About Visionary Circle: This program gives focus to the mid-level giving donor cohort, those who donate between $1,000 to $9,999.00 and ensures a “personal touch” to the donor experience for this cohort—between the basic outreach done for annual giving donors and the individualized proposals done for major donors. In addition to raising funds, the Visionary Circle program helps to increase the retention rate for some of our key champions and enhances the pipeline to Major Gift donor prospects.
Position Overview: Through direct outreach and ongoing stewardship, the Gift Officer plays a critical role in bridging the gap between annual givers and major givers. This individual will work closely with the Sr. Gift Officer to actively engage with and manage a nationwide portfolio of 600 donors and donor prospects to achieve strategic plan and financial goals.
Primary Responsibilities include:
The following are representative of the responsibilities associated with this position and are not meant to be an all-inclusive list.

• Assist in the strategic development and management of a portfolio with approximately 400 – 500 prospects and donors initially capable of making gifts of $1,000 – $9,999 building to a total of 600 donors.
• Engage and cultivate new donors in an ongoing process, cultivate and steward existing donors to increase overall retention and level of giving, and grow a pipeline of Visionary Circle donors up to the planned maximum (700 donors).
• Actively engage with donors via phone calls, email, correspondence, social media reviews and surveys to determine actual giving capacity, past philanthropy, affinity for retinal diseases, stage of vision loss (if applicable), and living with low/no vision considerations (if applicable).
• Assist in the development and implementation of solicitation strategies with the major gift team, any direct mail service employed by the Foundation, and collaborate with leadership and staff to maximize fundraising revenue.
• Conduct a minimum of 200 personal virtual (phone, video, email) contacts monthly to prospects and donors; record contacts and pertinent info the CRM system.
• Proactively provide follow-up for Visionary Circle solicitations, research updates, and donor support to achieve an average gift of $1,500 2,500 per donor, closing at least 50% of the donors each year.
• Partner with Prospect Research, Major Gifts, chapters, and events to identify prospective donors and strategically assess their philanthropic capacity and inclination.
• Be an active and collaborative team member in Development, partnering with and maintaining close communication with the various stakeholders across the department (i.e., Chapters, Major Gifts, events etc.).
• Review donor strategies quarterly and make donor referrals to build the major gift pipeline.
• Provide timely follow-up to communications, including tracking moves and solicitations within database systems, and sending personalized follow-ups to individual prospects.
• Drive for Results – steadfastly pushing self and others for results with a focus on bottom-line results and moving donors up to major gifts or back down to Direct Mail.
• Use key metrics and effective time management to achieve higher retention rates and communications.

The successful candidate will have:

• Minium of five years of experience with constituent engagement and non-profit fundraising. Preferred experience includes a history of personally solicited individual gifts and working on gift strategies
• Demonstrated track record of accomplishment in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, closing gifts up to $10,000, and providing stewardship to donors
• Experience in direct mail, mid-level and major gift work continuum/moves.
• Demonstrated abilities to partner successfully with staff, volunteers, donors and event staff in creating new giving opportunities.
• Ability to work collaboratively as well as independently
• Ability to initiate and build long-term relationships with prospective individual donor partners.
• Strong fundraising ethics; with discernible respect for confidentiality of donor information
• Excellent people skills with effective verbal, listening and written communication abilities.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Initiative-taking, enthusiastic and have strong follow-up skills
• Ability to use Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, and Outlook) and CRM database systems.
• Ability to work flexible week including some weekends including some travel to markets around the country.
• Must be fully vaccinated for COVID; requires documentation of vaccinations

Position specifics:

• Home-office based position with some travel expected.
• Budgeted Salary Range: $75,000–$90,000; Annual Incentive Plan eligibility 8%

The range is what we reasonably expect to pay for this role. The range considers a wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to: geographic markets, business or organizational needs, skill sets, experience, training, licensure, and certifications.

• Reporting to: Sr. Gift Officer, Visionary Circle
• Annual Incentive Bonus Eligibility up to 8%

For consideration, send your resume with a letter of interest to HR@fightingblindness.org.

Pay: $75,000.00 - $90,000.00 per year