JOB TITLE: Major Gifts Officer

REPORTS TO: Global Director of Development

LOCATION:  Remote, New York or Northeast Corridor

CONTRACT TYPE / HOURS: Full Time

REMUNERATION: $75,000-$100,000, commensurate with experience. The salary for candidates in other locations will be set using a UN Cost of Living calculator that endeavors to generate a local salary that offers the same standard of living reflected by the NYC salary.

ABOUT EQUALITY NOW

At Equality Now, we aspire to create a world in which women and men have equal rights under the law, and full enjoyment of their human rights.

Our mission is gender equality. And how we get there matters. Here are the values behind everything we do.

Founded in 1992, we are an international human rights organization that works to protect and promote the rights of all women and girls around the world. Our campaigns are centered on four program areas: Legal Equality, End Sexual Violence, End Harmful Practices, and End Sexual Exploitation, with a cross-cutting focus on the unique needs of adolescent girls. 

We are truly global and we have a team of 70+ people located all around the world. We have team members in Benin, Beirut, Delhi, London, Geneva, San Jose, El Salvador, Argentina, Nairobi, Tbilisi, New York and Washington DC among others.

We offer a great experience for talented people who are passionate about equality. To work here, you’ll need to share our core values which are: integrity, tenaciousness, perseverance and inclusivity. For more information, visit equalitynow.org.

POSITION / ROLE SUMMARY
The Major Gift officer will play a leading role in shaping and executing strategies for growing the major gifts portfolio and ensuring best practice moves management with Equality Now’s major donors and prospects. This includes supporting the Global Executive Director and Global Director of Development’s major donor engagement efforts. The Major Gifts Officer will also play a strong role in ensuring the success of our annual gala by coordinating sponsor solicitations, benefits and relations. This position reports to the Global Director of Development and oversees a Development Officer whose role is focused on events and mid-level gifts.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage and help grow Equality Now’s major donor portfolio to meet annual fundraising goals of $2.5-$3.5 million in major gifts, grants and gala sponsorship by identifying and cultivating a strong pipeline of donor prospects, as well as retaining and upgrading existing donors. 
• Independently and proactively forge strong relationships with major donors and prospects to understand their interests, develop strategic touchpoints, and create engagement and recognition opportunities to drive relationships forward, and accurately track moves in the donor database (NXT Raiser’s Edge). 
• Solicit existing and prospective major donors and family foundations capable of giving $5,000 to $250,000, collaborating with colleagues to develop the best and most compelling ask in alignment with organizational priorities.

• Partner with and “manage up” to the Global Director of Development and Global Executive Director to ensure proper moves management and tracking of the leadership portfolio. This includes surfacing priority prospects, supplying research and talking points, scheduling and staffing donor meetings and “ghost-writing” donor correspondence and other materials needed to move relationships forward.    
• Contribute to the success of Equality Now’s annual gala by managing solicitations, sponsor relations, seating and other benefits, and supporting gala marketing, communications and production as needed.
• Become an expert in Equality Now’s Theory of Change, work and impact to write inspirational and highly-polished letters of inquiry, program overviews, proposals, reports and impact updates.
• Coordinate Advisory Board meetings and activations, support members’ engagement in fundraising and event planning and help to ensure Equality Now is fully leveraging their time, talents and networks in service of our mission. 
• Provide day-to-day management and mentorship to the Mid-Level Giving & Events Officer in developing and engaging the mid-level donor portfolio and coordinating gala production and logistics. 
• Help create annual goals and budgets, and strengthen development team functioning to support frontline fundraising and ensure timely gift processing, documentation and acknowledgement of major gifts/sponsorships.
• Develop a robust network of programmatic, finance, and communications colleagues to become an expert in EN programs and operations and achieve all required outcomes.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

The Major Gifts Officer will is expected to work externally with major individual donors and family foundations, and internally in close partnership with the Global Executive DIrector and Global Director of Development, as well as with a cross-section of staff in Development, Communications and Program as needed to support the development of donor relations. 

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

• Meeting annual Major Gifts and Gala Sponsorships revenue goals, in partnership with Development Director and Global Executive Director
• Major donors retained, upgraded and added year-over-year
• Demonstrated ability to articulate Equality Now’s work and impact to donors, orally and in writing, in a compelling and highly professional manner, and independently build/use insights about donors/prospects to develop thoughtful and targeted engagement plans 
• Number of donor touchpoints (impact updates, meetings, invitations, etc.) executed independently and supported for the Global Executive Director and Global Director of Development. 

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Minimum of 6 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, with at least 4 years of experience in a proactive, frontline fundraising role.
• Demonstrated ability to independently engage and develop relationships with high-net-worth donors and close 5-7 figure gifts.
• Outstanding verbal and written communications skills, demonstrating a level of professionalism and polish in engaging internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in event fundraising and execution 
• Strong experience prepping organizational leaders and program staff for donor meetings and working with colleagues to produce compelling funding proposals and reports
• Knowledge of basic principles and best-practices in prospect identification, donor cultivation and stewardship
• Highly sociable, emotionally intelligent and motivated to meet new people, build relationships and spark engaging cause-focused conversations
• Ability to work effectively and respectfully in a fast-paced environment with diverse, international co-workers and executive leadership.
• Experience using donor databases to track moves management and key metrics
• Ability to travel when needed
• Sense of humor and adaptability
• Bachelor's degree required

Desirable:

• Prior knowledge and professional experience in women’s rights, human rights or social justice movements strongly preferred
• Management and mentorship experience
• Working knowledge of Raiser’s Edge/NXT;
• Cross-cultural/international experience; and
• Master’s Degree and/or CFRE.

COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

• Exceptional judgment and attention to detail, with a “customer service” mindset.
• Strong executive functioning, project management and organizational skills, and the ability to independently prioritize and plan
• Entrepreneurial, results-oriented mindset

HOW TO APPLY

Please visit: https://equalitynow.applytojob.com/ and submit a resume/CV, cover letter and fundraising-related writing sample.

Due to the volume of applicants anticipated for this role, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Equality Now is strong because it is diverse. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Equality Now offers a competitive compensation package, including base salary, savings, health and vacation benefits, and is an Equal Opportunity employer. Equality Now employees are selected on the basis of ability without regard to race, colour, religious beliefs, sex, gender identity and expression, language, political or other opinion, nationality, ethnic or social origin, disability, pregnancy, mental status, HIV status, age, marital status, or sexual orientation.

We welcome all kinds of diversity. Candidates are selected on the basis of ability, in accordance with all country and location specific laws.

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