Associate Director, Major Giving West

Job Description

Job Overview/ Summary:

The External Relations (ER) department is comprised of three main but complementary functional areas: Private fundraising, Communications, and Advocacy. The main objective of the department is to enable this organization of more than 15,000 staff to have the resources needed to continue serving 18 million people worldwide in places affected by war and disaster. The Philanthropy unit, part of the ER department, leads on the organization’s work with High-Net- Worth Individuals.

​Positioned within the USA Philanthropy department, the Major Giving West team has a goal of improving private individual support for the IRC by engaging, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant, multi-year commitments from high-net-worth individual supporters based in the western United States (west of the Mississippi River).

​The Associate Director of Major Giving will be a dynamic seasoned fundraiser and relationship cultivator who will work closely with the Senior Director of USA Philanthropy West and the Director of Major Giving West to build strategy to support a growing portfolio of high-net-worth individuals. With a geographic focus on the Western region of the United States, the Associate Director will serve as a relationship manager throughout the donor life cycle, working across fundraising teams and with senior leadership to qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward five and six-figure gifts, using donor-centric fundraising practices and deploying program and IRC leaders. They will also build a strong donor pipeline of major gift donor prospects and increase regional revenue.

​The ideal candidate is an entrepreneurial professional who has demonstrated experience understanding the motivations of philanthropists and can assess the inclination of a donor or prospect’s willingness to make a major (five to six-figure) gift to the IRC over a number of years. The Associate Director will also be responsible for the management and coaching of 2 front-line fundraisers and/or support staff.

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Major Responsibilities:

• Manage a dynamic portfolio of 75-100 high-net-worth individuals by moving the IRC's relationship with each through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Participate in active prospect discovery through relationship and network mapping. Qualify prospects using research and discovery to unearth new donor relationships.
• Create strategic correspondence, including solicitations, cultivation pieces, reports, and other stewardship materials, to engage donors and prospects.
• Design tactics and creative, long-term engagement strategy to deepen donor dedication and increase giving.
• Choreograph, prepare strategy, and briefing and debriefing materials for face-to-face meetings and solicitations with Major donors conducted personally and/or by senior staff and Board leadership.
• Supervise, manage, and coach frontline fundraisers on the Major Giving West team, mentoring these individuals and guiding their professional growth at IRC and within the fundraising profession
• Collaborate with colleagues across the IRC, institutional fundraising colleagues, and field staff, to align donor and organizational priorities in a way that increases income for the IRC and builds multi-layered, deep engagement with the organization.
• Work collaboratively with Account Managers to strategize, actively track, and measure progress toward financial goals and movement of prospects and donors across the donor lifecycle.
• Undertake special projects as requested.

Candidate Requirements:

• 6-8 years of progressive fundraising experience and demonstrated expertise in private sector, major gifts, or major gifts fundraising; or sales, including direct solicitation of donors or clients.
• Demonstrated history of being an empowering, supportive, and inclusive manager to front-line fundraisers

Preferred Experience & Skills:

• Proven track record of closing 5 and 6-figure gifts from a dynamic portfolio of donors and prospects, including qualifying prospects and upgrading donors;
• Consistent record of developing blended and multi-year funding opportunities;
• Outstanding communication skills, including writing, listening, verbal presentation, and speaking;
• Ability to develop creative and nuanced donor strategy often carried out in partnership with program staff or senior leadership;
• Adaptable to change in a fast-paced work environment while keeping donor priorities at the center of strategy and relationship building;
• Ability to diplomatically and sensitively collaborate across teams internally, regardless of distance, and garner support for and implement initiatives effectively;
• Ability to identify, build, and implement processes vital to supporting effective donor relationships;
• Ability to analyze and interpret financial data;
• Ability to navigate CRM systems;

Working Environment: Requires remote/flex-time work.

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $143 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.