TITLE: Major Gifts Officer
CLASSIFICATION: Exempt, Full-time
DEPARTMENT: Mission Advancement
REPORTS TO: Vice President
LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio
SUMMARY:
As a critical part of the Mission Advancement team, under the direction of the Vice President, you will work cooperatively to cultivate, solicit, and steward our generous donors and new donor friends.
In the role of Major Gifts Officer, you will handle orchestration of your donor caseload to grow support to meet the needs of Heartbeat and reach goals. You will also represent and promote Heartbeat and its mission, reaching individuals, corporations, foundations, as well as churches and para-church organizations, where appropriate, in the US and overseas. Your focus will be with potential donors and current donor relations with a focus in the midwestern part of the US. These activities shall be consistent with Heartbeat International's pro-life mission and vision and Christian core operational values.
You are a great candidate for this role if you are an experienced relationship-builder and philanthropic strategist, passionate about Heartbeat's life-changing and life-saving mission, have the ability to work independently and as a member of a team in a fast-paced environment, and be able to prioritize and manage multiple projects efficiently to reach goals.
Heartbeat International offers a warm workplace where our activities are solely grounded in the Lord, where teamwork is a requirement and individuals are supported to achieve great things, and where you will experience spiritual, professional and personal growth.
Primary Responsibilities (approximately 80% of time)
1. Cultivate, solicit, and steward prospects and donors by phone, mail, in person (which will involve travel), through social media and other creative means. Analyze prospect information and donor information and giving history as a basis for promoting relationship building and soliciting increased financial support. Provide appropriate follow-up to grow relationships and continue to increase support and meet projected major gift goals. Share mission and Christian core operational values with donors and solicit/share prayer requests and prayers as appropriate.
2. Develop, grow, and maintain a major gift prospect pool. Research appropriate resources (including individuals who support pro-life; organizations, corporations, and foundations willing to support pro-life causes; churches; and government leaders and officials) to glean prospective donor names and information.
3. In collaboration with the Vice President, determine fundraising vehicles/activities/events and develop new endeavors--be creative.
4. Track donor events both in Virtuous and in the Marketing Impact Chart (MIC from Veritus) to evaluate and report on monthly goals created for each assigned donor and personal major donor activities and events. Make adjustments and develop new goals as needed.
6. Promote additional giving vehicles including gifts-in-kind, endowments(s), and planned giving.
7. Be a strong contributor to the Mission Advancement team effort while supporting the life-saving mission of Heartbeat International.
8. In connection with growing donor connections, travel regularly (30%) to further cultivate stronger relationships. Present specific sponsorship opportunities geared to the interests of the donor.
Secondary Responsibilities (less than 20% of time)
9. Work with other departments/staff cooperatively to oversee and execute the responsibilities of the position and keep staff updated.
10. Assist the Vice President in annual budget planning for the department.
11. Accept assignments not specifically delineated above as requested by the Vice President and department directors.
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. College degree required, preferably in related field such as marketing, business administration, fundraising, etc., or combination of education and successful experience in a development role.
2. Five years of progressive experience in non-profit development with major donor care, with proven fundraising experience and success required. Experience in pro-life movement is preferred, in addition to development experience on a national level. Experience in sales or marketing is also valuable.
3. Ability to orchestrate all aspects of major gift development.
4. Excellent oral and written communication skills.
5. Dynamic human relation skills. Ability to work cooperatively--with a Christian servant heart--to inspire donors and potential donors to support Heartbeat International's mission and affiliates, in addition to willingness to accept direction from leadership and strive towards personal improvement.
6. Good administrative abilities, including independent and sound judgment, organization, planning, and idea generation and development. Ability to handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
7. Strong commitment to ethical fundraising practices.
8. Willingness to travel a minimum of 5 - 7 days each month.
9. A working knowledge of Microsoft Word, donor/CRM database, Excel, and Google calendaring strongly preferred.
10. A willingness and desire to serve donors and other Heartbeat constituencies, including other staff, in support of and to promote Heartbeat International's life-affirming ministry and God's plan for our sexuality.
11. Ability and willingness to demonstrate commitment to the Heartbeat International's mission, vision, and core operational values in the execution of position responsibilities.
12. A willingness to share the gospel of Jesus Christ by word and example, and through prayer, to encourage donors, staff, and others and to contribute to an office environment conducive to supporting Heartbeat International's ministry of life.
