Description

Valley of the Sun United Way has an exciting opportunity for a Principal Gifts Director.  This role will be reporting to the Senior Director, Individual Donor Engagement Director the Director, Principal Gifts is responsible for cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of a portfolio of donors and prospective donors with the capacity to give $500,000 plus or more through a major gift or multi-year agreement. The Director, Principal Gifts is responsible for developing and executing strategies to qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors, driving engagement and investments to achieve the organization’s priorities and overall mission. The Director, Principal Gifts will leverage the current donor circles and conduct outreach and cultivation to acquire new donors. 

The ideal candidate will be responsible for the following duties:

Donor Strategy

· Develop donor-centric major gift strategies aligned to the fundraising goals through execution of annual events and communication plans in collaboration with the appropriate internal teams.

· Develop and manage a portfolio of major gift prospects. Move them through the donor cycle and directly solicit for major gifts for $500,000 or more to high-net-worth donors. 

· Create individual goals for each donor based on the donor’s giving history and knowledge of the donor’s potential. 

· Achieve performance metrics and funding goals, set annually. 

Cultivation and Engagement

· Utilize donor research tools to support meeting preparation and strategic solicitation. 

· Partner with the leadership, board of directors, committee volunteers to help cultivate and solicit gifts, steward current and new donors, donor cultivation events, personalized meetings, and engagement activities to facilitate effective donor recruitments strategies.

· Conduct outreach to prospective donors to cultivate, attract and acquire new high- net-worth donors. 

· Attend events and activities to engage with donors and cultivate new prospects to expand the donor membership to achieve the fundraising objectives. 

· Develop an engagement plan for major gift prospects to foster the relationship for major gift opportunities.

· Ability to build, develop and maintain strong relationships with donors, prospects and internal and external constituents. 

Fundraising and Solicitation

· Actively produce written proposals, presentations, requests appeals, case development and other donor centric communication.

· Excellent interpersonal, and outstanding written and verbal communication skills. 

· Accurately execute gift processing timely and personalize acknowledgments and receipts and maintain accurate door contract information.

Data Management and Reporting

· Maintain accurate records of donor interactions and manage donor information in Andar and the Customer Relations Management system.

· Collaborate with the Major Gifts Manager to have reports generated to track progress, analyze fundraising metrics, and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies.

· Utilize and maintain database system and processes to plan, track and prioritize prospects/donor activity. 

Collaboration and Coordination

· Collaborate with marketing and communications teams to create targeted messaging campaigns and other engagement efforts for existing donor circle members and prospects. 

· Collaborate with the major gifts team to identify new potential prospects and assess their philanthropic interests. Analyze donor giving patterns and wealth indicators to prioritize and qualify prospects.

· Collaborate with Community Development Directors to identify and be knowledgeable about impact area priorities in order to continually increase major gifts to support program growth. 

Requirements

  The ideal candidate must have the following job requirements:

· A bachelor’s degree

· A minimum of 2-4 years of professional fundraising experience and proven and demonstrated track record in soliciting gifts of at least $500,000 to individual donors. 

· A minimum of 5-7 years of professional work experience desired, with two or more years of previous experience in a fundraising, development, sales, communication, and/or public relations capacity preferred.

· Experience with CRM/database management required. 

· Experience analyzing and managing a sales pipeline or fundraising moves management required. 

Technical Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Requirements:

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

· Ability to use the Internet and have a proven comfort level with learning new software applications as necessary.

· Excellent written and oral communication skills, and a clear and concise writing style. 

· Excellent research, analytical and interpersonal skills.

· Ability to multi-task, prioritize and manage concurrent projects and day to day tasks effectively, with minimal supervision, in a fast-paced environment.

· Ability to cultivate, engage and maintain professional relationships with donors and volunteers, and to maintain confidentiality regarding personal philanthropic decisions.

· Develops and enhances relationships through authenticity, professionalism, and trust.

· Strong communication, listening and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate the mission and message in a compelling manner in individual and group setting; confidence to assert, present perspective, engage others, and influence outcomes. 

· Takes ownership of opportunities, challenges, and decisions to drive work and the organization forward. 

To apply for this opportunity use the quick link below:

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/All/7f996288-75f6-46d5-8c38-2353de19dccd/Valley-of-the-Sun-United-Way