OVERVIEW

The climate emergency is here and it is the greatest societal threat that we face. The world as we know it is running out of time and the window for small, incremental action has closed. Instead, we need an emergency-level response to accelerate decarbonization around the world.

ACE works at the nexus of youth, media and civic engagement to accelerate our pathway toward a decarbonized world. We reach tens of millions of people with our programs each year and are driving a new climate narrative to engage audiences that our movement has yet to reach. We utilize leading-edge media strategies to combat dangerous disinformation, drive action-taking, and increase diverse participation in the democratic process.

Our staff and board members are dynamic, diverse and talented, and our team is currently growing to meet this critical moment of opportunity.

JOB SUMMARY

ACE’s Senior Director for High Net Worth Philanthropy is a frontline fundraising role responsible for securing potentially transformative 6- and 7-figure gifts from high net worth individual philanthropists to support ACE’s work at the nexus of youth, climate, education, and democracy. The Senior Director is responsible for the growth of the individual giving portfolio and supervises the Individual Giving Director. This role will engage her/his own individual donor contacts as well as research the big names of climate philanthropy (i.e MacKenzie Scott, Tom Steyer, Nat Simons, Wendy Abrams, etc.), conduct relationship mapping, develop strategies to engage these HNW donors, and implement direct engagement with the goal of securing 5-7 transformative gifts in the first year and 10-15 in the second year toward ACE’s 501(c)3 work and or the work of our 501(c)4 affiliate Climate Emergency Advocates. The Senior Director works in close collaboration with the Senior Head of Philanthropy and Communications, the Deputy Director of Philanthropy and the Executive Director to design, develop and implement ACE’s individual philanthropy strategies.

ACE has experienced transformative growth, expanding our budget sixfold in the last five years (from $2M to $12M annually), with a goal to become a $30 million organization within the next two years. We are continuing that growth trajectory with a proposed annual fundraising budget for fiscal year 2024 (July-June) of $17M. The Senior Director will play a central role in helping us continue on this growth trajectory by attracting high net worth philanthropists to our work and impact. With this growth, comes the exciting opportunity to attract and build a robust community of climate and democracy philanthropists, expanding our reach by attracting new potential donors at the $50,000+ level.

The Senior Director will join a growing, skilled Development team with strong leadership, support and active fundraising led by the Senior Head of Philanthropy and Communications in partnership with the Executive Director. The Senior Director will also work collaboratively across all ACE Teams, including ACE’s Board of Directors, Digital Engagement and Campaigns Team, Operations and HR Team, the Executive Team, and other emergent program teams. This is a fully remote position that will require consistent, frequent communication and collaboration with a fully remote team. This position requires travel approximately 40-50% of the time.

Successful performance of job responsibilities will result in: 1) meeting annual fundraising goals; 2) building the prospect pool by adding 20-50 new prospects to the existing base of 30 HNW prospects; 3) increasing the number and quality of moves via calls and meetings with prospective donors at the $50,000+ giving level; 3) successfully securing gifts from 5-7 new donors; 4) meaningful collaboration with the Senior Head of Philanthropy and Communications, Deputy Director of Philanthropy, Executive Director, and Director of Individual Giving towards the creation and execution of a clearly defined individual donor engagement strategy; and 5) a measurable increase in the size and scope of ACE’s high net worth giving portfolio to meet or exceed annual budget goals, while laying the groundwork for long-term success aligned with ACE’s 3-year strategic plan.

Key Responsibilities:

Donor Solicitation (40%). Soliciting high net worth individual donors regularly in person (including a regular travel calendar), over the phone, and virtually to significantly expand the active donor portfolio. Creating and executing effective and efficient individualized solicitation plans for all leadership-level donors at ACE and developing customized pitches based on the interest of the donor. Organizing–together with the Director of Individual Giving–and representing ACE at donor events with high net worth philanthropists.
Prospecting & Cultivation (40%). Leading prospect research and qualification on new potential high net worth individual donors, and their donor advisors, to ACE and CEA. Creating and executing customized donor cultivation plans for each qualified high net worth individual giving prospect, including cultivation of gatekeepers and donor advisors with access to donors at this level. Managing successful moves management strategies to move all high net worth individual giving prospects across cultivation timelines towards solicitation and becoming active donors.
Donor Stewardship (10%). Create individualized donor stewardship plans for ACE’s high net worth individual donors with regular communications touchpoints for high net worth individuals, providing timely, noteworthy updates to current and prospective high net worth donors and their advisors.
Managing & Coaching/Collaboration (10%) Supervise the Director of Individual Giving for successful management and growth of the mid-level and leadership-level individual giving portfolio.

Qualifications

7+ years experience in senior-level frontline fundraising roles; managing and growing a large portfolio and regularly soliciting five, six, and seven-figure gifts from high net worth individual donors.
Demonstrated ability to successfully build, manage, and grow a portfolio of high net worth donors, raising over $1 million in gifts annually; with a proven track record of securing gifts from new prospective donors.
Deep understanding of and specific expertise of moves management and donor solicitation strategies; including prospecting, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship best practices.
An energetic, driven, insatiable appetite for fundraising, prospecting new high net worth individual donors, and growing the organization to its next level of excellence.
Passion for ACE’s mission and our work at the nexus of youth, climate, strategic communications, and democracy.
A deep commitment to equity and justice in philanthropy.
Exceptional skills and a track record of raising funds for an organization with at least a $5 million annual budget.
Working knowledge of wealth screening tools, such as DonorSearch, iWave, etc.
Deep understanding of donor prospecting practices, such as conducting initial donor outreach to qualified prospects.
Exceptional ability to manage complex systems and projects, while keeping meticulous attention to detail.
An uncanny ability to engage others in fundraising and thrive off of relationships.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to communicate effectively to different audiences, especially with high net worth donors and their peers.
Self-motivated to manage multiple projects with thoroughness, accuracy, timeliness, and professionalism.
Ability to troubleshoot challenges with patience and creativity.
Strong organizational and time management skills.

Desired Qualifications:

Existing contacts with high net worth individuals with giving capacity of $50,000+
Experience fundraising for environmental, climate, or youth nonprofit organizations and/or other political, advocacy or civic engagement-focused organizations.
Experience fundraising for a c4 organization.
Experience working with a multiracial team with diverse identities and backgrounds.
Experience working remotely.
Experience managing a portfolio through a period of rapid growth and expansion.

Excellent technological skills, and fluency OR ability to learn: Salesforce, Slack, Monday.com, Google Apps, and other relevant programs as necessary.

POSITION DETAILS

Annual salary range: $125,000-135,000 commensurate with experience
Generous benefits include: Medical, Dental, Vision, 403b retirement savings plan, Vacation, Sabbatical, Paid Parental Leave, 2 Floating Holidays, 2 Community Service Floating Holidays, sick time, two weeks of full-staff time off (July 4 week and Christmas-New Years week) and 13 observed holidays
ACE is an equal-opportunity employer that highly values staff diversity
Location: Remote

Deeply integrated throughout this work is an underlying commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Specifically, as it relates to this role includes engaging in discussion with the Development team around decolonizing wealth, engaging individuals equitably across donors of all levels, and discussing ACE’s values and work toward justice and equity in all that we do.

This description reflects ACE’s assignment of essential functions, it does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned. ACE retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position at any time. Employees must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

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