Philanthropy Officer

Department: Advancement

Position Type: Full Time

Hourly or Salary: Salary

Salary Range: $55,000-$70,000

The Philanthropy Officer will play a vital role in sustaining and building meaningful and successful relationships with current and prospective donors in a personal donor portfolio of 125-150 individual major donors. The Philanthropy Officer will exemplify donor-centered fundraising best practices, leading to substantive on-going philanthropic support for operations, programs, endowment, and special projects from individual donors.

The successful candidate will bring previous experience in both managing a portfolio and demonstrated history of successful fundraising.

The Philanthropy Officer will work closely with curatorial, horticulture, conservation, and senior leadership colleagues and volunteer leadership to effectively identify, engage, cultivate, solicit, and steward individual donors.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of donors, averaging 12 substantive contacts per month, focusing on annual gifts at the level of $2,500 and above and special project or campaign gifts at the $100,000+ level. Make at least 10 increased gift invitations per year from existing donor portfolio and add 5 new major gift prospects to portfolio per year.
• Develop and implement annual donor engagement, cultivation, and solicitation plans.
• Work closely with curatorial and other internal content experts, senior leadership, and volunteer leadership to engage, cultivate, and solicit individual donors.
• Serve as Philanthropy Liaison to 3 - 4 program areas, partnering with staff in those areas to provide information about their plans to the rest of the Advancement team, develop cultivation plans for donors interested in their work, and provide mentorship on building donor relationships.
• Work closely with Advancement Services and Advancement team members to expand major and planned gift prospect lists, donor engagement strategies, stewardship, and recognition opportunities.
• Maintain accurate and timely tracking of all donor activities

Required Skills

• Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with high-level individual donors.
• A passion for philanthropy, as well as deep knowledge of current and evolving trends in giving, fundraising and donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• An ability to empathize with donors and clearly communicate the Newfields mission
• Self-motivated as well as committed to serving colleagues.
• Excellent writing skills; the ability to communicate and inspire via presentations, conversations, and documents.
• Attention to detail.
• A strong commitment to ethical fundraising and donor confidentiality.

Education and/or Experience

• Undergraduate degree in relevant area of studies or equivalent experience required. Graduate studies or Masters' degree preferred
• Minimum of 5 years of fundraising experience and proven track record in securing substantive funding from individual donors
• Planned Giving experience preferred

Physical Demands of Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands: While performing the duties of this hob, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to touch, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/ or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color, vision peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the position. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The office layout is a combination of private offices and cubicles, with windows along the outer walls.