Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) SEND International SEND Well, Serve Well--For Lasting Impact

THE ROLE: The Chief Advancement Officer (CAO)

The Chief Advancement Officer (CAO)is responsible forgrowing the relationships and resources that fuel SEND’sglobal work.This role brings fundraising, marketing, and mobilization (missionary recruitment) together driving SEND’s financial sustainability and global impact among the unreached.As a key member of the Executive Team the CAO will lead strategies that fuel SEND’s expansion from $17M to more than $25M within the next 5-10 years.

Today, we are building the capacity needed to support our bold, new vision: 203 by 2033, which seeks to catalyze locally led gospel transformation in 203 new unreached communities by 2033.

The Chief Advancement Officer is a newly created role to support this vision. The CAO will report directly to SEND’s US Director and serves alongside the Chief Financial Officer and Chief People Officer. This is both a strategic and hands-on leadership role that requires a biblical understanding of generosity and stewardship and how to build fundraising and marketing strategies that invite people to participate in God’s work through giving or going.

You will lead and develop high-performing teams while also personallyengagingkey major donors and partner relationships.You will shape and help execute the growth strategies across fund development and mobilization and ensure a unified marketing strategy that supports growth goals in each of those departments.

The work is entrepreneurial, global in scope and comes at a time when there is momentum and alignment across the ministry.

We’relooking for a relational, growth-minded leader who inspires generosity, equips others, and builds work that will last.

THE WORK

Strategy & Executive Leadership

• Develop and execute a strategy to grow annual revenue across all channels to $25M within the next 5-10 years to achieve SEND’s mission.
• Partner with the US Director, International Director, and board to cultivate and steward high impact donor relationships ensuring alignment with ministry priorities.
• Work closely with the CFO to align fundraising growth with financial forecasting, program expansion, and organizational priorities.
• Build, lead, and develop high-performing, collaborative teams, fostering a culture of courageous innovation, intentional discipleship, unity in diversity and lasting impact.
• Reporting and presentations to the Board, Executive Team, Global Leadership and key stakeholders, highlighting fundraising performance, mobilization results and marketing progress.
• Establish clear goals and use data to track and monitor progress and key performance indicators across development, marketing and mobilization.
• Strengthen alignment across the development, marketing and mobilization teams so functions operate in an integrated, collaborative way.
• Assist in developing and monitoring department budgets and forecasts.

Fundraising & Relationship Development

• Lead the launch of a major fundraising vision campaign.
• Lead the creation and implementation of an annual fund development plan that builds year-over-year growth including major and planned gifts, campaigns, recurring giving, direct mail, new donor acquisition campaigns and grant strategies.
• Personally steward a portfolio of key donor and partner relationships securing transformational gifts.
• Cultivate relationships with donors as co-laborers in Christ, connecting their faith to SEND’s mission in a way that deepens engagement.
• Provide support and leadership to the Director of Development, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Development Associate and Data Entry Coordinator.

Marketing and Communications

• Build on SEND’s storied history and brand messaging to create marketing strategies that expand our reach and support fundraising and mobilization goals and objectives.
• Lead the creation of an annual marketing plan that drives new leads in mobilization and fund development.
• Oversee cross-department collaboration and communication to ensure coordination of key projects, processes and information.
• Collaborate with the International Office to maintain brand consistency, access to curated stories and content, and alignment in messaging and/or priorities.
• Provide support and leadership to the Marketing Manager, Creative Marketing Strategist and Social Media Coordinator.

Engagement (Missionary Recruitment)

• Lead the creation of an annual mobilization strategy that results in a growing pipeline of short, mid and long-term missionaries. This includes campus engagement, church relations, conferences such as Urbana, and new networks.
• Provide support and leadership to the Director of Sending, 3 Mission Coaches, Project Manager and Mission Catalyst as they execute mobilization goals and objectives.
• Oversee systems and processes that make for a seamless and delightful experience in the missionary journey from recruitment to appointment, ensuring a 12–14-month deployment journey for mid- and long-term goers.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in global fundraising, nonprofit advancement, or related fields particularly with faith-based or cross-cultural ministries.
• Demonstrated success in major gifts fundraising (including six- and seven-figure gifts) and campaign leadership.
• Experience working with senior leaders and boards in fundraising and relationship development.
• Experience overseeing or partnering closely with marketing/communications.

Skills & Competencies

• Integrated Leadership: Sees the whole system, aligning people, partnerships, and financial resources into a cohesive advancement approach.
• Relational & Caring: Builds trust quickly and fosters strong relationships modeling care, compassion and shepherding.
• Proven Success: Experience securing significant revenue, funding or investment through individual giving, grants, foundations, planned giving, church giving or other revenue channels.
• Strategic Execution: Translates vision into clear plans and priorities, with disciplined follow-through and a focus on outcomes.
• Excellent Communication: The ability to share SEND’s story and mission passionately and authentically to engage diverse audiences and inspire meaningful action.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Leads across functions, integrating marketing, fundraising, and mobilization in a coordinated way.
• Team Leadership (Player–Coach): Leads and develops a high-performing team, balancing direct engagement with coaching and growth.
• Financial Acumen: The ability to align revenue growth with financial planning and forecasting. Overseeing and developing budgets, negotiating contracts with vendors, and knowledge of planned giving strategies and tools.
• Entrepreneurial & Data-Informed: Brings a business mindset, using curiosity, resourcefulness, and data to guide decisions and improve results.

Character

• Mature Christian faith that is lived out in your life, work, and interactions.
• Deep alignment with SEND’s mission and values.
• Humble, collaborative, and team-oriented leadership style.
• A learner’s mindset with openness to growth, feedback, and new approaches.
• Integrity and strong stewardship of relationships and resources.

Measures of Success: First Three Years

Success for the Chief Advancement Officer will be demonstrated through measurable progress in the following areas:

1. Sustainable Revenue Growth: Achieve consistent year-over-year growth in contributed revenue, including significant growth in unrestricted, recurring, major, planned, church, foundation, and new-donor giving, establishing a credible trajectory toward annual revenue of more than $25 million.
2. Missionary Pipeline and Deployment: In partnership with the Director of Sending, substantially increase qualified missionary applications, improve lead-to-application conversion, and strengthen the pathway toward the annual appointment and deployment of the missionaries needed to advance SEND’s global mission.
3. Audience Growth and Conversion: Build an integrated marketing strategy that expands SEND’s qualified donor, candidate, and church audiences and demonstrates measurable conversion from awareness and engagement to giving, going, and organizational partnership.
4. Major Donor and Partner Development: Build and steward a robust pipeline of major donors, churches, foundations, and strategic partners; personally cultivate key relationships; and prepare for and lead a major fundraising vision campaign.
5. Integrated Advancement Effectiveness: Establish a unified, data-informed Advancement division with clear strategies, healthy teams, coordinated constituent journeys, reliable systems, shared performance measures, and strong collaboration among Development, Marketing, and Sending.

OurInvestment

• Meaningful, purpose-driven work that contributes to lasting global impact.
• Connection to a talented, mission-driven team.
• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits package.
• Flexible paid time off and a culture that supports healthy rhythms of work and rest.
• Professional development opportunities and ongoing learning.

Additional Information

• Learn more at send.org.
• SEND International US is an equal opportunity employer.
• Reasonable accommodation will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
• Travel: The CAO is expected to travel approximately 30-35% of the time. Travel is primarily across North America with international travel as opportunities arise. Travel supports storytelling, donor cultivation, missionary sending, and field engagement.

Location:

Southeast, MI or Great Lakes area preferred. This is a hybrid role for in-office and remote work — candidates should expect to be mobile and proximate with donors, partners, and the US Office team regularly.

SEND International

SEND International is a global missions organization that seeks to mobilize God’s people, engage the unreached and establish reproducing churches. Our work takes place across Asia, Eurasia, Europe and North America, with over 400 missionaries serving the global church.

With a storied history that dates back over 80 years, we are looking to the future and building off of this legacy launching a bold, new vision that responds to the 3 billion people who are still unreached today, and a global church that is positioned to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Our vision is to be a globally connected movement of disciple-makers, catalyzing locally led Gospel transformation in 203 unreached communities by 2023.

Our Values:

Intentional Discipleship
We actively strive to grow as followers of Jesus and build others up in His likeness, maintaining integrity throughout the Christian life.

Unity in Diversity
We joyfully celebrate the value and strength of diverse, intercultural communities, joining together as servants of Jesus to reflect God’s heart for the nations.

Courageous Innovation
We boldly adapt, adjust, and create to urgently bring the unchanging Gospel into an ever-changing world.

Lasting Impact
We eagerly collaborate with the global church, depend on the Holy Spirit, and commit to living among the unreached, in order to make a lasting and culturally relevant impact that results in disciples of Jesus and multiplying churches.

ABOUT SEND INTERNATIONAL US

SEND International of the US (SEND US) is part of a global association of SEND International and serves as the mobilization office in the U.S. In the traditional sense, we are a ‘sending’ office that is responsible for mobilizing God’s people from the US to go to ‘receiving’ fields where SEND is actively engaged in church planting among the unreached. The CAO will be an employee of SEND US. SEND US is a separate 501(c)(3) governed by a Board of Directors.

Vital Stats:

• 400+ missionaries from around the world (250+ sent from US alone).
• Presence in 30 countries and 78 unreached people groups.
• SEND US budget is $17M including missionary support.
• Sending offices in US, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Philippines.