Chief Advancement Officer

Description

Position:   Chief Advancement Officer 

Status:   Regular, Full Time, Exempt 

Hours:   40 hours Mon-Fri. Weekends and evenings on occasion for relevant programs and  

events. 

Reports to:   CEO 

Direct Reports:  Director of Philanthropy, Events Manager, Marketing Manager 

ABOUT COASTAL ROOTS FARM 

Coastal Roots Farm is a nonprofit community farm and education center guided by Jewish values. The Farm’s mission is to cultivate healthy, connected communities by integrating sustainable agriculture, food justice, and ancient Jewish wisdom.

The Farm’s impact initiatives include 1) regenerative agriculture, 2) equitable food access, 3) environmental education, and 4) Jewish life. We grow organic food in a climate-smart way, donate the majority our harvests with those who need it most, inspire youth to be the next generation of environmental stewards, and connect people of all backgrounds to Jewish holidays, values, and traditions through farming and food.  

Coastal Roots Farm is located in Encinitas, CA on approximately 18 acres of land which we recognize as indigenous to the Kumeyaay and Luiseño peoples. Coastal Roots Farm was incubated by the Leichtag Foundation in 2014 and received 501(c)(3) public charity status in 2015.

POSITION OVERVIEW 

The Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) is a senior organizational leader responsible for strengthening and diversifying the philanthropic support and infrastructure that will sustain Coastal Roots Farm into its next decade. 

Building from a proven model of community impact, the CAO will lead a grounded, diversified fundraising strategy; deepen relationships with the Farm’s most significant individual donors; expand the pipeline of future supporters; and provide strategic leadership across fundraising, grants, marketing, events, and development operations. 

The CAO will personally cultivate, solicit, and steward the Farm’s highest-capacity donors and prospects in close partnership with the CEO; contribute directly to select grant and donor writing; and lead stewardship of the Farm’s Advisory Council. The role will oversee the full contributed revenue portfolio, including individual giving, foundations, corporations, government funding, fundraising events, annual giving, and emerging opportunities. 

The ideal candidate is a relationship-centered fundraiser and strong team leader who is equally comfortable meeting with a major donor, reviewing a fundraising pipeline, coaching staff, representing the Farm in the community, strengthening CRM practices, and using technology and AI to improve advancement effectiveness. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

Executive Leadership and Strategy:  

• Serve as a member of the senior leadership team, contributing to organizational strategy, annual planning, and long-term sustainability. 
• Partner closely with the CEO to establish fundraising priorities, cultivate and solicit principal donors, strengthen external relationships, and advance the Farm’s long-term vision. 
• Lead advancement-related execution of the Farm’s strategic plan, translating organizational priorities into clear fundraising goals, team plans, and measurable outcomes. 
• Represent Coastal Roots Farm with professionalism, warmth, and credibility among donors, community leaders, partners, foundations, and other stakeholders. 

Fundraising and Major Gifts:  

• Lead a comprehensive fundraising strategy across individual giving, major gifts, foundations, corporations, government funding, annual giving, fundraising events, planned giving, and special campaigns as applicable. 
• Personally manage a portfolio of the Farm’s highest-capacity donors and prospects, with significant emphasis on cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. 
• Partner with the CEO and Director of Philanthropy on principal gift strategy and expand the pipeline of future major donors and supporters. 
• Establish ambitious but evidence-based fundraising goals rooted in demonstrated performance, pipeline strength, and organizational capacity. 
• Continuously assess and strengthen the fundraising mix to diversify revenue and reduce reliance on any single funding source. 

Grants and Institutional Funding:  

• Provide strategic leadership for the Farm’s foundation, corporate, and government funding portfolio. 
• Work closely with the Director of Philanthropy and Grants Manager to prioritize opportunities, maintain a strong grants calendar, and ensure high-quality proposals, reports, and funder relationships. 
• Contribute directly to select high-priority grant writing and proposal development. 
• Oversee a distributed grant-writing model in which the Grants Manager carries the majority of proposal writing, with support from the Director of Philanthropy, Development Coordinator, CAO, and other staff as appropriate. 

Advancement Team, Marketing & Community Engagement:  

• Lead an integrated advancement function encompassing fundraising, grants, events, marketing, communications, and development operations. 
• Directly supervise the Director of Philanthropy, Events Manager, and Marketing Manager, while providing leadership and accountability across the broader advancement team. 
• Establish clear priorities, roles, performance expectations, and strong collaboration across the department. 
• Oversee fundraising and stewardship events, marketing, communications, and storytelling to ensure they work together to deepen donor relationships and strengthen community engagement. 
• Serve as a visible ambassador for the Farm at donor gatherings, community events, partner meetings, and other external engagements. 
• Effectively engage fundraising volunteers and other community ambassadors to extend the reach and capacity of the advancement function. 

Development Operations, CRM, and Technology:  

• Strengthen the systems and infrastructure necessary for disciplined, high-performing fundraising. 
• Ensure Virtuous is used effectively for donor management, moves management, segmentation, stewardship, reporting, and pipeline tracking, and help deepen the Farm’s use of the platform. 
• Establish strong expectations for data quality, donor documentation, gift processing, prospect management, reporting, and follow-up. 
• Use dashboards and fundraising metrics to assess performance and support decision-making. 
• Thoughtfully leverage AI and emerging technology to improve prospect research, grant development, donor communications, analysis, workflow efficiency, and marketing while maintaining appropriate judgment, privacy, and human-centered relationship building. 

Finance, Board & Advisory Council Partnership 

• Collaborate closely with the Director of Finance and Administration to ensure strong alignment between fundraising activity, revenue recognition, financial reporting, and cash-flow planning. 
• Maintain current and realistic fundraising projections based on pipeline strength, probability, timing, and donor commitments. 
• Partner with the CEO to engage the Board of Directors and Advisory Council in philanthropy and relationship development. 
• Prepare clear fundraising reports, pipeline updates, and strategic recommendations for leadership and the Board. 

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 

Required: 

• 8+ years of progressive fundraising experience, including major gifts, written grant proposals, and team leadership. 
• Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant individual donors. 
• Experience leading comprehensive fundraising strategies across individual and institutional giving. 
• Demonstrated success developing competitive proposals for major federal, state, and local grants, with strong knowledge of impact, compliance, and reporting. 
• Strong relationship-building, communication, financial, and organizational skills. 
• Experience with donor pipelines, moves management, and revenue forecasting. 
• Ability to lead both strategy and execution in a dynamic, evolving organization. 
• Experience with Virtuous or a comparable CRM. 
• Strong fluency with AI and emerging technology for fundraising, research, writing, analysis, and workflow efficiency. 
• Experience overseeing marketing/communications in addition to fundraising. 
• Experience with nonprofit Boards, Advisory Councils, and fundraising volunteers. 
• Experience in a mission-driven field related to agriculture, food access, education, sustainability, or Jewish communal life. 

Compensation  

The salary range is $100,000 to $125,000 and is commensurate with experience. Coastal Roots Farm offers a competitive benefits package. 

Coastal Roots Farm is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to building an inclusive workforce. We welcome and strongly encourage people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. All qualified candidates, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, or genetic information will be considered for this position.