Associate Director of Philanthropy I

The Nature Conservancy•Minneapolis, MN

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

As the Associate Director of Philanthropy, you will qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donor prospects, focusing on individuals, corporations, and foundations. While you will primarily support the MNDK (MN, ND, SD) Chapter, we collaborate frequently with colleagues across the globe to implement direct asks that maximize overall giving to the Conservancy. As the Associate Director of Philanthropy, you will be responsible for building and managing a portfolio of 75-125 qualified donors, including donors with the capacity to give over $100,000. You will have an annual fundraising goal of $750,000 or more, along with a target for bequest/planned giving commitments. To reach these goals, you will conduct 75-125 donor visits and 225-375 donor moves each year, as well as making phone calls to qualify and disqualify prospects. You will be expected to understand and apply complex principles of developing donor strategies in their work. You will also share information about the Conservancy’s mission, vision and priorities in broad terms and encourage donors to make flexible gifts. You will listen for gifts of assets or other non-cash gift opportunities, such as planned gifts and trade lands, and be required to use the Conservancy’s donor database and develop funding proposals in partnership with our team’s donor communication specialist.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and 5 years related experience or an equivalent combination.
Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with fundraising constituents.
Experience in asking for and closing gifts of $25,000 or more.
Experience in managing and tracking multiple prospects and donors.
Experience working with cross-functional teams.
Experience, coursework, or other training in fundraising principles and practices.
Valid driver's license and compliance with TNC’s Auto Safety Program.
Ability to meet the requirements of The Nature Conservancy's background screening process.

Nice To Haves

Experience in fundraising strategy development, focusing on identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major donors.
Experience in cultivating a pipeline of new donors.
Knowledge of corporate and foundation major giving, along with individual major giving.
Experience with Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) software (i.e. Blackbaud, Raiser’s Edge, etc.).
Understanding of project budgets and building that information into donor proposals.
Ability to educate and inform prospective and existing donors about appropriate giving vehicles.
Knowledge of the basics of charitable gift planning.
Knowledge of current trends in the charitable giving in the areas of capital campaigns, major gifts or planned giving.
Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience.
Ability to determine an individual’s interests, capacity and potential for helping an organization meet its goals, and act appropriately to tie those interests with the organization's work.
Experience negotiating high profile or sensitive agreements.

Responsibilities

Qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donor prospects, focusing on individuals, corporations, and foundations.
Build and manage a portfolio of 75-125 qualified donors, including donors with the capacity to give over $100,000.
Achieve an annual fundraising goal of $750,000 or more, along with a target for bequest/planned giving commitments.
Conduct 75-125 donor visits and 225-375 donor moves each year.
Make phone calls to qualify and disqualify prospects.
Understand and apply complex principles of developing donor strategies.
Share information about the Conservancy’s mission, vision and priorities and encourage donors to make flexible gifts.
Listen for gifts of assets or other non-cash gift opportunities, such as planned gifts and trade lands.
Use the Conservancy’s donor database.
Develop funding proposals in partnership with the donor communication specialist.