Job Title: Director of Philanthropy
Department: Development
Location: New York/ Washington/ Boston
(other east coast locations considered)
Salary: $140,000–155,000 USD dependent on
experience
Position Reports to: Chief Development
Officer
Position Supervises: Major gift
fundraisers
About the organisation:
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (LWC), based at the foothills of
Mount Kenya, works as a model and catalyst for the conservation of
wildlife and its habitat. We do this through the protection and
management of species, the initiation and support of community
conservation and development programmes, and the education of
neighbouring areas in the value of wildlife.
For the last three decades, our practices have resulted in
thriving black rhino habitat and population, which in turn has
created a robust ecosystem for a multitude of species including the
endangered Grevy’s zebra, elephant, lion, cheetah, giraffe and
more. We envision a future where people across Kenya value, protect
and benefit from wildlife. This future depends on communities being
able to derive their day-to-day livelihoods in ways that are
compatible with thriving wildlife habitat. As a result, we invest
heavily in the livelihoods of our neighbours through programmes in
education, healthcare, water, micro-enterprise, youth empowerment
and more.
As a catalyst and champion of this model that puts people at the
centre of conservation, Lewa has influenced and supported the
conservancy management for both private and community lands across
northern Kenya.
Purpose of the job:
The Director of Philanthropy role is a key leadership role in
the Development and Communications team and is integral to the
delivery of the fundraising strategy, growing income and engagement
from High-net-worth individuals. The Director of Philanthropy will
have a portfolio of high-level individual donors and supervise the
USA Major gift team. The Director of Philanthropy is responsible to
exponentially grow our income and support from high-net-worth
individuals and family trusts.
The Director of Philanthropy will set target forecasts and goals
(and manage) for the philanthropic team. They will: communicate
effectively with donors, conduct face-to-face visits, solicit
gifts, steward those gifts, track progress, and evaluate
performance. Responsible for the development and implementation of
a strategy to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward and grow a
portfolio of major donors, the incumbent will bring successful
stewarding and relationship cultivation experience to the role
being comfortable asking for five and six-figure gifts. The
Director of Philanthropy must be able to prioritize major donor
relationships and collaborate in the identification of potential
HNWI and development of those relationships with the Chief
Development Officer and development team colleagues.
Responsibilities:
The job holder will have the following key responsibilities:
Strategy development and
planning
- Work in collaboration with the Chief Development Officer to
deliver an ambitious fundraising strategy that will enable Lewa to
secure its long-term financial future and maximise its impact.
- Set multi-year fundraising plans and goals for the
philanthropic team.
- Focus on securing unrestricted support, as well as six-figure
commitments that will fund priorities outlined in our strategic
plan.
- Actively manage the major donor pipeline to advance donors
towards making major gifts or increasing their gift level of
support. - Lead and drive philanthropic strategy and activity across the
organisation to achieve transformational gifts.
- Monitor and report on performance through rigorous use of
targets and KPIs.
Management
- Manage and motivate major gifts relationship managers, ensuring
that they are accountable for meeting their fundraising goals and
are committed to best practice fundraising.
- Develop and embed an effective donor recognition framework to
include outstanding donor engagement and stewardship that moves
donors along a journey with Lewa and enables fundraisers to grow
the volume and value of prospects and donors in the portfolio.
Prospecting and
research
- Research and prospect potential high-value donors and compile,
with the support of the wider team, the corresponding documentation
and funding proposals required to secure gifts.
- Proactively manage, add to and review the prospect pipeline and
ensure records are accurate.
Building
relationships
- Develop and deliver bespoke cultivation strategies for donors
and prospects to maximize their giving.
- Undertake outreach visits to high-capacity individuals, family
offices, donor advised funds, and priority prospects,
comprehensively following up all opportunities.
- Understand the giving cycle, develop authentic personal
relationships with donors, and know when to ask. Solicit gifts
personally and, when appropriate, in tandem with the Chief
Development Officer, CEO, Board members and other related
staff.
- Identify areas of Lewa’s work most likely to engage donors and
prospects according to their areas of interest or motivations.
Balance demand for restricted and unrestricted donations according
to the needs of the organization and the donor.
Thanking and
stewardship
- Create personalized thank-you, acknowledgement and stewardship
plan for major donor gifts, including directing communications from
the Chief Development Officer or other people in the organization
where required.
- Ensure that all gifts from major donors are properly
acknowledged in a timely manner.
- Ensure that reports are produced and sent to relevant donors on
time.
Budgets and
reporting
- Work with the rest of the team to set and monitor annual
budgets for major gifts. Be responsible for delivering against
targets for the donor portfolio.
General
responsibilities
- Maintain the integrity of the CRM system (Salesforce).
- Contribute to the overall strategy of the Development
team.
Experience & Skills
- Experience in major donor fundraising with a proven track
record of soliciting, stewarding and closing 5-6 figure gifts from
donors.
- Experience leading and managing and growing fundraising
teams.
- Skilled communicator and storyteller.
- Significant experience collaborating with trustees and/or
volunteer committees to drive philanthropic income.
- Sound strategic thinking and planning skills.
- Ability to work under pressure and with multiple competing
priorities.
Job-specific competencies
- A proven record of fundraising, target forecasting, and target
achievement.
- Evidence of excellent interpersonal and negotiation
skills.
- Ability to communicate effectively and appropriately to
different audiences.
- Proven ability to process and communicate detailed information
and present the key data, both verbally and in writing.
- Strong ability to build robust interpersonal
relationships.
- Experience in Salesforce or similar CRM.
Personal competencies
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to build strong relationships with a wide range of
people.
- Team building and strong organizational and project management
skills.
- The ability to manage systems, set priorities, and work within
deadlines is essential.
- Flexibility to work outside of office hours when
necessary.
Qualifications
- Minimum of 10 years of professional work experience including a
track record for prospecting and stewarding a portfolio of Major
Donors and family trusts at the very highest levels.
Travel
- Ability and willingness to travel as required.
