Executive Director

The Basics

Headquarters: Brookline, MA

Supervisor: Board of Trustees

Total Employees: 3 full time, 2 part time

2019 Budget: $1.7MM

2018 Assets: $7.2MM

2018 Grants: $620,000+ to 29 organizations

Number of funds: 26

Number of donors: 1,200+

“We’re proud of our town and we believe that Brookline can be a welcoming, enriching community for all. We give together in Brookline because we see the transformative impact of local giving every day.”

BCF Annual Appeal Donor

About the Brookline Community Foundation 

BCF's mission is to create opportunity and promote equity through the transformative power of giving. The Brookline Community Foundation’s (BCF) history dates back to the late 19th century when it was founded as part of the temperance movement. Since 1998, BCF has operated as a community foundation for the town of Brookline, Massachusetts. BCF is the only foundation that addresses Brookline as a whole, spotlighting community needs, inspiring philanthropy, and awarding strategic grants to create a more vibrant, engaged, and equitable Brookline. 

BCF uses research to inform its strategic grantmaking. The Understanding Brookline series has become a critical call to action, connecting residents and leaders around common data points and drawing much-needed attention to shared challenges, such as the percentage of residents living at or below the federal poverty level and the percentage of income renters spent on housing. 

As a demonstration of its commitment to identify and address community needs, BCF is ranked in the top tier of financial distribution among community foundations according to the CF Leads Columbus Survey – distributing 9% of its assets in 2018, and ranking 72 out of 250 most active community foundations according to asset size. 

Since 1999, BCF has granted more than $5.7 million to more than 120 nonprofit organizations located in or serving Brookline.

Addressing Today's Needs:  BCF and COVID-19

Today, during the COVID-19 crisis, the Brookline Community Foundation stands ready to support its neighbors. Brookline has a history of working together during difficult times, and BCF’s Safety Net Fund was born out of that tradition. For over 20 years, the Safety Net Fund has provided emergency assistance for individuals and families in financial crisis.

As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, BCF significantly expanded its Safety Net Fund through immediate and generous gifts from donors, as well as its partnership with community agencies who help implement the program, to meet the escalating needs of vulnerable Brookline residents. In 2019, the Safety Net Fund provided emergency assistance to 796 low-income community members. Since late March, the Fund has provided significantly expanded financial and material assistance to over 100 Brookline residents facing serious economic hardship due to COVID-19.     

About the Position

The Foundation seeks a strategic fundraiser and dynamic storyteller, a results-oriented leader, and an experienced staff manager to serve as Executive Director. 

Reporting to an engaged and dedicated Board of Directors, the Executive Director will lead programming and service delivery, ensuring fidelity to donors and the needs and interests of Brookline’s residents.  The Executive Director will support BCF's convening efforts by collaborating with staff and community partners to set research agendas aligned with community priorities to inform grant making and outreach.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned leader, manager, and relationship-builder with a vision for building broad-based donor support for, and engagement in, programs and initiatives that lead to better quality of life for all residents of Brookline. He/she/they will be skilled in community and external relations, and will draw upon emotional intelligence and political savvy in representing the wide-ranging interests and stakeholders of Brookline and the Foundation. Candidates with an understanding of community-based philanthropy are preferred. 

Moving BCF forward:  Responsibilities and Opportunities

Within the last seven years, the organization has grown from one full time staff with two part-time employees to five staff (three FTE and two part-time). BCF will continue to grow in 2020, with the Board and ED working in partnership to hire three senior-level positions. 

The Board of Trustees recently approved a strategic plan: Opportunities for All: 2020-2023. This plan underscores the core work of BCF (strategic grantmaking; philanthropic partnerships; research/convenings) while laying out a four year programmatic and fiscal plan. It also calls for a more deliberate focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization and its work. 

In addition to an overall responsibility for the strategic, programmatic, financial, and physical operations of the organization, the Executive Director will be expected to lead in the following ways:

Community Builder, Convener, and Ambassador

• Embed yourself in a diverse, close-knit stakeholder community with authenticity, integrity, exceptional active listening skills, and a strong service-leadership orientation
• Oversee town-wide convenings and publication of reports that elevate current and new issues in town and support problem-solving and partnership building for innovative solutions

Fundraising and Partnership Development

• Steward donor relationships, cultivating new opportunities and leveraging the Board’s time and energy to best serve and promote the mission and long-term financial health of BCF
• Connect with new sources of philanthropic support to strategize and implement plans to increase fundraising from a broader base of support and new donors, including estate gifts and an increase in direct mail support

Organizational Leadership and Program Stewardship

• Lead program and service delivery, ensuring fidelity to donors and serving the needs and interests of all Brookline residents
• Manage a growing team, operationalize and coach staff to perform at their best
• Support and foster a culture that embraces teamwork, transparency, seamless communication, and high levels of morale, with collaboration as an ongoing objective

Qualifications

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. That said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below:

• A minimum of 8 years of senior-level leadership experience with a proven track record of successfully leading, managing, and growing a department, organization, or enterprise
• Familiarity with the fundamentals of community-based grantmaking
• Commitment and experience to diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices and continuous learning
• A management style that combines respectful collaboration with disciplined productivity
• A successful track record and interest in broad nonprofit fundraising (appeals, events, major donors, foundations)
• Experience in town-wide or city-wide leadership to address problems or issues collaboratively with stakeholders

Compensation & Benefits

BCF offers a comprehensive and generous benefits package. The starting salary for the position is $140,000, commensurate with experience.

At Brookline Community Foundation, we celebrate diversity, and our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative, at all job levels, of the communities we serve. As such, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. 

We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace, and do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.