Associate Director, Major Gifts

Summary

Join the Economic Security Project as an Associate Director, Major Gifts and play a crucial role in developing and implementing strategies to expand the major gifts portfolio. You will support senior team members in securing significant donations, cultivate relationships with major donors, and conduct research to build a robust pipeline. Success requires a proven fundraising track record, exceptional communication skills, and the ability to connect organizational efforts with donor interests. This remote position reports to the Senior Director of Development and offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in fundraising, strong communication skills, and the ability to build relationships with high-net-worth donors. The position requires managing and growing the major gifts portfolio, soliciting donations, and developing compelling donor materials.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or equivalent experience is required
• Six plus years of frontline fundraising experience
• Demonstrated ability to independently engage and develop relationships with high-net-worth donors and close 5-7 figure gifts
• Strong executive functioning, project management, and organizational skills, and the ability to independently prioritize and plan
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, demonstrating a level of professionalism and polish in engaging internal and external stakeholders
• Experience in event fundraising and execution
• Extensive experience prepping organizational leaders and program staff for donor meetings and working with colleagues to produce compelling funding proposals and reports
• Knowledge of principles and best practices in prospect identification, donor cultivation, and stewardship strategies
• Highly sociable, emotionally intelligent, and motivated to meet new people, build relationships, and spark engaging cause-focused conversations
• Ability to work effectively and respectfully in a fast-paced environment with diverse, bi-coastal co-workers and executive leadership
• Experience using donor databases to research and track moves management and key metrics; knowledge of Salesforce and iWave is a plus
• Ability to travel when needed
• Sense of humor and adaptability

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to the Senior Director of Development, and Principals in managing and growing ESP/ESPA’s major gifts portfolio, proactively providing strategic recommendations, identifying opportunities, and driving innovative approaches for donor engagement
• Implement the major gifts donor strategy with the Senior Director of Development, setting benchmarks for sustainable long-term growth and gift solicitations and ensuring alignment with the organization’s fundraising strategy
• Solicit existing and prospective major donors and family foundations capable of giving $25,000 to $250,000+, collaborating with colleagues to develop compelling solicitations in alignment with organizational priorities
• Independently and proactively forge strong relationships with major donors and prospects to understand their interests, develop strategic touchpoints, and create engagement and recognition opportunities to drive relationships forward, accurately tracking moves in Salesforce
• Partner with and support the Senior Director of Development to ensure proper moves management and tracking of the leadership portfolio by surfacing priority prospects, supplying research and talking points, scheduling, and staffing donor meetings, and drafting donor correspondence and other materials needed to move relationships forward
• Develop highly polished, persuasive donor materials - including letters of inquiry, program overviews, proposals, reports, and impact updates - by translating ESP/ESPA’s Theory of Change, impact, and programmatic work into inspirational narratives
• Streamline donor communications by drafting emails, presentations, acknowledgment letters, and other development materials as needed
• Lead internal meetings with Principals to ensure a high level of stewardship of donors
• Set up donor visits for cultivation and solicitation purposes; create before and after reports outlining the potential and realized outcomes of each visit within each donor’s cultivation plan
• In conjunction with the Development Operations Associate, conduct regular research on all prospects within major gifts portfolio and develop recommended solicitation strategies
• Develop and maintain positive and fruitful relationships with senior leadership, staff, Board of Directors and all donors, including high-profile constituents
• Track and manage all proposal and grant requirements, deadlines, communications and follow-ups in ESP/ESPA’s CRM platform. Ensuring CRM accuracy and up-to-date records of donor interactions
• Lead on individual donor screenings to help identify new major donor prospects and manage the screening process
• In conjunction with other development staff, work with the Communications department on email content and printed materials strategy for major donors, including but not limited to building and reviewing outreach lists and drafting content
• Collaborate with other departments to ensure alignment and integration of fundraising efforts with overall organizational objectives
• Perform other duties as assigned or needed to advance ESP/ESPA fundraising strategy, goals and objectives

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) regulations is a plus, but not required

Benefits

• Medical, vision, dental insurance with premiums fully covered for employees and their dependents
• Worker’s Compensation
• Long and short term disability insurance
• Basic Life Insurance with a 50K maximum
• 401K with a 3% contribution upon start date; up to an additional 1% at year-end
• Full office closures for the week of July 4, and between December 25 and January 1
• PTO - 136 vacation hours, 80 sick leave hours, 9 standard holidays, 2 floating holidays, and 20 hours of volunteer leave
• 6-week paid sabbatical after 5 years of full-time service
• Connectivity and home office stipends, and wellness use bonuses (taxable)
• Annual professional development budget
• Organization-provided computer or $50/month bonus for employees who choose to use their own
• Access to commuter and flexible spending accounts