The Executive Director (ED) is the chief staff officer of TRAIL. The ED is responsible for day-to-day operations of the organization, and works under the guidance and with the support of the Board of Directors to fulfill TRAIL’s mission of helping older adults thrive in the places they call home.

 

Leadership & Vision

• Advances the mission and success of the organization by providing leadership, support, and strategic vision to the Board and its committees.
• Leads the Board in collaborative planning efforts to develop and achieve strategic initiatives that grow TRAIL memberships, volunteers, external funding, and community impact. 
• Works with and ensures positive and productive communication and coordination among the chairs of all Board committees to help meet organizational goals, evaluate effectiveness, and recommend improvements; serves as an ex officio member of all TRAIL committees and attends committee meetings as needed.
• Meets regularly with the Board chair and works with the chair to develop Board and Executive Committee meeting agendas.

Fundraising, Communication & Outreach

• Serves as TRAIL’s chief development officer; provides direction to the Development Committee and leads all TRAIL fundraising efforts to meet annual revenue goals and build long-term financial stability. These revenue streams include individual giving, corporate sponsorships, and public and private grants.
• Ensures that donors are promptly and appropriately thanked and recognized for their gifts.
• Serves as the public face of TRAIL in all outward-facing communications, e.g., public speaking engagements and contacts with the media.
• Works with the Marketing & Communications Committee to deepen and refine all aspects of TRAIL communications, from web presence to external relations, to create greater public awareness and support growth in memberships, volunteers, and contributors.
• Regularly engages with the Iowa City business community and other local networks to enhance TRAIL’s visibility and cultivate partnership opportunities.
• Maintains communication and involvement with other local and statewide senior-serving organizations and agencies, including local government.
• Maintains involvement with the Village to Village Network and monitors other national aging-in-place organizations to stay informed about trends and best practices.

Management & Organizational Effectiveness

• Oversees TRAIL’s daily operations to ensure that benefits and services are delivered in ways that meet or exceed member expectations.
• Hires and supervises TRAIL office staff.
• Works with the Treasurer and Finance & Operations Committee to prepare annual budgets and ensure accurate and timely completion of all tax and nonprofit reporting requirements.
• Ensures compliance with all other nonprofit standards and business systems, including insurance, payroll and benefits, banking, credit card processing, online accounts, etc. 
• Develops and maintains a strong working knowledge of all TRAIL software products, and keeps the TRAIL member and donor databases regularly and accurately updated.
• Proposes new processes, systems, and tools to improve organizational productivity and efficiency.
• Abides by the policies and procedures of the TRAIL Employee Handbook and all other policies approved by the TRAIL Board and committees.
• Promotes and embodies the TRAIL culture of collaboration, respect, integrity, courtesy, and inclusion.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Bachelor’s degree with 3 to 5 years’ nonprofit leadership experience, ideally in social services, or equivalent education and experience 
• A strategic thinker with excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills
• Proven fundraising experience and success (major gifts, corporate sponsorships, grants)
• Experience in nonprofit board recruitment and development, and nonprofit budgeting, accounting, and reporting requirements
• Experience in strategic communications and marketing, including social media
• Demonstrated community engagement and networking skills, including the ability to build professional relationships and work with a broad range of internal and external constituents
• Experience with staff supervision and working with volunteers
• Strong computer skills, including experience with Google apps and Microsoft Office products, customer-relationship management (CRM) software, and web-based organizational and data management tools (this job will require some data entry and other clerical tasks)
• Experience and familiarity with Johnson County and its business and nonprofit communities
• High energy, positive person who is self-motivated, well-organized, comfortable working remotely or onsite, and enjoys helping older adults