Vice President of Development – Wycliffe Canada

This executive search is conducted by Nelson/Kraft & Associates on behalf of Wycliffe Canada

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Wycliffe Canada is looking for a seasoned fundraiser and high-level strategic leader to join their team as Vice President of Development. The position has a critical role in ensuring that the mission and vision of the Bible Translation Collaborative, which is made up of three organizations—Wycliffe Canada, Canada Institute of Linguistics (CanIL) and Onebook—is accomplished.

Reporting to the Wycliffe Canada President, and the CanIL President, the Vice President of Development must ensure that their reputation in the charitable sector and among Christian ministries is one of leadership, integrity, unity and focus. Key wins for the position are reaching/surpassing project, organizational and collective fundraising targets while maintaining strong and healthy interdepartmental and inter-organizational relationships. They should also work to maintain a spirit of unity between staff of the organizations, and focus on creating a synergistic relationship with Wycliffe’s supported members.

If you are a highly collaborative, emotionally intelligent leader with a passion for the translation of God’s Word among minority language communities around the world and in Canada, we would love to connect.

OUR STORY

In 1917, a young American named William Cameron Townsend arrived in Central America to distribute Spanish Bibles among the Cakchiquel people. But he quickly discovered that most of them did not speak or understand Spanish. Nor did they have a written form of their own language.

Townsend abandoned his attempts to sell Spanish Bibles and began living among the Cakchiquels. He learned their complex language, created an alphabet for it, analyzed the grammar, and translated the New Testament in the remarkably short span of 10 years.

Over time, Townsend came to the conclusion that every man, woman and child should have access to God's Word in their language.

He had no idea there are more than 7,300 languages in use around the globe.

But that knowledge wouldn’t have deterred Cameron Townsend. With other like-minded colleagues, he founded "Camp Wycliffe" in 1934 as a linguistics training school. He borrowed the name Wycliffe from the pre-Reformation hero, John Wycliffe, who first translated the Bible into English.

By 1942, Camp Wycliffe had expanded to form two organizations, Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International). The subsequent need for support services later led to the founding of JAARS, Wycliffe's partner for technical services.

Today, Wycliffe and SIL partner with national Bible translation organizations and church denominations worldwide to translate God’s Word, promote literacy and encourage the use of translated Scriptures.

While tremendous progress has been made since our founding nearly 80 years ago, it's estimated that 167 million people, speaking around 2,000 languages, still need Scripture in the languages that serve them best.

OUR VISION

A world where translated Scriptures lead to transformed lives among people of all languages.

OUR MISSION

Ending Bible poverty by facilitating the translation of God’s Word among minority language communities worldwide.

THE BIBLE TRANSLATION COLLABORATIVE

Wycliffe Canada seeks to end Bible poverty by facilitating the translation of God’s Word among minority language communities worldwide.

Canada Institute of Linguistics integrates scholarship in linguistics with service to language communities worldwide.

OneBook equips local people in Africa and Asia to translate the Bible and teach their communities to read and write in their own language. Life, health, education, faith and equality grow from these beginnings.

The Vice President of Development is a progressively expanding role:

Phase 1: Develop a concept and operational plan with Wycliffe Canada and the Vice President for CanIL, building relationships and addressing concerns and obstacles.

January 2023: Launch Phase 2, with appropriate success measures and evaluative tools.

Phase 2: Develop a concept and operational plan for the Bible Translation Collaborative to serve Wycliffe Canada, CanIL and OneBook, addressing concerns and obstacles.

2024: Launch Phase 3, with appropriate success measures and evaluative tools.

Phase 3: The Vice President of Development is responsible to directly supervise a team of major gift officers and the Bible Translation Collaborative while relating to Directors of Development for Wycliffe Canada and CanIL. The Vice President of Development will be considered a member of Wycliffe Canada’s Leadership Team and CanIL’s Executive Leadership Team, and will participate in the three organizations’ development planning meetings as appropriate and as phases develop.

THE JOB

Convinced that we serve a God of abundance, generosity and unity, Wycliffe Canada, CanIL and OneBook are committed to growing our collaborative impact through the Bible Translation Collaborative. The Vice President of Development is responsible to prepare and oversee the execution of a strategic plan to progressively increase Canada’s collective impact in the global work of Bible translation and language development, and meet the fundraising needs of each organization involved in this initiative. This includes providing leadership in the area of major donor fundraising, carrying out a kingdom-focused philosophy, helping guide overall strategy, achieving short and long-range goals for revenue and ensuring fulfillment of all funding commitments.

KEY RESULTS AREAS

Setting and leading collective fundraising strategies - this KRA will be fulfilled when:

• A shared philosophy, principles, and values that drive fundraising practices, accountability structures, customer service standards and donor care efforts has been developed and agreed upon.

• A guiding vision for collective impact guides the strategy of each organization’s Development teams in a way that ensures overall coordination and major donor collaboration while protecting organizational initiative.

• Fundraising targets are set and goals are met for collective, project, scholarship and general fund needs.

• Excellence in inter and intra-organizational communication provides basis for coordination and builds trust with relevant decision-makers within each organization, including Presidents, executive leadership, Board and other Development leaders responsible for mid and mass-donor engagement

• Executive leadership and Boards are creating an environment that reinforces the organizations’ Development activities, with appropriate opportunities for engagement in fundraising.

• Strengths of individual Development teams are leveraged to ensure collective success while minimizing redundancy of roles and efforts.

• Data protection and donor privacy compliance is ensured throughout collective and solo initiatives.

• Growth in funding capacity is managed within a plan that addresses collaborative and solo hiring needs and addresses bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

Major donor strategy - this KRA will be fulfilled when:

• Major donors are served well and grow in understanding of their impact through appropriate shared or solo project engagement.

• The number of high-capacity donors and the depth of their engagement is growing, resulting in increased collective impact from Canadian organizations.

• Best practices in engaging major donors guide the execution of moves management plans by coordinating a team of major gift officers.

Leadership and management of Development efforts - this KRA will be fulfilled when:

• Personal leadership style is marked by godly integrity, humility, service, a kingdom perspective and living out healthy and biblical spiritual rhythms.

• Leaders in each organization are growing in their competence to implement their team’s strategy, to manage for results and work together to advance the overall goals of the Bible Translation Collaborative.

• All Development staff within the Collaborative are equipped to work collectively within their teams and with the Collaborative to raise needed funds for the full portfolio of projects.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Proven ability in fundraising and strategy development and implementation within the nonprofit world. Experienced in turning strategy into operational objectives and managing organizational change.

• Graduate-level education or certifications in a relevant field is considered an asset.

• Personable and relational, high level of emotional intelligence. Cause and success-driven.

• Exceptional ability to work, and encourage others to work, cross-functionally and collaboratively, with a kingdom perspective and generous mindset.

• Exceptional interpersonal, written and verbal presentation skills and donor-centric communications.

• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in ambiguity, with flexibility for the unexpected.

• Ability to work with multiple online platforms and technologies.

• Commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards.

• Knowledgeable about and committed to staying on top of development trends and regulations and their potential application to Wycliffe’s key business goals.

• Bilingual (English, French), considered an asset.

• Previous multicultural, missions, and/or ministry experience is helpful.

• Travel Requirements: Able and willing to travel up to 30% of the time, domestically and internationally.

• Ability to negotiate effectively with internal customers, partners, and external service providers.

• Ability to lead from a place of spiritual maturity and a dependence on God.

Location: Flexible (preference for Calgary, AB or Langley, BC)

Application Deadline: June 2, 2022

Start Date: August 2022

ABOUT US

Nelson/Kraft & Associates Inc. is an executive consulting firm that specializes in working with not-for-profits and for-profit businesses across Canada, assisting them in the placement of senior executives and directors. 

Nelson/Kraft & Associates Inc. welcomes and encourages all interested applicants to apply for this position. Nelson/Kraft & Associates Inc. is committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion in its hiring practices, and will only make distinctions among interested applicants in accordance with the applicable Human Rights legislation.

Nelson/Kraft & Associates Inc. also welcomes and encourages applications from candidates with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in the selection process. If you require disability-related accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact us.