Director of Development
Website Shining Hope for Communities
To unleash the inherent power, dignity, and hope of communities in informal settlements — creating opportunities for them to thrive.
Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is the largest grassroots organization in Kenya. To empower communities to transform urban poverty to urban promise, SHOFCO provides critical services, operates community advocacy platforms, and builds female leadership to create lasting change. In 2023, SHOFCO impacted 2.4 million urban slum dwellers through its critical services in girls leadership and education, water and sanitation, health services, sustainable livelihood programs, and essential services.
With registered offices in both New York and Nairobi, SHOFCO has been growing at an exponential rate, with impact, funding and recognition to match that growth trajectory. SHOFCO’s impact has grown 300% in the last 5 years, with a budget that reflects this growth from $7M in 2019 to a budget today of $28M.
SHOFCO is at an exciting moment in its history. SHOFCO has recently received a transformational eight-figure gift and continues to move towards receiving large gifts. In addition to these gifts, the organization is strategically poised to build a base of sustainable philanthropic support.
SHOFCO seeks an entrepreneurial and passionate Director of Development (Director) to lead the significant expansion and diversification of philanthropic income sources. Building upon SHOFCO’s significant acclaim and large gifts, the Director will partner with the Chief Advancement Officer to build a base of sustainable philanthropic support. The ideal candidate will carry a portfolio of individuals and foundations and solicit $8 million annually, with responsibility to grow the portfolio to $10 million in the next two years. In parallel, s/he will further build and operationalize a comprehensive development office, ensuring the retention and increased giving from existing donors with an emphasis on stewarding new and annual gifts of five- and six-figures or more.
The Director is responsible for managing all initiatives to strengthen SHOFCO’s base of individual support to sustain the organization’s operations and long-term stability, including annual and special fundraising, major gifts, e-philanthropy, and constituency building. The successful candidate will have breadth and depth of experience working with individuals and with local, regional, and international foundations. S/he will build a robust annual giving program focused on the identification of new prospects and upgrading donors to the major gift level. The candidate will develop best practices, expand and diversify the prospect base, and lead the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of prospects.
The Director will report to the Chief Advancement Officer, who is based in New York City, and partner with them to support the Development Committee of the Board of Directors. The candidate will work closely with the Development Manager and Development Associate, and collaborate with the Director of Marketing and Communications, in Washington, D.C., and the Director of Partnerships and Impact, in Nairobi, Kenya.
The ideal candidate will have highly attuned cultural sensitivity with the ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultures. S/he will be flexible to adapt to, and work in, a highly nimble and growing organizational framework, adapting to the time zones of international colleagues.
