Position: Director, Individual Philanthropy
Department: Development
FLSA Status: Full-time, Exempt
Reports to: Chief Development Officer
Location: Washington DC
Direct Reports: Philanthropy Officer/ Development Associate
Date Issued: May 2023
About the Organization
Polaris is a leader in the global fight to eradicate modern slavery. Named after the North Star that guided slaves to freedom in the US, Polaris acts as a catalyst to systemically disrupt the human trafficking networks that rob human beings of their lives and their freedom. By working with government leaders, the world's leading technology corporations, and local partners, Polaris equips communities to identify, report, and prevent human trafficking. Our comprehensive model puts victims at the center of what we do – helping survivors restore their freedom, preventing more victims, and leveraging data and technology to pursue traffickers wherever they operate. Founded in 2002, Polaris is pursuing additional funding to fuel the three pillars of our work - direct response, data & intelligence insights, and campaigns & public engagement. More details about our programs and history can be found on our web site at www.polarisproject.org.
About the Opportunity
Polaris seeks an experienced, energetic, and polished Director of Individual Philanthropy to join the Development team. They will be responsible for developing and implementing strategies to increase revenue from individuals and family foundations. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Director is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and is responsible for leading and managing all day-to-day (and potential campaign-related) activities needed to build and grow a successful individual giving program that includes small, middle, and major donors. They have the opportunity to shape, execute, and enhance initiatives designed to achieve both short and long-range outcomes, particularly with growing middle and major donors. With the CDO, CEO and other Executive Team members, the Director is a dynamic member of Polaris who will play a key role in helping to scale and sustain revenue from our important work.
Responsibilities
Strategy and Leadership
- In collaboration with the Chief Development Officer, conceptualize, develop, and lead an overarching and integrated individual giving strategy that includes major gift fundraising, digital and direct mail campaigns, sustainers, and donor events;
- Directly manage a portfolio of major donors through frequent in person, email and phone engagement, solicitation, and stewardship;
- Oversee online and offline platforms, systems, and processes that enable individual gift fundraising, including reporting and analysis to measure ROI and program effectiveness; and
- Responsible for meeting revenue targets for individual donors.
Collaboration
- Supervise and support the efforts of the Philanthropy Officer and Development Associate with regard to cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors, mid-level and general donors, as well as special audiences such as new, consecutive-year, and sustainer donors;
- Ensure coordination and collaboration among the Director, CDO, CEO and Philanthropy Officer;
- Manage external consultants to implement multi-channel direct response and marketing programs relative to data needs, copy and creative development, print production and performance analysis; and
- Engage the Communications team to integrate content into marketing and fundraising activities including advocacy, cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation.
Donor Engagement
- Independently identify, cultivate, and solicit an active portfolio of 100+ individual donors and prospects, and deepen their investment in mission;
- Travel to meet face-to-face with individuals, family foundations, and/or their representatives;
- Create and execute appropriate stewardship opportunities for the full spectrum of donors throughout the year; and
- Maximize individual giving, matching funds, and in-kind contributions.
Relationship Management
- Manage a discrete portfolio and has significant knowledge of and input on the portfolios of others who engage with individual donors;
- Oversee research on potential new donors and propose strategies to engage them;
- Strategically move donors through the pipeline in a systematic, scalable way; and
- Support the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship efforts of the CDO and CEO so that they are properly prepared for each donor interaction that are not directly executed by the Director themself. This includes donor profiles, briefing materials, talking points and follow up.
Supervisory
- Lead the Philanthropy Officer and Development Associate, support and develop staff to provide tangible performance feedback and instill guidance and encouragement
- Conduct performance reviews and comprehensive goal assignment aligned with organization performance.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and/or experience;
- 8+ years of progressive forward facing fundraising experience;
- Experience developing and implementing a strategy that moves donors of all sizes through the pipeline;
- Ability to solicit and steward donors who make five-figure gifts and higher;
- Experience with building a small-dollar donor file through direct and digital marketing, acquisition and ads;
- A proven track record of success developing, managing, building, and sustaining complex donor relationships;
- Strong experience implementing digital fundraising and marketing strategies;
- Experience effectively engaging and supporting a CEO, CDO or similar executive level staff;
- Experience in a supervisory capacity leading and leading and supporting a team;
- Ability to flourish in a high paced environment with multiple priorities without compromising attention to detail or deadlines;
- Extensive understanding of how development operations, systems and processes support individual giving;
- Willingness to travel nationally and occasionally work outside of normal business hours; and
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, including effectively engaging and managing executive leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience using Salesforce NPSP, Pardot & Accounting Subledger, Jackson River’s Springboard, iWave, or similar platforms
- Knowledge of prospect research, wealth enhancement, and planned giving tools
- Experience working with a third-party fundraising agency
- Commitment to and interest in social justice and human rights; interest in human trafficking
- Master’s Degree
Communication
- Internal: Ability to communicate with supervisor, the Executive Team, direct reports and peers
- External: Frequent contact with individual donors, family foundations, financial advisors and philanthropic advisors
Working Conditions
Physical Requirements
- Prolonged sitting, chiefly at a computer terminal
- Occasional bending, stooping, and stretching
- Requires eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity sufficient to operate a computer, telephone, calculator, and other office equipment
- Requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to record, prepare, and communicate in writing, in person and by phone
- Requires occasional lifting up to 25 pounds
Values Statement
The work of Polaris is grounded in a set of values and organizational beliefs that provide a common starting point for all of our activities. At Polaris, we look for talented individuals who are passionate about combating all forms of human trafficking and who will strive to embody and model these values within the Polaris community and in the anti-trafficking field. Please take a moment to make yourself familiar with these values and our mission statement before submitting your application. You can find a full description of our values here.
Diversity Statement
Polaris designs and implements data-driven strategies to prevent and disrupt human trafficking and restore freedom to survivors. Achieving this ambitious goal requires both trafficking-specific systemic interventions and broader cultural and structural shifts that reduce the inequities that lead to human trafficking. While Polaris alone cannot build a more diverse, just, equitable, and inclusive society, both the success of our work and our organizational values require modeling in the workplace the change we want to see in the world.This means cultivating a workforce, organizational culture, and priorities that respect and celebrate a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team made up of individuals with different identities, lived experiences, and backgrounds. Within both our team and across every part of our work, we strive to integrate and elevate the full range of survivor voices.This is a living commitment. Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are values to be manifested daily in the work we do, the decisions we make, and the way that we treat each other and the people we serve. This means creating space where staff can be included, heard, valued, and set up for success, and where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, best selves to work. We will not check boxes and consider it done. We will push new innovations and different ways of thinking, and treasure the community built and strengthened by each of our contributions.
