StandWithUs Midwest Regional Executive Director

StandWithUs, a leading nonprofit international non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism, seeks an experienced, passionate, highly motivated, detail-oriented, and deadline-oriented Midwest Executive Director to meet the ongoing and growing needs of the Midwest region and the overall organization.

General:
The Executive Director is responsible for overseeing and expanding the development and implementation of educational programs, fundraising initiatives, and volunteer engagement as needed. The Executive Director approaches their job as a role model who is strongly committed and passionate about the StandWithUs mission of supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism.

Advisory Board Management:
The Executive Director manages an advisory board and holds regular meetings in which the board is updated and engaged when needed for the health of the organization. The advisory board’s mission includes acting as a liaison between StandWithUs and its constituencies, raising awareness and support of the regional office, helping to arrange venues for StandWithUs community and educational events, distributing StandWithUs materials, hosting educational meetings or briefings, supporting development/fundraising efforts of the regional office, and supporting the local staff so that they can cultivate and grow the region to meet the goals of StandWithUs’ mission. The Regional Director helps the local advisory board understand the importance of focusing on the StandWithUs mission: Supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism.

Fundraising:
The Executive Director, in cooperation with the national office, is responsible for maintaining an annual fundraising base with the goal of doubling the fundraising base by year three. Fundraising efforts include stewardship of local supporters, individual meetings to brief supporters and potential donors, a major annual event such as a gala or community education event, small briefings in board members’ homes for potential donors, StandWithUs Herzl Events for donors who contribute $5,000+ per year, and applying for grants and matching-fund initiatives. The Regional Executive Director has ongoing communication with the national fundraising department as well as the data development team that manages the Raiser’s Edge software program for StandWithUs. As part of fundraising responsibilities, the Regional Director works to manage local expenses carefully. The Regional Director is expected to use Raiser’s Edge for recordkeeping.

Outreach to Other Organizations:
The Executive Director arranges meetings and joint programming with local synagogues, churches, schools, youth groups, and other religious institutions to highlight Israel’s cooperation with and contributions to non-Jewish religious and ethnic groups as well as their common interests. Outreach also includes establishing relationships with like-minded local Israel education and pro-Israel organizations. Relationships are built to help meet challenges together and to host educational events about Israel and fighting antisemitism.

Representing the Organization Locally:
The Executive Director is the local face of StandWithUs. They attend community events hosted by other pro-Israel organizations, educational institutions, and local consulates. The Executive Director also invites leaders of other community organizations, professionals, rabbis, and other relevant people to StandWithUs events. Part of representing StandWithUs includes distributing StandWithUs booklets and making sure that people know about and have access to our online resources. In order to fully represent StandWithUs, the Director should make sure they are completely informed about the local and international work of the organization so they can proudly share the information with their communities. This requires reading the national StandWithUs newsletter each Friday and learning about the work of all the various departments at StandWithUs.

Troubleshooting Against Anti-Israel Campaigns:
In order to troubleshoot anti-Israel campaigns as they arise, the Executive Director needs to establish and grow a local network of people who care about Israel. When an anti-Israel billboard or the need for a community rally arises, the local StandWithUs offices can quickly mobilize participants.

Sending Out Newsletters:
The Executive Director sends out regular newsletters in cooperation with the StandWithUs CEO, editors, and the newsletter manager, updating the community about local events, college campus and high school highlights, national initiatives, and action alerts to meet local, national, and international challenges.

Organizing Events:
The Executive Director plans educational events (speakers, film screenings, etc.), sometimes co-sponsoring with other organizations, to inform the community about important current issues (BDS, regional conflicts, adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, etc.), the role StandWithUs plays in addressing the issues, and the role the community needs to play. The Regional Executive Director collaborates with our Events Department for guidance and assistance. They should be able to organize and fully execute a community event as part of a larger team that helps with logistics.

Educate Elected Officials:
There are times when the Executive Director needs to educate our local school boards and/or elected officials regarding Israel-related issues or aspects of antisemitism.

Working Collaboratively:
StandWithUs has a wonderful culture of collaboration and team effort, taking advantage of opportunities for education and also meeting local and international challenges together. It is also important for the Director to communicate with colleagues who work in the region, for example, the high school, middle school, and campus staff.

Communication Skill Set of a StandWithUs Executive Director:

The Executive Director should be computer proficient, ideally savvy on social media. They should feel comfortable with public speaking and be able to produce effective written communication. They should be able to stick to bullet points if they are interviewed by the local press.

Important Guidelines:

• At least five years of fundraising or sales experience with a proven record of soliciting and closing large gifts or accounts required for consideration for this position.
• Knowledge of and familiarity with the Jewish community in Chicago and surrounding areas preferred.
• Experience using Microsoft Office Suite, Database/Raisers Edge, Monday.com strongly recommended.
• Experience completing grant applications.
• Creative self-starter, dependable, and able to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Superior problem-solving, organization, and time management skills are crucial for this role.
• Able to work occasional nights and weekends as needed, depending on scheduled StandWithUs events, and accommodate donor, prospective donor, and lay leader schedules.

This position is full-time, nonexempt, reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, and is based in the Chicago area.

Salary Range: $100,000-$150,000 annually, based on experience and fundraising history/skills.

Send resume and cover letter to StephanieM@standwithus.com with “Midwest Regional Director” in the subject line. No phone calls, please.