Nashville Public Radio has partnered with Aspen Leadership Group in the search for a Vice President, Development. You may view the position prospectus or submit an application via this link: https://opportunities.aspenleadershipgroup.com/opportunities/1207.
The Vice President will be an active, public-facing representative of Nashville Public Radio—building relationships across the communities of Middle Tennessee. In partnership with Nashville Public Radio’s President and CEO, Executive Leadership Team, and Board of Directors, the Vice President will lead the creation of vision, strategies, and tactics for significantly increasing philanthropic support. A highly collaborative and entrepreneurial idea generator, the Vice President will ensure the successful achievement of annual and long-term goals for membership, major gifts, foundations, planned-giving, annual fundraising events, corporate giving, and capital projects.
Nashville Public Radio, in a period of ambitious organizational and programmatic growth, is seeking to comparably scale its development efforts through transformational major and mid-level gifting programs. It aims to advance its philanthropic impact by amplifying a culture of inclusivity and seeking opportunities that reflect the socio-economic and racial diversity in Nashville Public Radio’s service area.
Nashville Public Radio serves Middle Tennessee by providing trusted in-depth news, engaging music, and unique cultural programs on four channels. For 60 years, listeners have turned to this community supported service for programming that inspires conversation and curiosity, educates, and entertains. The organization has a strong staff that oversees day-to-day operations, with a Board of Directors to provide oversight supported by the Nashville Public Radio Community Advisory Board, made up of local residents that broadly represent the station’s listeners, providing feedback to staff, which ensures the programs and services most needed by the community are provided.
Operating four distinct networks, 90.3 WPLN is Nashville’s local news and NPR station and WPLN International provides BBC World Service 24 hours a day for the latest in programming and news from around the world. WXNP and Nashville Classical Radio provide unique musical experiences for listeners. In 2021, Nashville Public Radio shared nearly 1,300 stories aimed at achieving their guiding principles of on-the ground reporting; accountability and investigative journalism; stories that could impact policy discussions and cultural conversations; and stories that reflect and add depth to the experience of diverse communities. These stories included in-depth reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, from start to present day. The criminal justice desk covered stories ranging from the Christmas Day bombing to the preparation for the trial of Nashville’s first police officer to be charged with murder while on duty, and the controversial plea deal that impacted so many in the community. With a new music discovery format, WNXP began its work to better reflect the diversity of the musical community both with arts journalism and daily playlists that include emerging and established artists.
Beyond providing news and entertainment for the Middle Tennessee region, Nashville Public Radio invests in its community. It created an internship program that brought two student interns annually in to work in the WPLN News department and funded the Nashville Public Radio Emerging Voices Fellowship for several years, which allowed the organization to hire reporters from underrepresented groups. Community outreach programs include radio show hosts speaking with college students on a variety of topics relating to careers and criminal justice reporters moderating panels discussing issues and their meaning for the community. As an organization that relies on the generosity of listeners for survival, the stories and programs on Nashville Public Radio are made possible by the more than 16,000 members and nearly 300 corporate supporters.
REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS
The Vice President, Development will report to the President and CEO, Steve Swenson and serve on the organization’s Executive Leadership Team. The Vice President will oversee a team of six staff.
FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO
Nashville Public Radio is celebrating its 60th Anniversary. For nearly 57 years, we were a relatively small operation with a full-time team of 15 to 25 employees. Three years ago, the Board of Directors of this community licensee decided it was time for Nashville Public Radio to alter our trajectory to match the expansive, rapid growth of Nashville. We felt that we weren’t developing fast enough to achieve our public service mission.
Over the last three years, we’ve nearly doubled our team! We have launched a new music discovery station to fill in a gap in the market—independent and local music. We also continued our classical format on digital channels and have greatly expanded our NPR news station by adding news reporters, editors, and our first ever one-hour local daily news show, This Is Nashville.
Our organization has transformed in a short period of time and our donor/membership base provides us a great opportunity to further expand our financial support. We recently completed a capacity study which conservatively estimates we have a more than realistic revenue goal of substantially increasing our mid-and major-level gifts by $2 million to $2.5 million annually.
We are seeking a Vice President to lead our revenue growth. We have plans to continue increasing the size of our team by another third and will require adding people to our development team. If you are a “builder” and are energized by shooting for the stars, this is a place where you can make a difference. If you want to be an integral member of our leadership team and help Nashville Public Radio supersize its operation and public service, we are extremely interested in working with you!
—Steve Swenson, President and CEO
NASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO’S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Nashville Public Radio is committed to reflecting the community that it serves—on its Board of Directors, in its staffing, and in its programming. Over the past three years, diversity among Board members has increased from single digits to 37%. Diversity among staff has reached 36% against the Nielsen metro statistics which show regional population diversity at 28%. Nashville Public Radio has engaged The Culture Shift, a nationally recognized consulting agency focused on diversity-equity-inclusion education and strategy, to lead training and education for leadership and workforce.
Nashville Public Radio’s news department has established goals and tracks sources to ensure that news sources represent the rich diversity of the Nashville metro population. This Is Nashville, the flagship program of WPLN News, is driven by community, for community. It is a gathering place for diverse perspectives—from artists to writers to neighbors—in traditionally underserved communities. During the first six months of the show, 62% of the voices appearing on the show were people of color.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Vice President, Development will
- lead Nashville Public Radio’s development department—advancing all fundraising including creating a strategic plan for transformational mid- and major-level giving;
- create new strategies to increase and diversify revenue including, but not limited to, an increase in the number of donors and giving per donor;
- work in full partnership with the President and CEO in external engagement, developing new donor communities, expanding major level support, and representing Nashville Public Radio at community events and meetings; and
- serve as an active member of Nashville Public Radio’s Executive Leadership Team—making organization-wide decisions, setting strategy, and creating collaborative, cross-organization working relationships.
LEADERSHIP
Steve Swenson
President and CEO
Steve attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and began his radio career in the newsroom of KFWB in Los Angeles, where he was a Desk Assistant, rising to writer, producer, and Assistant News Director. He served as News Director and Executive Editor of 1010 WINS in New York City before moving into station management at WTOP in Washington, DC.
Shortly thereafter, CBS asked him to return to New York where he was Vice President and General Manager of two all news radio stations, 1010 WINS and WCBS Newsradio 880. In 2011 he moved back to Washington, DC to be Senior Vice President and Market Manager for the six CBS Radio stations.
Steve was named President and CEO of Nashville Public Radio in April of 2019. He and his husband Stewart, an accomplished Young Adult author, singer songwriter, and college professor, have four wonderful children and a French Bulldog who light up their lives.
PREFERRED COMPETENCIES AND QUALIFICATIONS
Nashville Public Radio seeks a Vice President, Development with
- a commitment to the mission of Nashville Public Radio—to operate at the highest level of professional standards and integrity; to be responsive to its listeners, members, supporters, and public; to exhibit mutual respect for its peers and audience; and to value the member and community support that the station receives;
- an ability to lead and thrive in all major fundraising and membership functions including major gifts, foundations, planned-giving, annual fundraising events, corporate giving, and capital projects;
- an ability to build meaningful and trusted relationships with donors;
- an ability to articulate and execute a fundraising vision for Nashville Public Radio to internal and external stakeholders;
- a desire to work as a member of a team, work across internal and external stakeholders, and strategically partner with and support the President and CEO, Board of Directors, Executive Leadership Team, and development team in identifying fundraising opportunities and strategies;
- an ability to serve as a visible and effective leader, recognizing and nurturing talent while building and retaining a successful team;
- an ability to develop and maintain financial projections and budgets; and
- a high level of competency with technology and an aptitude for mastering new technology. A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required for this position as is at least six years of relevant development experience in a mature non-profit environment.
SALARY AND BENEFITS
Nashville Public Radio offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive package of benefits.
LOCATION
The Vice President, Development should reside in the Middle Tennessee/Metropolitan Nashville area. Although Nashville Public Radio allows employees to work remotely, the Vice President should expect to spend time in the Nashville headquarters on a weekly basis.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter and résumé. Cover letters should be responsive to the mission of Nashville Public Radio as well as the responsibilities and qualifications stated in the prospectus. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the successful candidate has been selected.
To apply for this position, visit: Vice President, Development, Nashville Public Radio.
To nominate a candidate, please contact Clare McCully, [email protected]. All inquiries will be held in confidence.