Director of Individual Giving

~ Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Land Trust Alliance is a $16 million, national conservation organization with 70 staff whose mission is to save the places people love by strengthening land conservation across America. ~

Land trusts harness three fundamental American values: private initiative, community cooperation and a deep connection to the land, and they created the Alliance over 30 years ago to expand their effectiveness and political strength.

Today, the Land Trust Alliance leads a network of 1,200 land trusts with 12,000 staff, 15,000 board members, five million members and more than 50 million acres conserved. The Alliance works with Congress to pass tax incentives and funding that help make it possible for landowners to conserve their property. It serves as a university for land conservation that trains the people who do the work to conserve cherished farms, forests, parks and trails. It strengthens community-based land trusts by providing leadership development, training, research, standards, and accreditation services.

The Alliance also provides legal strategy and funding to help land trusts defend conserved land from legal attacks and ensures that the land stays protected forever. The staff, board, members and supporters of the Alliance comprise a national non-partisan movement that is marked by its passion, collegiality and professionalism. You will work with a remarkable group of people who are committed to conserving America’s most cherished natural lands. This is an extraordinary opportunity to make a profound difference in the national conservation movement at a critical moment in its history.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Vice President of Development, the Director of Individual Giving develops and implements a comprehensive, strategic, integrated plan to broaden the base of individual donors and increase the level of contributed income through major gifts, planned giving, and annual fund support. The Director of Individual Giving also holds a portfolio of significant donors and prospects in the Mid-Atlantic region and other select locations, as appropriate.

The position oversees the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of individual donors and drives the strategy for creating a comprehensive and integrated path for acquiring and upgrading donors at every level. The Director of Individual Giving will be expected to steward/cultivate donor prospects approximately 20% of his/her time.

Note: Standard workdays are Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm with core hours of 10 am – 4 pm.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for developing, implementing and managing the overall individual giving strategy.
• Coordinate the pipeline, moves management process to ensure that development staff and volunteers systematically cultivate, solicit and steward the organization’s leading donors, and engage new donors.
• Carry a major gift portfolio with donors and prospects in the Mid-Atlantic region. Cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors to produce annual renewed and new gifts to support unrestricted general operations and special initiatives.
• Oversees annual individual giving unrestricted and restricted budget and financial reporting.
• Work in partnership with the VP to manage major gift officer activities and guide regional field staff in setting and monitoring strategy and actions for individuals and family foundations who contribute or have the potential to make a major gift. Liaise with Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations as well as Government Relations department on family foundation strategy and approach.
• Work in coordination with the Annual Fund Manager and the Communications Department to develop and implement a comprehensive cultivation and stewardship plan for each part of the individual giving program, including mailings for acquisition, renewals, and upgrades. Annual Fund Manager oversees the Database Coordinator.
• Provide leadership in writing the Alliance fundraising materials, appeals, thank you notes, and other communications focused on recruiting, upgrading and stewarding major donors.
• Oversee high quality stewardship of the Alliance donors, including responsibility for regular, timely acknowledgements, program updates, special invitations, etc.
• Support the Alliance’s senior leadership staff, Board of Directors, and National Council in their work to recruit, cultivate and solicit major donors and prospects on behalf of the Alliance’s annual fund and special initiative appeals.
• Work closely with the Donor Relations Associate in developing, organizing, and executing all donor cultivation, fundraising, and recognition events, Council retreats, and annual Rally.
• Oversee the fundraising travel strategy and follow-up for senior management, major gift officers and regional field staff, including the identification of priority trips, briefings, debriefing, and follow-up activities.
• Work closely with the Prospect Researcher to gather data on qualified individual prospects/donors capable of making leadership gifts.
• Provide leadership and guidance for gift officers to maximize productivity; with the VP, set performance standards, evaluate performance, and implement professional development activities for ongoing mentorship.
• With the VP, responsible for assisting with the strategy, design and management of the major gifts program. This includes developing cultivation and solicitation strategies for prospects, revisiting the renewal of Cabinet and Regional Committees, and providing members with tools, training, and materials.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree and minimum of 7 years fundraising and nonprofit management experience.
• Proven record of soliciting 5-7 figure gifts and stewarding relationships through a balanced portfolio of renewed and new gifts for unrestricted and special purpose support.
• Ability to serve as a mentor for regional major gift staff in the moves management process from prospect identification through solicitation and stewardship.
• Organized, creative, strategic, and efficient, capable of juggling multiple tasks and meeting deadlines within a fast-paced team-oriented environment with skill, calm, and humor.
• Basic understanding of planned giving and comfortable in approaching donors for planned gifts as a natural part of the development and stewardship process.
• Ability to think broadly on engaging new audiences for support and working with team members to create channels for involvement of potential donors and volunteers.
• Experience with Microsoft suite, fundraising software and databases essential.
• Attention to detail, strong organizational, analytical, budget management, and communication skills.
• Adherence to discretion in working with sensitive donor and financial information.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% for occasional events and other functions. Willingness to work a flexible schedule including occasional weekends.
• Strong interest in land conservation. A willingness to understand and enthusiastically promote the Alliance’s conservation mission and programs is essential.
• CFRE preferred, but not required.

Compensation: This is a full-time exempt permanent position that provides competitive salary and benefits provided.

To Apply

• Please click "Apply" below to email resume along with cover letter in Microsoft Word format no later than December 1, 2017.
• In the subject line place title: Individual Giving.
• If email is not available submissions may be taken by mail addressed to Human Resources at 1250 H St. NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005.

~ The Land Trust Alliance’s mission is to save the places people love by strengthening land conservation across America. The Land Trust Alliance is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or marital status. ~