Vice President of Philanthropy, Coastal Community Foundation

Vice President of Philanthropy, Coastal Community Foundation

Organization Overview

Established in 1974, Coastal Community Foundation works to create vibrant communities along South Carolina’s coast by identifying the challenges facing the region and bringing together resources to address them. Coastal Community Foundation is the largest community foundation in South Carolina, managing more than 700 funds established by individuals, families and organizations and awarding tens of millions of dollars in grants and scholarships each year.

Our Purpose

Through endowment funds established by individuals, families, businesses and organizations, our combined resources allow us to not only address community needs today, but help us chart a course for a brighter future in the nine counties we serve along South Carolina’s coast. With our donors, we invest millions of dollars through grantmaking, impact investing and scholarships each year. We are also known for understanding and acting upon the dynamic needs of the communities we serve, with recent examples including our disaster response efforts during and after major storms such as Hurricane Florence, and the creation of the Lowcountry Unity Fund in the wake of the Mother Emanuel AME Church massacre to support causes addressing systemic racism.

Financial resources are among the many tools we employ in our mission to create vibrant communities. Throughout our history, we have served as a community convener to bring residents and leaders together to tackle major structural challenges, such as housing shortages or inequitable school systems. We also have a long history of incubating grassroots causes and providing them with structural support to grow into fully operational nonprofit organizations. Some organizations that began as programs at Coastal Community Foundation — including the Lowcountry Food Bank, One80 Place and the Center for Heirs Property Preservation — are now major regional nonprofits addressing critical needs.

Job Description

The Vice President of Philanthropy provides visionary leadership, strategic direction, and execution oversight for all philanthropic endeavors at the Coastal Community Foundation. This leader drives donor development, stewardship, and engagement to achieve ambitious goals aligned with the Foundation’s mission, long-term financial sustainability, and community impact. As a member of the Foundation’s Leadership Team, the Vice President serves as a key ambassador, building meaningful relationships with donors, advisors, community partners, and future philanthropists.

The Vice President will create a philanthropic plan that inspires donors to achieve their giving goals “through, to, or with” the Foundation and serve as an internal advocate for all donors and fundholders by acting as their voice in decisions made at the Foundation. The Vice President will deploy its relationship managers and collaborate with other staff members to deliver the highest quality service to the Foundation’s prospective and current donors, professional advisors, and the community-at-large. The ideal candidate enjoys leading in a fast-paced, results oriented organization that cares for its staff and the people and communities served.

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Located In: Charleston, SC

Responsibilities

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Strategic Philanthropic Leadership

• Develop, oversee, and implement a comprehensive strategy for asset development and stewardship from current and prospective donors to meet short- and long-term revenue goals.
• Provide leadership and coordinate with foundation partners for the successful completion of the $250M Community Catalyst Campaign.
• Lead initiatives to attract new contributions and sustain support for programs, such as the Community Partnership Program (CPP), field of interest funds, and county-specific funds.
• Advance the planned giving strategy, offering expert guidance to donors and nonprofits, for the purpose of establishing funds and/or creating future commitments through estate plans.
• Foster cross-departmental collaboration to ensure donor facing materials are brand consistent and also reflect the Foundation’s grantmaking impact and community outcomes.
• Monitor federal, state, and local policy decisions that may affect the Foundation’s endowed fund business model and advise the President/CEO and Board accordingly.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy aligned with the foundation’s mission and goals, identifying new opportunities for philanthropic partnerships and initiatives.
• Build and manage systems to cultivate relationships with individuals, professional advisors, and corporations, driving referrals and broadening donor pipelines.
• Provide expertise on planned giving to donors and nonprofits to support fund establishment and future commitments via estate plans.
• Design and lead philanthropic learning opportunities to engage donors and donor advised fundholders in strategic, values-aligned giving. Support may include leading family philanthropy meetings.
• Oversee the creation of fundraising campaigns, events, and initiatives to attract contributions and evaluate and enhance fundraising methodologies to maximize impact.
• Collaborate with staff and board members to secure major gifts and planned giving commitments.

Donor Engagement and Stewardship

• Implement a donor relationship management program with long-term goals, regular touchpoints, outreach tracking, and legacy recognition strategies and that maximizes the impact of relationship managers.
• Develop service standards and monitor KPIs to ensure high-quality donor services and communication.
• Engage the community through events, site visits, and personalized experiences.
• Partner with Grantmaking and Community Leadership teams to identify opportunities that encourage donor investment in Foundation-supported initiatives.

Talent and Team Development

• Lead the Philanthropy Team, supervising at least three direct reports, and cultivating a collaborative and accountable team environment providing guidance, mentorship, and accountability.
• Foster a strong team culture focused on continuous learning, cross-functional collaboration, and high-performance, coaching team members on talking points with current and potential donors.
• Support team development by modeling and reinforcing best practices in donor engagement, stewardship, and relationship management.
• Staff the Foundation’s Civic Leadership Committee, ensuring strong communication, clear direction and active and ongoing interaction.

Strategic Operations and Compliance

• Lead efforts to improve departmental performance through enhanced systems, streamlined processes, and optimized donor tracking.
• Ensure policies and procedures are ethical, efficient, and aligned with mission and goals.
• Oversee the creation and Board approval of fund agreements to ensure donor intent, compliance, and organizational alignment.
• Develop internal standards and tools to support transparency, performance measurement, and continuous improvement.
• Foster a strong partnership with the board and ensure that the foundation’s philanthropic initiatives are well-supported, strategically aligned, and positioned for long-term success.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or related field required.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in wealth planning or financial advising/management and/or at least 8 years in senior-level fundraising and management in a nonprofit setting; understanding of community foundation operations is preferred.
• Proven management experience with the ability to lead and mentor high-performing teams.
• Strong knowledge of donor engagement strategies, investment vehicles and returns, philanthropic trends, and customer relationship management.
• Skilled in CRM systems, donor databases, and reporting.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to influence and inspire diverse stakeholders.
• Strong project management and organizational skills; thorough understanding of financial statements, and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Confident public speaker and presenter with strong facilitation skills.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to design and implement comprehensive fundraising strategies aligned with organizational goals.
• Relationship Building: Exceptional interpersonal skills to cultivate and maintain relationships with donors, board members, and community partners.

Salary & Benefits

155,000 - 175,000

Why work for us?

When you join Coastal Community Foundation, you join a dedicated staff and Board of Directors working to be the reason why education, housing and access to opportunities are more equitable; working to be the reason why donors advance positive outcomes in their communities; and working to be the reason why our region thrives, together.

This dedication from our team is one of the main reasons we’ve been successful in earning the trust of communities we serve, and ensuring we adapt to their evolving needs. That is why we are deeply committed to supporting our staff members to ensure their success at work and outside of work. We offer a competitive salary and a full benefits package, including Paid Time Off, Holidays, Insurance (health, dental, vision, life, long-term disability), 401(k), and training and development opportunities.

How to Apply

Interested candidates can submit a letter of interest and resume to Kristy Lysik at

Equal Opportunity Hiring Statement

Statement of Commitment to Equity and Inclusion

Inclusion with equity is one of our four core values at Coastal Community Foundation, so we not only work to recruit diverse candidates, we work to ensure our team members have all the tools they need to be successful. Our mission is most effectively fulfilled through proactively supporting the values of equity, inclusion, and diversity. Diversity may be measured by, but is not limited to, differences in age, ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic circumstance, class, religion, disability, geography, and profession. We acknowledge and respect the many differences that comprise thriving communities and seek diversity in our staff to ensure that a range of perspectives, opinions and experiences are recognized and acted upon in achieving our mission.

It is our intention to promote a fully equitable philanthropic sector that justly represents and serves all our constituencies. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from candidates of color, of LGBTQ+ identity and of other historically marginalized communities.

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