Major Gift Officer - Southwest

Title:                      Major Gift Officer, Southwest

Reports to:           Major Gifts Director

Job Summary:       The Major Gift Officer actively manages, nurtures, and enhances relationships with an individual portfolio of 90‒120 six-figure prospects and above to identify, qualify, cultivate, secure, and steward continued and increased support of The Heritage Foundation, Heritage Action, and The Daily Signal Institute. The Major Gift Officer helps to build upon Heritage’s robust culture of philanthropy by expanding the donor base and engaging high-capacity prospects in Heritage’s mission in meaningful and compelling ways.

As a key member of the Development team, the Major Gift Officer cultivates donors with the potential to commit major gifts in advance of and throughout a planned, multi-year, fundraising campaign. The position works collaboratively with volunteer leaders, fellow staff, and other Heritage partners to cultivate and solicit donors for strategic priorities. The Major Gift Officer must be a highly energetic professional with a track record of building donor relationships and closing major gifts.

Job Duties:

• Spend 80% of time actively managing and developing a prospect pool of 90‒120 major gift prospects.
• Initiate contact with potential major gift donors.
• Develop cultivation strategies appropriate to potential major gift donors.
• Move potential donors in an appropriate and timely fashion toward solicitation and closure.
• Maintain stewardship contacts with donors, adhering to the highest ethical standards, demonstrating empathetic disposition and perseverance, reflecting an optimistic and positive attitude, and conveying sensitivity to needs of the donors.
• Prepare and present major gift proposals with input and assistance of leadership and/or staff partners, as appropriate.
• Understand popular planned giving vehicles and be prepared to collaborate with team members to maximize planned giving opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with the Development team and other departments to achieve fundraising goals.

Qualifications:

Education:                  Bachelor’s degree

Experience:                 5+ years of experience in major gift fundraising

Communication:         Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills

Technology:                Microsoft Suite; CRM software

Other Requirements:           

• Understand and support the Heritage mission and vision for America, and the department’s goals and objectives.
• Demonstrated success in managing prospects at increasing capacity levels and successfully closing gifts at each level.
• Ability to understand the needs and interests of major gift donors.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to communicate with a variety of personalities in a tactful, pleasant, and professional manner.
• Knowledge of policy issues and conservative movement.
• Willing to travel extensively, as needed.

Benefits and Salary:

The Heritage Foundation offers a highly competitive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, best-in-class health care, vision, and dental insurance, employer-sponsored retirement funding, “take what you need” PTO and sick leave, 14 weeks of paid leave for new moms and 6 weeks of paid leave for new dads, among other programs.

The salary range for this role is $120,000 - $160,000 annually. This range is a good faith estimate, and the final salary offered to a selected candidate depends on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, and other qualifications; internal and external market pay for comparable jobs; and level of hire based on aforementioned qualifications.