“The mission of The New Common School Foundation is to promote excellence in public and private education, improve academic outcomes and cultivate the formation of character in pursuit of the Complete Life. ”
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
The New Common School Foundation (NCSF) is a Detroit-based charitable foundation whose mission is "to promote excellence in public and private education — improving academic outcomes while cultivating the formation of character, all in pursuit of the Complete Life." The Foundation receives and administers charitable support for that mission, and its central and immediate philanthropic priority is Cornerstone Education Group and its six public charter school communities.
Cornerstone opened its doors in 1991 with 167 children, founded together by Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal and Lutheran leaders, independent of any archdiocese. Today the six Cornerstone campuses are tuition-free public schools serving more than 3,000 students, kindergarten through twelfth grade, in Detroit and Redford Township. Cornerstone Education Group is the charter management company for those six public school academies, authorized by Grand Valley State University. Cornerstone Schools Foundation and Notre Dame de Détroit are missions of the Foundation, each with its own purpose and its own supporters.
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer of the New Common School Foundation, the Chief Advancement Officer will lead advancement and philanthropy for the Foundation and the Cornerstone Education Group, respecting the distinct legal and governance responsibilities of each. This is an inaugural role and a senior, externally engaged fundraising assignment. The Chief Advancement Officer will be both builder and frontline fundraiser — personally cultivating and soliciting consequential gifts while building the strategy, team and operating platform required to inspire individuals, corporations, foundations and civic partners to invest in educational opportunity and the Complete Life.
The next Chief Advancement Officer will work side by side with Clark Durant, co-founder of Cornerstone and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, through a period of progressive co-ownership. Those relationships are not accounts to be transferred; they are trusts to be understood, honored, activated and increasingly institutionalized.
CORE RESPONSIBILITIES
Building and executing an integrated advancement strategy with clear annual and multiyear priorities
Personally identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding principal and major gifts at a pace commensurate with an ambitious campaign
Developing relationship continuity and progressive co-ownership with the founder through joint strategy, donor engagement and solicitation
Expanding corporate giving, foundation support, grants and individual philanthropy across faith-based and non-faith-based constituencies drawn to the educational mission
Strengthening portfolio management, stewardship, communications, data, reporting and advancement operations
Creating a culture of philanthropy that engages leaders, boards, educators, staff, volunteers and partners
Ensuring that every appeal, gift agreement, restriction, grant, record and impact report identifies the correct legal entity, approved purpose and recipient, so that donor intent aligns with the eventual use of funds
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Foundation is positioned for its next chapter, and the incoming leader does not begin from a standing start. More than $250 million has been raised for the Cornerstone schools since their founding in 1991. More than $5 million is raised annually in grants and philanthropy against a $35 million annual operating budget across the six schools. A small, skilled and committed advancement team is already at work, pursuing local, regional and national grants, developing support for special project needs, and stewarding annual individual giving.
What the next chapter requires is connection — bringing capable people, real relationships and proven practices into one culture of philanthropy with shared cadence, ownership and discipline. NCSF also intends to move rapidly toward an ambitious capital campaign supporting educational priorities and facility improvements across the six Cornerstone school communities. The case has still to be made. Case statements, stewardship materials and campaign collateral do not yet exist in the form this work deserves, and building them is part of what this leader is being asked to do rather than something waiting to be handed over. For the right candidate, that is the appeal: the opportunity to shape a campaign's case, its goal and its leadership rather than inherit them.
The ideal candidate is an accomplished, externally oriented advancement leader with substantial senior-level experience in advancement, philanthropy, principal gifts, major gifts or campaign leadership, and a record of personally securing significant gifts. Experience preparing for and leading a comprehensive or capital campaign is required. Foundation, grantmaking, restricted-fund or complex multi-entity experience is strongly preferred. A bachelor's degree is required; an advanced degree and the CFRE designation are preferred. The role is based in Greater Detroit, and the successful candidate will be eager to be present in the schools and communities at the heart of the mission.
The anticipated base salary will be commensurate with experience, plus benefits; the successful candidate may also be eligible for a performance incentive under terms approved and documented by the Foundation, consistent with all standards in the development and advancement profession.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Substantial senior-level experience in advancement, philanthropy, principal gifts, major gifts or campaign leadership, with demonstrated success securing significant gifts and strengthening advancement operations. Foundation, grantmaking, restricted funds or complex multi-entity experience is strongly preferred. Candidates must understand donor intent, fiduciary governance, recipient diligence and the distinction between fundraising and the board authorized deployment of charitable resources.
The successful candidate will demonstrate experience serving in a founder-led, entrepreneurial, family-influenced, or similarly relationship-centered organization. This leader must be able to earn authority through trust, preparation, judgment, and results while working constructively with a highly involved founding leader. The candidate should bring a record of introducing structure, accountability, and clearer decision rights without dismissing the history, relationships, or entrepreneurial strengths that built the organization.
The Foundation seeks an outward, persuasive leader with sound judgment, executive presence, a marketer's instinct and the ability to speak authentically about character, purpose, service, opportunity and human formation. The candidate needs to ask this question: Am I called to this mission, purpose, and position for just such a time as this? The successful candidate will be mature, secure, adaptable, and appropriately candid—neither passive in the face of ambiguity nor unnecessarily territorial about authority. A bachelor's degree is required; an advanced degree and CFRE designation are preferred. Proficiency with a major donor database and portfolio reporting is expected, as are a valid driver's license and the ability to travel. Residence in Greater Detroit is preferred; candidates living elsewhere must demonstrate frequent and predictable presence in Detroit. Employment is contingent on a criminal background check and required child-safety training.
For more information, please contact Katherine Shubnell at 313.806.4005 or kshubnell@daudlinsearch.com