Friends of the Children

Friends of the Children – Colorado (Friends - Colorado) is part of a national network dedicated to breaking cycles of generational poverty and foster care by pairing youth facing the greatest obstacles with salaried, professional mentors (“Friends”) from kindergarten through high school — 12+ years, no matter what. Friends – Colorado is seeking a Senior Vice President to launch our program in Denver.

This is an exciting opportunity for a leader that is deeply connected to the Denver community and has the desire and stamina to launch and grow our location in Denver. As the first employee of our Denver location, you will work closely with the Friends Colorado Executive Director to raise funds and establish the location in Denver.     

Our Senior Vice President will be a passionate advocate for children and families facing life's greatest challenges and will be effective at communicating the urgency of our mission and the success of our outcomes. They will be a dynamic and engaging spokesperson for the organization and will excel at networking and fundraising with major donors, corporate leaders, foundations, and the communities we serve.

The ideal candidate will have experience in working with community leaders, funders, families, and children. The candidate will also have a smart head for business, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a soft heart for kids.

 Are you this amazing leader? Here's what we have to offer you:

• Opportunity to fundraise and then hire and partner with a team of talented local employees who are passionate about working together to create an extraordinary and impactful organization.
• Support from a strong, Friends Colorado team located in Colorado Springs; committed to innovation and high standards.
• A comprehensive benefits package.
• Compensation commensurate with experience: 120K-160K (salary/incentive)
• Most of all, you get to launch and lead an exceptional organization that helps children and families facing incredible odds change their life stories every day.

Position Overview:

The Senior Vice President (SVP) reports directly to the Executive Director and serves as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team. This role leads the fundraising and philanthropic strategy for Friends of the Children Colorado. The Senior Vice President will be leading the work in Denver for the chapter and building a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization that is relationship-based and donor-centric. The SVP is responsible for leading, expanding and deepening the fundraising capacity of the organization with a particular focus on cultivating and stewarding major gifts, and high net worth relationships in Denver and securing transformational resources to sustain and grow the chapter’s statewide impact. This role acts as a principal architect of the donor engagement strategy, partnering closely with the Executive Director (ED), Board, staff, regional philanthropists and Friends national network to secure transformational philanthropic support to actualize the organization’s fiscal goals and values. 

A developer and an implementer, the SVP will work with the ED to shape and oversee Friends of the Children – Colorado’s (Friends - Colorado’s) site in Denver, and also the chapter’s overall revenue goals in alignment with the chapter’s vision to grow to serve youth and families in multiple locations in Colorado. The SVP leads the stakeholder engagement and fundraising strategy for the organization in Denver to ensure its financial health and sustainability through targeted individual, foundation, corporate, and philanthropic contributions.  In addition to identifying, engaging and stewarding new and existing sources of funding, the SVP ensures donor relationships are strategically managed to align with organizational growth priorities and mission impact.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership, Department & Systems

• Lead the chapter’s Denver location, working with Friends-Colorado Executive Director to ensure support from Denver-based partners and donors to sustain and implement high quality programming.
• Serve as an ambassador and spokesperson for Friends of the Children in Denver, partnering with the Executive Director to amplify the brand and build champions for the program.
• Grow and maintain a sophisticated and sustainable development program that aligns with and supports Friends – Colorado’s strategic objectives and ensures best practice and scalability.
• Working with the Executive Director, establish a culture of philanthropy throughout the chapter and especially with the Board of Directors.
• Establish performance metrics and regularly report on progress toward goals.
• Working closely with leadership and program staff across the organization, develop and execute a strategy to capitalize competitive grant opportunities, including the upfront relational work to lead to an invitation and position the organization for success.
• Ensure compliance with ethical standards, legal regulations, and institutional policies related to fundraising.

Donor Cultivation, Solicitation & Stewardship 

• Develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising program including annual giving, multi-year gifts, major gifts, corporate partnerships, foundation grants, planned giving, and special events.
• Oversee creation and implementation of both longer term and annual revenue plans and budgets– to include strategic communications, cultivation efforts, solicitation opportunities, and stewardship and donor recognition functions – for each donor audience/segment.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of major donors and prospects capable of giving major gifts with direct responsibility for initiating asks and closing major gifts.
• Develop and execute tailored cultivation strategies to build deep, lasting relationships with individuals, foundations, and corporations in multiple markets in Colorado and statewide.
• Collaborate with the Executive Director, Board members, and key stakeholders in donor engagement and solicitation strategies.
• Ensure meaningful donor recognition and stewardship to strengthen long-term loyalty and support.
• Lead efforts to expand the donor pipeline, increasing both the number and diversity of supporters.
• Lead efforts to engage elected officials and public sector support opportunities.

Essential Skills and Abilities:

• Have a passion for serving youth facing the most challenging situations.
• Highly relational, with demonstrated success cultivating and stewarding individual champions and investors.
• Proven ability to meet fundraising goals of at least $1M from diverse philanthropic sources.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to customize the organization’s case for support to specific audiences with different points of view and interests
• Knowledge of philanthropic organizations at the local, regional, and state levels.
• Ability to think strategically, understand both long- and short- term planning needs and opportunities, and prioritize the work of self and others.
• Strong leadership skills, ability to work alongside ED’s vision, and willingness to initiate new practices.
• Ability and experience establishing development and fundraising goals, measuring progress against goals, analyzing results, and supporting a culture of philanthropy.
• Strong customer service orientation.

The ideal candidate will have the following Education, Experience, and Abilities:

• Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred.
• Professional experience and sophistication necessary to be successful in a strategic leadership role in a complex and evolving organization.
• Proven ability to lead a results-oriented development function, meeting revenue and activity goals.
• Professionalism and interpersonal skills necessary to be an effective representative of Friends of the Children - Colorado to partners and supporters.
• Demonstrated ability to manage programs and projects from conceptualization through to implementation; specific experience in designing and executing comprehensive fundraising processes and procedures and in creating business/financial plans to support programs and activities.
• Minimum 10 years experience in nonprofit fundraising, at least 5 years in a senior or executive leadership role, including a proven track record of securing 6 and 7 figure gifts.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising in the Denver Metro area and strong existing relationships with philanthropists, foundations, individuals or civic organizations across the front range.

 Additional Information

• This position is full-time, exempt.
• Occasional evening and weekend work required.
• This position is based in Denver.
• Travel between Colorado Springs and Denver metro area is required. Additional travel required for donor visits and stewardship.

Location: Denver, CO

Compensation: $120k-$160k 

Job Closing: November 26, 2025 at 5 PM

Friends of the Children is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants. Friends of the Children hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.

Friends of the Children is growing rapidly as communities across the country are experiencing the power of how “One” changes a child's story: One Friend. One Child. 12+ years. No matter what. #ThePowerOfOne.

To learn more about Friends of the Children go to:   https://friendscolorado.org//about