadership With a Vision For Growth

1. Developing and executing strategic plans that drive significant revenue growth.
2. Making strong decisions on resource allocation and setting clear revenue goals.
3. Identifying opportunities for pipeline development and long-term revenue growth.
4. Aligning the Principal Gifts program with broader campaign priorities and organizational objectives.

High-Level Donor Engagement

1. Cultivating and maintaining relationships with high-net-worth donors.
2. Inspiring philanthropy and securing transformational gifts of $10M+.
3. Developing compelling gift opportunities and proposals that inspire significant philanthropic gifts and align with donor and organizational priorities.

Team Development And Mentorship

1. Managing and mentoring a team, fostering their professional growth.
2. Coaching and supporting team members in building donor relationships and achieving revenue and activity targets.
3. Coaching and mentoring gift officers to enhance their program-building skills, helping them to develop case documents, program budgets, proposals, and donor engagement techniques.
4. Cultivating a collaborative environment where team members can learn and apply best practices to drive donor strategies.

Collaborative Leadership

1. Partnering effectively with faculty, senior leaders, and program directors to translate complex research, clinical, or academic initiatives into clear, compelling funding opportunities.
2. Building strong, trust-based relationships with key stakeholders, including faculty, leadership, and potential donors.
3. Building highly collaborative relationships with revenue teams, including Major and Transformational Gifts, Institutional Relations, Annual Giving, and Gift Planning.
4. Partnering with various departments across the organization, such as Strategic Communications, Events, and Prospect Development, to achieve organizational goals.
5. Adept at giving and receiving feedback, demonstrating a growth-mindset.

Stakeholder And Partnership Management

1. Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, including board members, volunteers, faculty, senior leaders, and University colleagues to advance fundraising efforts and strategic initiatives.

Operational And Program Management

1. Managing the operational aspects of a fundraising team, including portfolio development, tracking, and reporting.
2. Refining processes and tools to enhance team performance and drive revenue growth.
3. Overseeing and fine-tuning operating standards to ensure robust donor activity and record maintenance.

Communication

1. Communicating strategies, goals, and results regularly and effectively to team, partner teams, senior leadership, and other stakeholders.
2. Ability to transform technical or scientific concepts into narratives that resonate with donors on an emotional and intellectual level.

Adaptability And An Entrepreneurial Approach

1. Ability to stay effective and composed under pressure or in a rapidly changing environment.
2. Learning agility: Capacity and comfort to learn new content quickly.
3. Skill in managing multiple projects and adjusting priorities when new demands arise.
4. Ability to think creatively and bring new ideas to life.

Working at the Foundation

We Offer Excellent Benefits & Perks, Including…

1. Generous leave, including PTO, holidays, Summer Fridays, and a sabbatical (after 7 years of employment)
2. Annual bonus
3. Retirement plan + employer match
4. Premium Medical and Dental coverage
5. FSA + dependent care FSA
6. Employer-paid life insurance
7. Legal services plan
8. Commuter Benefits, including CalTrain “Go Pass” Program
9. 4-week paid maternity and paternity leave for new parents
10. Stipend for home office and mobile phone
11. If remote, frequent opportunities to visit our beautiful HQ in Palo Alto.

WE’RE DYNAMIC…

The Foundation is a dynamic organization in a rapidly changing industry. Therefore, the responsibilities associated with this position will evolve and grow in accordance with LPFCH's business needs and growth plans. More specifically, the incumbent may be required to perform additional and/or different responsibilities based on the future growth plans for the Foundation.

WE STRIVE TO EMBODY OUR CULTURAL TOUCHSTONES…

Mission-first - We can never lose sight of why we exist and who we are here to serve.

Good of the whole - We share responsibility for overall results, think of what’s best for the team and organization, and act as responsible stewards of resources.

Bold and bendy - We’re unapologetically ambitious for our mission, creative, and take risks by trying new things.

Sweat the big stuff - We’re clear on our priorities, calibrating effort and resources to audience and impact: the higher the return, the greater the investment.

Make it happen - We’re focused on outcomes; only as much process as necessary to make good decisions and take action. Prepared with ideas and solutions for every challenge.

Community matters - We embrace diversity and practice inclusion.

WE’RE COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING…

Our Foundation embraces all individuals and celebrates the unique differences each of us bring to our team and community. Our approach to fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is rooted in our cultural touchstones and inherent in our work to encourage every employee to bring their best, most authentic self to work and to provide each of them the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

We envision a world where race, gender, resources, and other factors do not serve as barriers to attaining optimal health. We recognize that this vision requires the commitment and actions of everyone.

To Support This Goal, We Pledge To

1. Conduct ourselves in a manner that garners trust and respect from others.
2. Foster a welcoming and supportive environment for our team members and community.
3. Acknowledge and appreciate the dignity, expertise, experiences, and contributions of each other.
4. Approach others with an open mind, compassionate heart, actively listening to their perspectives.
5. Foster effective teamwork and encourage collaboration amongst our team and constituents.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Pay Range For This Role Is
250,000 - 280,000 USD per year (Palo Alto, CA)