Major Gifts Officer

Job Type

Full-time

Description

JOB SUMMARY

The Major Gifts Officer (MGO) will be a crucial member of the fundraising team, focusing on raising significant gifts to support programmatic goals. They will manage relationships with existing donors and secure new funding sources, handling a portfolio of approximately 100 donors, each capable of giving $10,000 or more. They will work to ensure that the ACLU-VA meets its growing philanthropic goals by increasing philanthropic donations to support the ACLU-VA's work to defend and expand civil rights and civil liberties while managing portfolios of donors and prospects.

The MGO will understand how to gather and track data, determine priorities, set and reach ambitious fundraising goals, communicate inspiring messages, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors and prospects while working collaboratively with teams across functional areas. The MGO will spend a significant amount of time in direct interaction with donors, to ensure that each donor can fulfill their desire to contribute and support our work in a manner that is consistent with their values. The MGO will be located in Northern Virginia.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Major Donor Portfolio Management

• Cultivate, solicit and steward a portfolio of approximately 100 major donors and prospects;
• Create a comprehensive cultivation and solicitation strategy for donors in the portfolio and execute strategies that fulfill donors' goals in a manner that donors are respected, retained, and inspired to increase their support;
• Develop and implement engagement opportunities to nurture philanthropic relationships;
• Track moves management metrics including portfolio activity, communication, and progress to goals and benchmarks;
• Conduct and analyze publicly available research, consistent with ACLU privacy policy, on donors and prospects in the MGO's portfolio and will work closely with the ACLU National Research department;
• Create reports that accurately reflect portfolio activity and performance; and
• Qualify new prospects for assignment to the major gift portfolio as needed.

Donor Cultivation, Stewardship, and Solicitation

• Directly and independently solicit major gifts ($10,000+);
• Partner with staff and Board members on donor engagement and stewardship opportunities;
• Develop and participate in strategic donor engagement opportunities, such as small events for select donors/prospects in the portfolio, peer fundraising, blog and newsletter features, and larger donor recognition events;
• Work with development and communications teams to create and implement a donor stewardship communication plan for portfolio donors;
• Collaborate with program staff to secure project information and develop personalized materials for individual donors/prospects that align with donor interests and programmatic priorities, including progress reports resulting from gifts;
• Provide support to other solicitors, including the Executive Director and Chief Development Officer, in preparation for solicitation or stewardship opportunities, including concise briefing materials for meetings with donors and prospects.

Data Management, Planning and Collaboration

• Develop long-term fundraising plans, set objectives, and track progress towards achieving goals;
• Develop and execute long-term cultivation and solicitation strategies for high-level prospects and donors;
• Lead and work in partnership with Executive Director, Chief Development Officer, board, staff and volunteers to encourage a culture of philanthropy and accomplish ACLU-VA fundraising objectives;
• Work with the communications team on the development of materials and donor communications including highly personalized proposals that are consistent with donor interests and programmatic priorities; and
• Maintain working knowledge of the ACLU's programmatic priorities and issues as they occur.
• Proactively utilize the donor database to Track portfolio activity, communication, and progress, and produce reports that accurately reflect portfolio performance as management requires. Implement best practices around data hygiene, reporting, and consistent data entry.

Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Significant experience in nonprofit fundraising with a proven track record of independently soliciting, closing, and stewarding major gifts ($10,000+).
• Experience in collecting and using data and research in developing and setting development program priorities.
• Proficiency with office technology and information systems, including online communications, word processing, and CRM systems.
• Willingness and availability to work beyond the normal work day, on weekends, and/or more than 40 hours a week as necessary.
• A commitment to the mission and goals of the ACLU, and to racial justice and civil rights issues and an understanding that these issues are central to overall protection of civil liberties
• A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, to refrain from unlawful discrimination and to comply fully with all applicable laws; a personal approach that values the individual and respects differences of race, ethnicity and national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability and socio-economic circumstance, and able to work with diverse individuals within the organization and broader community.
• Valid Virginia Driver's license with willingness and ability to make regular trips between Northern Virginia and Richmond, drive throughout Northern Virginia or take Uber and other public transport and occasionally travel to other states for conferences and training.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Direct experience soliciting and stewarding major gifts for a C3 nonprofit.
• Ability to engage and inspire staff and volunteers as active participants in the culture of philanthropy.
• Persuasiveness and perseverance in attaining goals and problem-solving.
• Ability to simplify complex themes and activities into a short, compelling presentation or written piece, including donor proposals and other communications.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with others as a part of a team.
• Ability to manage and prioritize many concurrent tasks at once, manage a high-volume workload, pay extremely close attention to detail, meet deadlines, adapt quickly to changing organizational priorities, and meet moving deadlines.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to speak comfortably and compellingly to donors about the impact of their philanthropic investments in the ACLU.
• Experience with fundraising databases and CRMs and tracking fundraising metrics and KPIs.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively and respectfully on the phone, via email and text and in person with donors, board members, volunteers, staff, and the public.
• Ability to drive or take public transportation to locations across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Knowledge of the Northern Virginia philanthropic community.
• Knowledge and commitment to Community Centric Fundraising principles.
• Experience working with C4 fundraising.
• Experience soliciting planned gifts.
• Ability to speak and/or write in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Arabic or other language spoken by a language minority in Virginia.
• Experience working at an organization with an integrated advocacy model where legal, legislative, education and advocacy tactics are used collaboratively and cohesively to achieve results.
• Familiarity with talking about utilizing public policy advocacy and litigation to promote social justice.
• CFRE certification.

EQUIPMENT USED

• Computer, Phone, Copier, Scanner, Fax

SALARY RANGE: The salary range for this position is $84,000 - $107,900. Starting salary up to the midpoint of $94,900. To preserve the opportunity for advancement, we do not typically hire above the midpoint of the range. In addition, we offer excellent benefits including paid time off, generous paid holidays, a 401k plan with employer contribution, flexible spending account, paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, 50% employer-paid dependent medical coverage, life insurance, wi-fi stipend, wellness stipend, student loan assistance, annual sick leave, short-term and long-term disability insurance, and professional development allowances.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this job description restricts the Executive Director or Chief Development Officer's right to assign other duties or responsibilities to this job at any time based on the needs of the organization.

The ACLU of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, bi-or multi-lingual (including Indigenous languages) speakers, multi-cultural individuals, members of the LGBTQ community, those who have been formerly incarcerated or are currently under supervision, and other people from underrepresented and historically marginalized groups. We seek to build a diverse team and an inclusive organizational culture. All qualified applicants who share our vision and who have a desire to contribute to our mission are encouraged to apply.