Major Gifts Officer

Office Location: This position will be hybrid, working in the downtown Chicago office, as well as remotely, engaging with staff and stakeholders through virtual platforms. This position is not eligible for paid relocation.

Reports to: Chief Advancement Officer

Schedule: Full-time

About the Organization

Mikva Challenge is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to develop youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens and community members who will promote a just and equitable society. We do this by engaging youth in Action Civics, an authentic and transformative learning process built on youth voice and youth expertise. Youth in Mikva’s programming experience unique civic learning opportunities in political campaigns, public policy advocacy, government internships, and youth activism programs. Our approaches include direct youth work, teacher support, and liaising with civic leaders and institutions. We believe strongly in the potential of youth and are committed to youth power and voice.

Mikva Challenge evaluations show the lasting impact of its programs.

• 82% of students reported an increase in their civic knowledge.
• 77% of students developed their sense of civic agency and increased their future commitment to civic action.
• 83% of students took on new civic leadership.
• 79% of students reported gains in their socio-emotional skills — many of which have direct academic outcomes.

About the Position

Mikva Challenge is seeking an individual to build a strong base of individual donors to support the ambitious goals of the organization. The Major Gifts Officer based in Chicago will be responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding current individual major donors as well as prospects with the capacity of supporting the organization with an annual gift of $5,000 or more. Key to success in this role will be identifying and building relationships with new prospects, as well as strengthening relationships with existing donors to maximize philanthropic support. This position will engage with key donors in priority locations.

Core Responsibilities

• Identify and track new prospects through referrals, research, and outreach. Assist with donor screening to help identify new major donor prospects and manage the screening process and input of data.
• Qualify and meet with new major gift prospects.
• Manage an active portfolio of 75-100 major and prospective major donors.
• Create a comprehensive strategy for donor cultivation, solicitation, and retention based on the donor’s giving history and capacity.
• Build individualized giving plans that align with the donor’s interest and motivate annual giving.
• Directly solicit major gifts and partner with senior staff and/or volunteers on solicitations by providing prospect briefings, strategic guidance, and assistance with donor communications.
• Develop, plan, and participate in strategic donor engagement opportunities, such as small events for select prospects in the portfolio and larger donor stewardship events.
• Develop a high-quality donor experience through regular correspondence, professional proposals, and timely acknowledgements.
• Track prospect activity in donor management software regularly. Provide regular reports that accurately reflect progress toward building relationships and increasing donor support.
• Supervise staff responsible for supporting major gifts initiatives.
• Monitor and manage progress towards goals, including dollars secured and donor cultivation and stewardship activities.
• Ensure appropriate donor acknowledgement and stewardship.
• Track naming opportunities and plan for appropriate donor recognition opportunities, as appropriate.
• Work with staff responsible for gift processing and finance to ensure proper recording, allocation, documentation, acknowledgement, stewardship, and analysis of major gifts and pledges.
• Facilitate regular meetings with the CAO, CEO, and other development team and organization leaders.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience

Experience: Minimum of five years’ experience managing donor relationships with proven track record of successfully closing major gifts

Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills and a proven ability to create and foster excellent relationships between donors and an organization
• Ability to effectively communicate organization’s mission and goals to a diverse group of donors
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment, meet concurrent deadlines, organize time and priorities
• Willingness to work periodic weekends and evenings
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and flexibility with demanding workloads
• Passionate about youth development for underserved communities and/or addressing social injustice
• Familiarity with current issues and trends in education, and an understanding of philanthropic funding landscapes in education and youth programming.
• Strong knowledge of MS Excel, Word, & PowerPoint
• Experience with a donor database platform such as Salsa

Compensation 

The salary range for this position is $72,000 – $85,000 annually commensurate with experience. We offer a competitive benefits package that includes paid vacation and sick leave, medical, dental, vision, 401K, disability and life insurance.

Additionally, we offer an additional two weeks of paid time off for scheduled organization downtime.

How to Apply

Please email a resume and cover letter to careers@mikvachallenge.org with “Major Gifts Officer” in the subject line by October 15, 2024. Documents should use the following naming convention: First Name_LastName – Document Name.

Equity Statement

Mikva Challenge is an equal opportunity employer and we highly value diversity in our workplace. Mikva Challenge provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors. Applicants from historically underrepresented and/or marginalized communities, including people of color, are strongly encouraged to apply.