AVP of Advancement

JILL'S HOUSE

McLean, Virginia

THEIR STORY

In 1992, Lon and Brenda Solomon welcomed their baby girl into the world after her older brothers. At three months old, baby Jill began to suffer seizures and was ultimately diagnosed with an untreatable and rare seizure disorder that caused progressive loss of function. Distraught and overwhelmed with the care their daughter required, Lon and Brenda were exhausted.

Their respite came from a God-connection when a woman named Mary, a complete stranger, called them up after hearing from the Lord. She was able to organize caregivers for little Jill, allowing her exhausted parents to get the rest they so desperately needed to be the best parents they could be.

This incredible experience, coupled with a tour of a facility in Jerusalem named Shalva, translated “peace of mind,” where families just like theirs received services like overnight respite, inspired Jill’s House. This was the answer to their prayers. This would be Jill’s legacy.

WHAT THEY DO

Jill’s House today provides exemplary short-term, overnight respite care and holistic family support services for those caring for children and young adults with intellectual disabilities. They are committed to providing an amazing social service AND boldly and clearly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. Jill’s House provides life-altering services to families who can't get these services anywhere else. Known as a leader in disability ministry, they are frequently sought out by other organizations and churches around the country and around the world for consultation.

Hear the story about one of the families they serve.

The primary Jill’s House location in Washington D.C. is a beautiful 42,000 square foot resort that provides overnight respite lodging. At Jill’s House, every room, activity, mural, and staff member serves as a reflection of the immense value of children with intellectual disabilities. The respite lodge is specially designed to give these children an unforgettable overnight experience that they cannot get anywhere else, all under the loving and skilled supervision of highly-trained staff and nurses. And while the kids are having the time of their lives with friends, their parents can rest, knowing their child is in safe, loving, and highly skilled hands. Two program offerings are depending on the needs of the family; after-school pick-up with an overnight stay or the weekend program where the kids get to enjoy the resort through Sunday.

In addition, Jill’s House offers specialized weekend camping adventures designed with children with intellectual disabilities in mind. Parents can rest easy with the knowledge that their children are having a blast riding horses, hiking trails, roasting s’mores around a campfire, shooting a bow and arrow, canoeing, and more under the loving care of specialized volunteers and nurses. With camps in the Blue Ridge Mountains in VA, Rocky Top, TN, Puget Sound, WA, the Windy City, IL and the Garden State, NJ, Jill’s House works hard to ensure every child can have the summer camp experience.

Watch a video profile of one of their volunteers:

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Title: Associate Vice President of Advancement

Classification: Exempt

Reports to: VP of Advancement

Direct Reports: Coordinator of Donor Development & Stewardship

Travel: Annually to all Jill’s House locations

Location: McLean, VA

Summary: The Associate Vice President of Advancement role is an opportunity for a creative, strategic, organized individual to build on the foundation of well-established support to strategically expand all levels of donor support of and engagement with Jill’s House. They will develop a multifaceted strategic plan for financial support for all Jill’s House locations (Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, Washington), growth of the annual fund and recurring donors, and legacy giving. In conjunction with the Advancement Team, they will play a critical role in ongoing operations in support of organizational priorities.

Jill’s House is a Christian non-profit organization and integrated Auxiliary ministry of McLean Bible Church called by God to love families raising children, adolescents, and young adults (ages 6-22) toward Jesus by providing them with short-term, overnight respite care and holistic family support services. They seek to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed to all our constituencies. They unconditionally welcome, love, and serve all families whose children fit our service parameters regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or any other characteristic. In all that they do, they seek to live in accordance with Biblical principles.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Key duties and responsibilities would include:

In conjunction with the Vice-President of Advancement, develops a strategic advancement plan in support of the Jill’s House strategic plan.
Plans and manages the advancement calendar, ensuring that all activities and appeals are executed with excellence.
Working with the Vice President of Advancement and the entire Advancement Team to research, and strategically pursue grants from various foundations and other grant-making organizations.
Provide support to the CEO and VP of Advancement in their pursuit of support and strategic relationship development.
Manage and develop the portfolio of Jill’s House major donors, deepening their connection to the mission and people of Jill’s House in a way that encourages increased giving.
Develops and executes a donor move management strategy focused on moving mid-level donors to the upper-mid level or major donor category.
Develop and manage the Jill’s House legacy giving program, the 2010 Society, with a focus on securing new legacy gifts, and maintaining those already committed.
Oversee and lead other advancement team members working on items such as the annual fund and recurring giving program.
Work with the VP of Advancement on other advancement opportunities that become available. Oversee the use of best practices as it relates to donor data management in our CRM.

Qualifications

Education & Experience:

Bachelor’s Degree
Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in fundraising and donor stewardship.
Experience with Raiser’s Edge, or a similar donor CRM.

Work Environment:

The Associate VP of Advancement will have the ability to work primarily remotely. S/he will be on-site at the Tysons location 2-3 days each work week on a regular basis.

Additional on-site work will be expected as needed.

Character

Servant Leader
Strong faith
Team oriented
Entrepreneurial spirit and eagerness to take the program to the next level.
Enthusiasm for the mission of Jill’s House.
Appreciation for the important work of the Advancement team.

Competence

Demonstrated ability to cultivate relationships with individuals on behalf of an organization.
Demonstrated ability to think and plan critically.
Solution-oriented thinker who can devise broad plans to increase efficiency and effectiveness, who also balances that with attention to detail so as to ensure excellence in delivery.
Highly organized
Outstanding people skills, able to engage winsomely with Jill’s House partners – both individual and corporate.
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Ability to manage multiple projects for multiple customers addressing multiple audiences at a time.

Chemistry with the Culture

Motivated by a common mission, faith, and values to serve those in need and share the gospel.
Humble, collaborative leader across multiple teams who focuses on solutions without worrying about getting the credit.
Jill’s House has an “all hands on deck” culture and in the world of direct service to families everyone is here to serve with compassion, engagement, and joyful service.

Compensation

Competitive salary and benefits package will be discussed during personal interview.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision plans for full time 30+ hour employees and their families
10 Paid Holidays, generous vacation & sick leave
Short and long term disability
Basic & Voluntary life insurance policies
Medical flexible & dependent spending accounts
Maternity/Paternity leave
403b Retirement Plan

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Opportunities

Clear, compelling, unique mission that makes it one of a kind not only in the DC area, but in the country. This has yielded demonstrated impact over 13 years.
Jill's House has a fantastic Board, both the people, structures, and processes. Not only that, they have a unique relationship with McLean Bible Church which provides support and resourcing long term.

Challenges

The pandemic changed the respite care task significantly. The resulting hybrid and offsite work interrupted strong cohesive teamwork and yielded some siloed teams and communications challenges. Recent changes to the team have strengthened engagement but more work may be necessary to continue the current momentum.
The AVP of Advancement is a new position that will add significant capacity to an already excellent team… but will take time to flesh out specific team roles. This is important to add depth to the bench in the Advancement team.

WASHINGTON D.C. AREA

Jill’s House is located in the DC Metro area, the nation’s capital and a thriving metropolis of nearly six million people. In addition to its proximity to the nation’s greatest public spaces like the Smithsonian Institute, the National Mall, the Library of Congress, the White House and the Capital (six of the top 10 buildings in "America's Favorite Architecture" are in the District of Columbia) the DC area has significant beauty, with a series of public parks and waterways.

The city is home to some of the nation’s best museums including the Smithsonians, where visitors can explore natural history, outer space, African-American history, and more. Many employees who work in the city live in the surrounding Virginia or Maryland counties and are able to easily commute via the metro system. Northern Virginia has some of the country’s best schools and most beautiful homes, inviting for families of all ages. The real estate market is one of the country's strongest and home to world-class shopping and industry.