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CEO position posting at La Crosse Area Community Foundation
La Crosse Area Community Foundation (LACF) is seeking a CEO with a passion for leading a dynamic, forward-thinking team and organization. The ideal candidate inspires community action through innovative approaches, strategic partnerships, impactful planning, and the development of social capital.
The CEO provides strategic leadership in close partnership with the Leadership Team and Board of Directors, serves as the Foundation’s chief ambassador, and advances a strong culture of local philanthropy. Through trusted relationships with donors and community partners, the CEO leverages the Foundation’s resources, strengths, and connections to address both current and emerging needs and to drive lasting positive impact across La Crosse County.
Organizational & Strategic Leadership
- Ensure the Foundation operates at the highest standards of quality, integrity, and customer service through effective oversight of organizational policies, procedures, and best practices.
- Oversee budget development in partnership with the Board of Directors and manage programs and services to ensure long‑term financial viability, supported by the development and monitoring of operational metrics and financial performance.
- Generate innovative ideas and identify key projects and programs that align with and advance the Foundation’s mission, strategic plan, and vision.
- Serve as the primary contact/liaison to trustee leadership.
- Ensure compliance with applicable laws governing a 501c3 nonprofit corporation/trust and LACF’s Declaration of Trust and By-laws.
Community Leadership
- Represent LACF with the Council of Foundations and other professional organizations to stay on top of upcoming changes, regulations, and opportunities in the philanthropic industry/field.
- Oversee the public image and brand of the foundation as an innovative leader in the community.
- Build community partnerships and establish relationships with donors and organizations who will support LACF’s strategic success.
- Collaborate with current and potential community leaders and partners to create strategies that align with LACF’s mission and strengthen the greater La Crosse area.
Donor Stewardship & Development
- Build existing and new permanent endowment funds and other contributions to increase the scope and effectiveness of LACF to address community needs.
- Cultivate relationships with current and potential donors, advisors, and community organizations to raise awareness about LACF, inform them about local needs and opportunities, and highlight the various ways LACF can help address those needs.
- Support both the donor services team in developing and implementing a comprehensive donor stewardship plan, and the impact department team in creating competitive grantmaking programs and the Nonprofit Resource Center.
Team Development and Leadership
- Lead a high-performing team and foster a culture rooted in professionalism, honesty, transparency, and clear communication.
- Inspire and engage staff around a shared vision that supports LACF’s mission, while setting the tone for a positive organizational culture that shapes how we interact with each other and the community.
- Understand individual teammate motivators & talents, and provide meaningful recognition, coaching, mentoring, and development opportunities for staff.
- Supervise, support, and provide annual evaluations to the Foundation’s Leadership Team.
Board Governance
- Serve as a collaborator and a liaison between the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and LACF team.
- Coordinate with the Board and committee chairs to plan and create meeting agendas and priorities.
- Collaborate with the Executive Committee to recruit, nominate, and orient new Board members.
- Facilitate training to the Board about issues pertinent to LACF and the community.
Core Competencies & Attributes
*Vision *Strategy *Relationship Building *Integrity *Self Starter *Trust Building *Curiosity
Required Qualifications & Demonstrated Experience
- A bachelor’s degree in a professional discipline relevant to providing executive leadership.
- Extensive experience in non-profit leadership and management, including an understanding of working with a volunteer Board of Directors, nonprofit financials and investments, planned giving, fundraising, grantmaking, strategic planning, budgets, and internal accounting systems.
- A proven strategic and organizational leader with the ability to align vision, people, mission, and operations.
- Superior verbal and written communication skills. Excellent listening and comprehension skills. Skilled and enthusiastic in preparing professional presentations and delivering public speeches to both small and large audiences.
- Effective ambassador of LACF and its initiatives to current and potential donors, partners, and the community at large.
Use of Sub-funds, Affiliate/supporting Org & Campaigns
I am from the Saskatchewan Community Foundation in Canada.
I’m trying to pull together guidelines as to when we would permit (or advise) a donor or charity to create a sub-fund, and when we would instead steer them instead to using the CSuite Affiliate/Supporting Group feature, or track contributions through Campaigns.
We’ve been fielding more requests for sub-funds, and it’s time to get more organized in our approach. When do sub-funds, we include this information in the Deed of Gift, so we are clear as to the separate tracking and the default fund where contributions go that are unnamed. it’s a fund that is designed to serve 2 or fund purposes, each with its own independent accounting, but established with the same Deed of Gift. I just need to my head wrapped around guidelines for better communication and administration.
if you have advice/documents/best practices, that would be greatly appreciated!
Grant Process Changes
We are a health-conversion foundation, serving parts of West Virginia and Southeast Ohio, that awards about $1 million in grants per year to support health-related projects. We are exploring different models for our grant application process for one of our grant programs, with a focus on how we can reduce the time from the opening of the cycle to grant award notifications to be more responsive to our grant partners. We would be interested in talking with other similar-sized foundations about the process that you use. Some particular topics we are thinking about include: deadlines (fixed vs. rolling), steps in the process (LOIs, site visits, full applications), easier renewal processes for partners whom we support regularly, and internal approval processes (staff vs. board). We would be very interested in hearing from others who have found ways to shortened the timeline for applications and decision making. If anyone has any advice or would be willing to set up a time for a conversation, please let me know!
Marian Clowes, Associate Director, Sisters Health Foundation
Re: Who is using Foundant CRM very well
We are a growing community foundation that migrated to CSuite in 2020—we use CSuite for all of its fund accounting features and CRM/Profile management. We have been very happy with it. I don't exactly know what you mean by moves management. CSuite allows you to generate a broad array of custom reports, manage campaigns, track opportunities, and manage relationships among donors. Hope that helps.
Pam
