Special Gifts Manager

Location: Denver Metro

Work Schedule: Non-exempt, Full-time

Deadline for submission: June 5, 2024

Conservation Colorado is seeking a Special Gifts Manager based in Denver who will be responsible for developing and managing a comprehensive fundraising plan to broaden and deepen support of our middle donor and corporate donor program using a community-centric fundraising approach that centers equity & inclusion.You will work closely with the VP of Fundraising as well as the CEO.About Conservation ColoradoAs the largest statewide environmental organization in Colorado, we work to protect our state’s climate, air, land, water, and communities. We play a unique role in Colorado as our work focuses on organizing communities, influencing decision-makers, and electing conservation-minded leaders. That work includes Protégete, which is focused on building Latine leadership and engagement on environmental issues. We believe that achieving racial, social, and environmental justice are critical to our mission.You can learn more about our mission here.

What You’ll Do

This position reports to the VP of Fundraising and plays a vital role in helpingensure Conservation Colorado has the fiscal resources needed to fund operations, programs, and strategic growth. This individual will integrate our theory of change, where the intersection of policy, politics, and people come together to advocate for solutions to environmental problems by organizing communities, influencing decision-makers, and electing conservation-minded leaders, into all fundraising strategies. The work can evolve over time, but it contains these areas of responsibility. 

Middle Donor Management

• Develop relationships with our donors to better connect the donor’s passions and interests to our work.
• Monitor & report on donor performance and use data to inform decision-making to increase funding from our donors.
• Play a key role in facilitating the individual giving prospect pipeline, turning middle donors into major donors.

Corporate & Business Donor Management

• Partner with our staff liaison to the Colorado Outdoor Business Alliance (COBA) on strategy to solicit COBA members and recruit new members.
• Keep a pulse on and be responsive to current trends in Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Social Good to ensure successful relationships with corporate partners.
• Build strategy that will support recruitment of new corporate partnerships to include all the ways a company can support the organization: Executive leaders, employee giving, volunteerism, event sponsorships (including for our signature event the bi-annual Rebel with a Cause gala), pay for play activities, and foundation funding.

Cultivation, Solicitation, and Stewardship

• Build and carry out a plan that establishes a cohesive calendar of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship efforts that achieve annual giving goals for the middle donor and corporate and business donor programs.
• Manage and coordinate donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship events and campaigns.
• In collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team, co-manage an appeal schedule that utilizes a variety of channels (direct mail appeals, digital solicitation, days of giving, workplace giving, and social media campaigns) to communicate with potential and current donors.

In addition to your regular responsibilities, all staff are expected to participate at some level in organizational priorities including taking part in election-related activities, and committing to organizational efforts around equity & inclusivity. 

Qualifications

This position is a great opportunity to help make progress on some of the most pressing environmental issues facing Colorado by helping make sure the organization has the financial resources to fulfill its mission. To do any of our work, our staff need to be natural relationship builders, have the resilience to handle tough situations, have excellent problem-solving skills with a results-focused orientation, bring an equity analysis to the work, and be highly collaborative. For this position, fundamentally, we want someone who loves connecting with people and who has the drive to take our work to the next level. More specifically, you will have or be most or all of the following:

• An experienced fundraiser: Major donor experience, developing small donor programs, or experience writing grants all fit here. This position also requires a high level of independence and ability to own a large scope of work. If you have experience raising money for political or advocacy causes, that’s a plus as well.
• Critical Thinking: You’ll need to be able to see both the forest and the trees. You’ll have to spot opportunities & challenges in the fundraising space and across the organization that we can leverage to make our fundraising have a greater impact. At the same time, you need to be on top of the details in order to best serve our donors.
• Data Analysis: Making data-informed decisions regarding our fundraising strategy is one of the keys to our success. You’ll need to have experience running donor reports, analyzing the data, and making recommendations. Experience with Salesforce, our CRM, is a plus.
• Strong written & verbal communication skills: Writing strong fundraising appeals that inspire donors, and having the skills needed to build rapport with donors in person are both necessary for the success of this work. You’ll also understand the value of transparent communication and sharing information so other people have what they need to be successful.
• Motivating others: You can inspire people to take action by connecting their issues to the mission of the organization and can articulate the power of people to influence decision makers to donors so they can better understand our work. And because we are committed to bringing people from different social identities into the organization, you need to do this with people who are different from yourself. As a trusted team member, you motivate other staff to do their best work.

This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. Spanish/English bilingual is a skill we value, but it is not a requirement. This is a full-time job, but there can be some flexibility in the exact schedule. 

Compensation and Benefits

The full-time salary range for this role is between $70,000 - 80,000 based on a wage analysis across the organization and new staff rarely starting at the top of the range.

We provide high-quality health insurance and a strong benefits package that includes a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with a match, at least 30 days of vacation & holidays in addition to six physical & mental wellness days in your first year, and parental leave and a sabbatical program. Please note that as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, Conservation Colorado employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

This position does require in-person work in the form of meeting with donors, attending events, and participating in team & organizational meetings. Therefore, we do require our staff to be vaccinated against COVID. We have embraced a hybrid work model and this position generally will need to be in our office one or two days a week, though everyone is welcome to work in the office 100% of the time if they prefer.

We are committed to building a more diverse and inclusive organization and conservation movement to fully represent and engage all Coloradans and to build as powerful a movement as we can. Recruiting staff that better reflects Colorado is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, race, ethnicity, geographies, political affiliation, sexual orientations, gender identities, and all other identities represented in Colorado or protected by law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. 

To Apply

If this job speaks to you, please submit a cover letter & resume and answer a few short questions. If you have a disability and need accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please tell us how we can help by calling us at 303.333.7846.