Careers

Friends of the Children – Los Angeles (Friends LA) is looking for a passionate, committed, professional mentor, who we call Friends, to support our mission to impact generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with trained full-time professional mentors—12+ years—no matter what. Our model is proven to break the cycle of generational poverty for children who face the most barriers by providing paid professional mentors to thousands of youth across the country.

Basic Function:

A Friend works intensively with eight (8) children and their families as a positive adult role model to develop a caring, trusting, and sustained relationship with the whole family. A Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote their strengths, talents, and abilities; help assure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. A Friend will fully document activities and participate in an ongoing evaluation process. Friends will work primarily one-on-one with their children, and link and support their families to resources as appropriate. A Friend must also know, understand, honor, and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, principles, and policies, and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.

Position Objective:

Our Development Officer will be instrumental in accomplishing the fundraising goals of the chapter. They will work alongside our Development Director (DD), Executive Director (ED) and Board of Directors with support from our Friends and in coordination with the rest of the Friends National network, to actualize the organization’s fiscal goals and values.

The following statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work to be performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Passion for serving youth facing the most challenging situations
• Work effectively – with DD, ED, Board of Directors, and independently -- to identify and cultivate donors including individuals, corporations and foundations
• Perform prospect research on individuals, corporations, and foundations evaluate prospects for corporate and foundation grants
• Manage grants calendar
• Grant writing: draft grant applications as per donor guidelines
• Grant reports: draft grant reports as per donor guidelines with input from ED, DD, and Program Directors
• Develop and launch a basic communications plan that will focus on educating and raising visibility for donors and prospects. This should include social media channels, newsletters, annual reports, and mass e-mail correspondence.
• Manage basic website updates
• Manage eTapestry database inputs and esports as required
• Strive to ensure that organization’s commitment to equity is reflected in all decisions, communications, and processes
• Excellent organization, time management, delegation and follow-up skills
• Be willing and able to attend and actively participate in team meetings, staff functions, and development events
• Possess commitment to extreme attention to detail, including but not limited to ability to implement self-checking procedures for data entry, produce accurate correspondence and reports, and produce and edit written materials accurately and consistently
• Have excellent project management and organizational skills to routinely manage and prioritize daily work
• Demonstrate ability to work independently as well as in a team setting
• Have a passion for serving youth facing the most challenging situations
• Be a self-starter with high level of initiative and willingness to learn
• Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Be social media savvy

Essential Skills and Abilities:

Required Education, Experience, and Abilities:

• Bachelor’s degree and 3 years of experience or 7 years equivalent experience required.
• Two to three years of professional experience in sales and/or fundraising desired.

Friends of the Children – Los Angeles is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to addressing discriminatory practices, and to working toward racial equity. The equal employment opportunity policy of Friends of the Children provides fair and equal opportunities for all employees and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, disability, or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. Friends of the Children – Los Angeles hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.