Major Gifts Director

Major Gifts Director

About Austin Pets Alive! (APA!): APA! is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization rescues, treats, and adopts out some 10,000 dogs and cats at-risk in other shelters each year, providing the safety net for Austin’s most vulnerable shelter pets while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. While the organization is still distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, community-based animal rescue work, APA! has a national reputation for excellence in lifesaving programs and is recognized as a thought leader in animal welfare. 

General Description: Seeking a skilled people-person with a passion for animal welfare to build engagement around APA!’s lifesaving cause and draw support from our highest-level individual donors. While always keeping in mind that meeting fundraising goals is imperative for APA!’s lifesaving mission, the focus for APA!’s Philanthropy team is on creating great, inspiring relationships with supporters.    


The Major Gifts Director will work under the supervision of the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy within a highly collaborative team of 11 staff members, each owning a specialized role. This is a leadership role, lending the opportunity to oversee an already growing major gifts program and take it to the next level. It additionally offers the opportunity to participate in managing a capital campaign as APA! heads into the challenge of raising funds to establish new facilities. 


The Director will be responsible for a portfolio of VIP donors and for meeting ambitious and growing funding goals for major gifts. The Director will also lead the overall program for high-level individual donors, by (1) managing donor prospecting, (2) maintaining a donor pipeline, and (3) helping to create a comprehensive stewardship plan for all APA! supporters, collaborating on this with the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy. Last, (4) the Major Gifts Director will oversee team members primarily responsible for the stewardship and cultivation of major and mid-level individual donors. In order to be an effective mentor to these staff members, the Director must have prior experience in philanthropy.


This position requires a self-starter, comfortable with being out in front in improving major gifts fundraising at APA!, motivated to seek out solutions to obstacles in the drive towards meeting funding goals for an organization that has become a national player in its field. The Major Gifts Director must be an effective communicator with the ability to speak to different audiences, and must be firmly committed to our lifesaving cause. This is a full-time position. The Director will work primarily from home, with some time spent at Austin Pets Alive!’s Town Lake Animal Center facility. The role requires living in the Austin area.

APA! values the effect that diversity of thought, experience, and identity has on our organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Portfolio Work 

• Actively manage a substantial portfolio of VIP donors and prospective donors 
• Build meaningful 1:1 relationships with APA!’s highest-level supporters, focusing on creating engagement and a deep sense of community around our mission 
• Meet existing expectations for major gifts in the annual revenue budget while building the means for growth from this important class of gifts
• Meet KPIs that are imperative for maintaining a healthy program for high-level gifts
• Create funding proposals and other written collateral necessary for the stewardship and cultivation of major gifts
• Maintain timely contact reports, stewardship tracking, and forecasting
• Prospect for new major donors, and work collaboratively with Philanthropy staff on building the major donor pipeline
• Attend networking events in the community (when possible) to cast the net wider for prospective donors
• Provide support to the CEO, board members, Deputy Chief, and Chief of Philanthropy in working with major donors, as needed
• Manage the balancing of gifts in support of operations and for a capital campaign

Planning and Process Management

• Create plans for organizing work around the overall monthly and annual goals for mid- and major gifts, leading the team members responsible for these donor segments 
• Lead on prospect planning to bring in new high-level donors; create and manage a donor pipeline aimed a steadily improving revenues from existing donors
• Work with the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy to plan and maintain a comprehensive stewardship plan for all individual donors
• Track and report on high-level gifts and donors; create monthly reports on progress in relationship-building, gifts, and pledges to share with the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy
• Oversee planning of major donor engagement gatherings and attend these events, along with attending fundraising events planned by our events team 
• Manage the capital campaign’s quiet phase,working with a coordinator who handles logistics and the campaign’s administrative work
• Manage the process for stewardship and cultivation of capital gifts 

People Management

• Manage two staff with primary responsibility for stewarding higher-level donors and support them in their work with donor portfolios
• Create and manage KPIs; ensure staff who report to you are meeting activity and revenue  goals
• Participate in maintaining a great team dynamic on our highly collaborative team
• Maintain close contact with the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy, ensuring the Deputy receives regular reports on progress 

 What kind of qualifications we are seeking: 

• An authentic passion for animals and animal welfare
• An extrovert, who enjoys working with people; a networker, with a flair for meeting people, building relationships, and inspiring engagement
• Evidence of strategic ability in increasing revenues
• 5 or more years’ fundraising experience, with previous substantial responsibility for cultivating major individual gifts and meeting revenue goals 
• Past participation in a capital campaign or similar large campaign alongside annual fundraising desired
• Experience in the management of complex gifts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Organized and adept at managing projects and processes well
• Proven ability to manage people well
• Willing and able to take initiative and be proactive in independently managing projects
• Creative in managing projects on limited resources
• Driven to excel in meeting the needs of a mission-driven organization 
• Working proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and Google Suite
• Experience in working with technology for managing philanthropy, such as wealth assessment software, donor management systems or CRMs
• Must be available to work evenings and weekends as needed, particularly to attend sponsored events or donor engagement gatherings
• Commitment to working courteously and cooperatively, with a focus on civility, with staff, volunteers, adopters and supporters, and to serving as a model of mature professionalism for the staff members you lead

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and levels of work to be performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties.   


TIME COMMITMENT: This is a full-time, exempt position and may include weekends and evenings to support program needs.


LOCATION(S): 

Primarily remote/work from home (must live in Austin area)

APA! Main - Town Lake Animal Center 1156 West Cesar Chavez Austin, TX 78703

May travel to offsite locations as needed

TO APPLY:  Submit an application, cover letter and resume.  Materials should arrive no later than September 16, 2022.