Manager of Volunteer & Community Engagement (42535)

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Job description

POSITION SUMMARY

Opportunity: Full-time Position at Cradles to Crayons

Department: Operations

Title: Manager of Volunteer & Community Engagement

FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports to: Director of Operations

Location: Philadelphia, PA

ABOUT CRADLES TO CRAYONS:

Cradles to Crayons® (C2C ®) believes that all children deserve the essentials they need to feel safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued. Founded in 2002, Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive at home, at school, and at play for free. C2C sets a gold standard of individual, family, and corporate volunteer engagement, and through its Giving Factories® provides unique, hands-on opportunities to directly help local families. Headquartered in Boston, MA, C2C opened in Philadelphia in 2007, Chicago in 2016, and New York City via an innovative online platform, Giving Factory Direct, in 2020.

How Our Model Works: Two in five children in the United States20 million are at risk of Clothing Insecurity and going without other basic essentials. Through its three Giving Factory warehouses, Cradles to Crayons collects new and nearly new children's clothing, diapers, school supplies, and other essential items through bulk purchases, community and corporate drives, and individual donations. These items are sorted and packaged by volunteers and then distributed through a network of nonprofit service partners, schools, and government programs. Cradles to Crayons is also known for its excellence in volunteer management, providing an efficient and engaging volunteer opportunity for50,000+adults and children ages five and up annually.

In 2020, Cradles to Crayons completed a strategic planning process to develop a digital solution to accelerate its national reach.The result was the design of an innovative new online platform Giving Factory Direct (GFD)which was piloted and built the same year. Donors with childrens clothing log on to GFD to be matched with a child who wears the same size and gender as their donation. The clothing is then packed at the donors home and shipped directly to that specific child. In early 2021, GFD launched on a small scale in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and NYC, and will be the primary vehicle for C2Cs national expansion.

Since 2009, Cradles to Crayons has earned Charity Navigators highest four star rating every year. Only 1% of charities rated have received this distinction, differentiating C2C from its peers, exemplifying the high standard of service at C2C, and indicating that C2C outperforms most other charities in the United States.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

This position reports to the Director of Operations and supervises the Community Engagement Associate, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator, and the Americorps VISTA. The Manager of Volunteer & Community Engagement serves as a key management team member in helping to foster and strengthen our engagement in the community as well as providing an exceptional volunteer and staff experience.

This position plays a key role in developing strategies affecting Cradles to Crayons acquisition of donated childrens items from the community, with an emphasis on identifying strategic partnerships to foster sustainable models and growth patterns. The Manager of Volunteer & Community Engagement will establish planning and scheduling for all organizational initiatives which require volunteer labor and/or use of the Giving Factory. This position oversees the scheduling, planning, delivery, and quality of all volunteer programs and community events.

The Manager of Volunteer & Community Engagement strengthens existing partnerships and forges new relationships to help build Cradles visibility, impact, and financial resources. Given the cross-organization nature of this position, an ability to work across all disciplines and throughout the organization in a persuasive and credible manner is a requirement.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

* Model and lead a positive One Cradles culture, underpinned by Cradles Cultural Values and related behaviors.

* Develop and implement a strategic work plan to enhance relationships with key community stakeholders, strategic partners, and supporters.

* Leverage assets and build high-impact partnerships and strategies to meet quarterly and annual goals for product intake.

* Identify new and existing external relationships with high growth potential and work across departments, particularly Development, to maximize product collection, revenue, volunteer engagement, and visibility for each.

* Develop and implement a volunteer recruitment and retention plan, including appreciation strategies. Take initiative to report volunteer metrics against goals and plans for recruitment.

* Manage the effective and efficient scheduling of volunteers.

* Establish and maintain a network of donation drop-off locations as well as oversee the addition of community hub locations in key geographic sites.

* Supervise and coach a team so they can work seamlessly across the Operations and Development departments.

* Foster an environment that leverages individual and team strengths to meet organizational needs.

* Coordinate and execute community events and meetings including logistics, invitation list, volunteer engagement, site visits and follow up. Includes weekend and evening events.

* Assist in strategic in-kind acquisition and product purchasing planning to support recycled product goals.

* Represent Cradles to Crayons in public-facing meetings, events, and presentations.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

Team and Organizational Support

* Serve as a member of the Operations Team and lead efforts to develop and create partnerships to reach product acquisition goals while also strengthening donor relationships across the greater Philadelphia region.

* Manage team members and team performance; train or provide adequate training for each employee; coach, counsel and motivate employees; and evaluate employee.

* Oversee the strategic management and engagement of community-based volunteers in impact-based tasks related to the C2C mission to increase visibility and product intake in the community.

* Work in partnership with the Director of Operations to develop retail corporate and community partnerships across the region.

* Work with the Development and Marketing teams to grow and promote the C2C brand in the community and across the region.

* Work closely with the Manager of Production Planning to ensure volunteer resources match Giving Factory activities.

* Support Cradles to Crayons operations and signature events as necessary.

* Responsible for overseeing all measuring, tracking and reporting on volunteer and community engagement through CRM.

Community Organizing and Volunteer Management

* Establish and maintain a volunteer program that meets the needs of the entire organization through collaboration with the Senior Director of Development and Director of Operations

* Work closely with the Development team to identify and target communities to leverage the Giving Factory as a resource to collect product donations.

* Establish and steward networks of support in targeted communities.

* Manager volunteer relations for signature C2C events such as Backpack-A-Thon and Un-Gala.

* Oversee the management of the Champion volunteer program.

* Research, grow and sustain regional retail partnerships for collection and in-kind product donations.

* Organize and unite community networkers under a common goal of achieving full Cradles to Crayons engagement in target communities.

* Support the maintenance of positive donor relationships through positive interaction, timely follow-up and excellent customer service skills. Develop and build a sustainable model for volunteer and collection opportunities including a network of drop off locations outside the Giving Factory warehouse.

* Represent Cradles to Crayons through public presentations as necessary.

* Manage the implementation of community-based grant awards.

Other Responsibilities Include:

* Perform the duties needed to run the General Sort, Clothing Sort, Sizing, Outfits, Books, Shoes, SUPs, and Kitting stations

* Assist the Inventory Logistics Coordinator with the movement, organization, and tracking of inventory.

* Responsible for establishing and maintaining effective communication and coordination with other employees, partners, volunteers, and visitors.

* Always work in a safe manner and contribute to providing a safe and secure environment for other employees and volunteers.

* Other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES:

* Bachelors degree (or equivalent experience) in Communications, Business, Organizational Development or another relevant field.

* 3-5+ years of experience in community engagement and mobilization programs, relationship development, volunteer management, training and development preferably in programs that are local/regional in scope.

* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

* Experience providing superior customer service.

* Effective interpersonal, organizational, project management and prioritization skills.

* Ability to work in a fast-paced and deadline-driven environment.

* Demonstrated practice of exemplary leadership skills (e.g., delegation, management, motivation, and training).

* Computer literacy (e.g., PC and Warehouse Management Systems; Microsoft Office Suite - Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Salesforce)...... click apply for full job details