Director of Planned Giving

TITLE: Director of Planned Giving

LINE OF BUSINESS/DIVISION: Operations/Development/Strategic Giving

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

REPORTS TO: Vice President, Strategic Giving

NUMBER OF POSITIONS REPORTING TO THIS POSITION: 0

LOCATION: Arlington, VA/Washington, DC preferred. Must be near a major metropolitan area or airport.

JOB HIGHLIGHTS

The Director of Planned Giving will create and execute on building a Planned Giving program for The Conservation Fund. Reporting to the Vice President, this role will work in concert with the entire Strategic Giving team on identifying, qualifying, cultivating, and stewarding planned giving prospects. The successful candidate will be a self-starter who is growth minded and passionate about building a planned giving program for one of the top ranked conservation organizations in the country.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

To perform this job successfully, you must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Create, manage, track, and implement The Conservation Fund’s planned giving program.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for The Conservation Fund’s planned giving opportunities.
• Charged with the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of a portfolio of national donors and prospects for planned philanthropic gifts.
• Build relationships with donors and prospects via personal visits, video calls, written content, and events.
• Solicit bequest designations and charitable gift annuities to support The Conservation Fund’s philanthropic objectives.
• Develop stewardship plans that demonstrate targeted engagement of planned giving donors.
• Develop a strong understanding of The Conservation Fund’s project and program work to keep planned giving prospects and donors up to date.
• Work with Director of Operations and Vice President to define and implement short- and long-range planned giving fundraising objectives of the organization.
• Lead efforts to collaborate with Major Gifts and Research colleagues within the department to maximize the potential of current donors for blended gift opportunities and identify planned giving prospects.
• Proven track record of developing relationships with financial institutions, legal firms, and estate planning professionals.
• Ensure that processes, relationship management techniques, and data-informed decision-making guide the work of the gift planning fundraising team in donor pipeline development, according to industry best practices.
• Educate other team members on planned giving and provide gift planning guidance, counsel, and resources to leadership and fundraising staff across the organization with an emphasis on increasing deferred gift and complex outright planned gifts.
• Draft communication materials in coordination with team members for marketing and e-communication content.
• Maintain knowledge of tax, investment, and legal aspects of planned giving in concert with Legal team and outside counsel.
• Record and update all relationship data pertaining to portfolio in Raiser’s Edge.

WHAT WE NEED YOU TO HAVE

• Minimum of 8 years of fundraising/development experience with donors giving at $100,000 and above level.
• Experience building fundraising programs, maintaining long-term relationships with major individual donors.
• Experience with current and evolving trends in gift planning and advanced gift planning concepts.
• Self-starter with demonstrated ability to work well independently and as part of a team.
• Organized, detail-oriented, possessing a builder’s mentality and strong work ethic.
• Well-developed written and oral communication skills, including translating complicated project information into compelling and captivating stories.
• Passion and interest in the mission of The Conservation Fund.
• Experience working with an environmental conservation organization preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel.

WHAT WE’D LIKE YOU TO HAVE

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Raiser's Edge experience and/or experience with donor CRMs.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

• The position does require sporadically working long hours and/or weekends.
• Overnight travel is required.
• Estimated travel – Up to 40%.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The salary range for this position is $125,000 - $140,000, and the position is eligible for opportunities to earn performance-based bonus compensation. Please note: Salary range provided is an estimate and will be evaluated on an individual basis, taking into consideration the candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, and education. The final salary offer will be determined accordingly.

The Fund offers a highly competitive package of benefits including:

• Employer contributions for medical, vision and dental insurance plans.

• Retirement plan discretionary company contribution.

• Company contributions to HSA account.

• Company-paid paid life insurance, AD&D, Short-Term and Long-Term disability insurance.

• Continuing education benefit for approved programs.

• Employee assistance program (EAP).

• Generous paid vacation, sick and floating holidays.

• Voluntary Life Insurance, AD&D, Spouse and Child plans at group rates.

• Six weeks paid parental leave

• 14 paid holidays

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time, with or without notice.

TO APPLY

The Conservation Fund has retained the services of ThinkingAhead Executive Search. Please submit your resume and expression of interest to: Chris Spagnola at cspagnola@thinkingahead.com.

To learn more about The Conservation Fund, visit https://www.conservationfund.org.

Frequently cited statistics show that women and people from underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they think they meet 100% of the criteria. If you meet many but not all the criteria and feel you may be a good fit for the role, The Conservation Fund encourages you to apply.

The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit corporation, is an Equal Opportunity Employer that fully and actively supports equal access for all people regardless of Race, Color, Religion, Gender, Age, National Origin, Veteran Status, Disability, Genetic Information or Testing, Family and Medical Leave status, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression. The Fund prohibits retaliation against individuals who bring forth any complaint, orally or in writing, to the employer or the government, or against any individuals who assist or participate in the investigation of any complaint, or otherwise oppose discrimination.