Chief External Affairs Officer

About the role

Common Future is seeking a Chief External Affairs Officer to serve as a senior executive leader responsible for building and sustaining the financial foundation and brand reputation that makes our mission possible. This pivotal role will own Common Future's revenue strategy across institutional philanthropy, individual donors, capital raising, and emerging revenue streams, developing a business model that supports both organizational sustainability and economic independence. The Chief External Affairs Officer will hold a personal portfolio of funder and investor relationships, including high-net-worth and big-bet philanthropic prospects, and will be an active and visible presence in the field, traveling to conferences and convenings (20-25% time) to build new relationships and deepen existing ones.

Success in the role includes owning a $10M total annual fundraising goal, which includes $6 - 7M in operations and $3M in investment capital. In addition, the Chief External Affairs Officer will steward Common Future's brand and strategic communications, providing guidance to the team managing public relations and cross-platform media. As a member of Common Future's Executive Leadership Team, this role will partner closely with programmatic team leads on revenue strategy and work in a matrixed fashion across the Impact Investments, Initiatives, and Finance teams.

Responsibilities

• Revenue Strategy and Business Model (30%)
  • Develop, own, and implement a comprehensive revenue strategy across institutional philanthropy, individual donors, high-net-worth giving, capital raising, and online/digital fundraising channels.
  • Own a $10M total annual fundraising goal, which includes $6 - 7M in operations and $3M in investment capital, in close partnership with the Co-CEOs.
  • Assess existing strategy and infrastructure quickly, identify what is working, and build forward without waiting for perfect conditions.
  • Lead and steward Common Future's business model with a cross-organizational lens, identifying opportunities to diversify and strengthen revenue streams, increase unrestricted and flexible funding, and build long-term financial sustainability and economic independence.
  • Partner with programmatic team leads and the CFOO to align fundraising strategy with programmatic priorities, ensuring that restricted and unrestricted funding opportunities are pursued in ways that serve organizational strategy and budgetary allocations.
  • Collaborate across teams to align and integrate revenue strategies organization-wide, including capital raising with Impact Investments and Community Credit Lab (CCL), restricted grant fundraising with the programs team, Finance, and digital fundraising.
  • Track, analyze, and report fundraising performance to the Co-CEOs, Executive Leadership Team, and Board.
• Funder and Investor Relationship Management (20%)
  • Generate, hold, and actively steward a personal portfolio of institutional funders, high-net-worth individuals, and capital investors, with a focus on big-bet and transformational giving opportunities.
  • Travel to conferences, convenings, and in-person engagements at least 2 - 3 times per quarter to build and deepen funder and investor relationships and represent Common Future externally.
  • Develop and lead cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for current and prospective funders across all giving levels, applying an equity lens to how capital is pursued.
  • Identify and pursue new philanthropic, corporate, and capital sources aligned with Common Future's mission, including donor-advised funds, national donor circles, and emerging giving vehicles.
  • Support and participate in funder diligence and pre-diligence processes for the CCL Fund and other capital-raising efforts in coordination with the Impact Investments team.
• Brand, Positioning, and External Relations (20%)
  • Steward and strengthen Common Future's brand, ensuring it is compelling, consistent, and resonant across platforms and external audiences including funders, partners, media, and the broader field.
  • Ensure that Common Future's narrative and brand strategy is tightly integrated with fundraising efforts, creating a coherent and compelling story for diverse audiences.
  • Work collaboratively with communications and programmatic staff to produce high-quality external-facing materials including proposals, impact reports, one-pagers, and case stories, ensuring ongoing, timely, and strategic placement.
  • Ensure high-quality execution of communications across all organizational channels, checking for internal alignment with the strategic plan and theory of change.
• Team Management and Leadership (20%)
  • Directly manage the Fund Development and Strategic Communication teams, with accountability for team performance, professional development, and budget.
  • Rapidly assess team capacity, individual development needs, and systems gaps to build a path forward.
  • Hold a strong vision for the Fund Development team's work as it builds toward achieving organizational revenue goals, and effectively cultivate a culture of excellence, creativity, and accountability.
  • Provide strategic guidance, coaching, and support to direct reports, including on grant writing, funder engagement, pipeline and portfolio management, and systems and operations.
  • Identify and create opportunities to develop the professional expertise of Fund Development team members.
  • Oversee fiscal management of the Fund Development team budget in coordination with the Finance team.
• Executive Leadership and Cross-Organizational Collaboration (10%)
  • Serve as a member of Common Future's Executive Leadership Team (ELT), partnering with the Co-CEOs and peer executives to shape organizational strategy, culture, and financial sustainability.
  • Make sound decisions with available information and course-correct quickly as new information emerges.
  • Engage as a visible, collaborative leader in both virtual and in-person settings, including supporting the planning and facilitation of Common Future team retreats and convenings.
  • Provide relevant guidance and thought partnership on an ad-hoc basis to team members across the organization, particularly on revenue positioning and external communications.
  • Maintain open communication with the ELT to ensure cross-functional collaboration and shared alignment on organizational priorities.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in fundraising, development, or a related field, with demonstrated success raising significant philanthropic and/or investment capital at an executive level.
• Proven track record of building and closing a portfolio of major donor, institutional funder, and/or impact investor relationships, including experience with transformational and big-bet gifts.
• Strong brand instincts and experience in organizational positioning, external communications, and supporting executive visibility.
• Deep understanding of and passion for racial and economic justice, with a clear perspective on how philanthropic and investment capital can be a tool for systems change.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing a multi-channel revenue strategy spanning foundation grants, individual giving, high-net-worth cultivation, digital fundraising, and/or capital raising.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through organizational change and ambiguity, including building or rebuilding systems, strategy, and team culture, without losing momentum on revenue goals.
• Experience managing and developing teams at varying levels of seniority and expertise, with a high standard of excellence and accountability.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage authentically with a diverse range of stakeholders, from community members to major institutional funders and high-net-worth individuals.
• Willingness and capacity to travel 2 - 3 times per quarter for conferences, convenings, and in-person funder engagement, with any accommodations considered.
• Demonstrated ability to apply an equity lens to how capital is pursued, what kinds of funders and investors are cultivated, and how funder relationships are built and maintained, modeling the values Common Future advances externally.
• Exceptional strategic thinking skills, with a high level of intellectual curiosity, a builder and rebuilder mentality, and comfort operating in complex and ambiguous environments.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership, boards, and external stakeholders.
• Entrepreneurial style, with enthusiasm for working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

About Common Future

Common Future works to close the racial wealth gap. Our current economic system does not work for everyone. Generations of Black and Indigenous communities and other communities of color have been and are currently intentionally locked out of wealth and power, holding us all back. Founded in 2001, Common Future is building a future where all people—no matter their race and class—have power, choice, and ownership over the economy.

As a women-led, multiracial organization, our diverse team of strategists, community organizers, financial activists, and policy enthusiasts provides capital, operational support, and strategic partnership to budding solutions addressing racial and economic injustice. To advance racial and economic equity, Common Future incubates, co-creates, and funds field-defining initiatives and influences key sectors. We collaborate with leaders who have the imagination and courage to rethink our economy and bring initiatives that model how to build wealth and power in excluded communities to life.

Our culture values include centering equity, being the communities we serve, embracing experimentation, reimagining what’s broken, collectively solving problems, and modeling a new way of working. We strive to be an innovator that prioritizes the well-being of our employees.