Major Gifts Officer

MISSION | What We Do:

Habitat for Humanity Chicago (Habitat Chicago) is a nonprofit organization that works to champion healthy neighborhoods by investing in resident priorities, supporting homeownership and building quality homes. We believe in a world where everyone has a decent place to live, and we invite people of all backgrounds, races and religions to work towards this vision together in our three focus neighborhoods of West Pullman, Greater Grand Crossing, and Austin.

JOB SUMMARY:

The Major Gifts Officer (MGO) partners with Habitat for Humanity Chicago’s (Habitat Chicago) staff and volunteers to build and sustain a robust major gifts program to further the organization’s mission and vision. The MGO forges relationships, and develops and implements tailored strategies to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a personal portfolio of individual major donors and prospects. The MGO will also play a key role in driving success within Habitat Chicago’s first major campaign.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

Key Responsibility: Fundraising (90%)

The Major Gifts Officer develops long-term relationships with individual donors and prospects to ensure Habitat Chicago achieves its fundraising targets.

• Maintain a personal portfolio of 125-150 major gift prospects ($25,000+) and High-end Annual Gift Prospects ($10,000+) and meet or exceed annual and campaign fundraising goals through portfolio cultivation.
• Plan and follow through on a high volume of qualification calls and meetings, helping to confirm interest in deeper involvement and philanthropy among a donor audience with capacity for, but not necessarily a history of, multi-year and major gift commitments. 
• Use the moves management process to strategically motivate donors and prospects to make “stretch” gifts to Habitat Chicago. 
• Research prospects and prepare solicitation planning sheets and proposals for meetings with individual major gift donors and prospects.
• Collaborate with the Campaign Coordinator to schedule and facilitate prep meetings with the Executive Director, campaign co-chairs and committee members, and other staff prior to donor cultivation and solicitation visits, as needed. 
• Articulate Habitat Chicago’s case for support to increase donors’ passion and involvement. 
• Leverage templates and case materials to develop tailored donor presentations and gift proposals, persuasively communicating Habitat Chicago’s mission and programs to current and potential funders. 
• Track and manage action items, prospect engagement, and donor proposals in Salesforce.
• Monitor weekly and monthly reports to ensure annual fundraising and campaign goals are on track to be achieved.
• Coordinate donor activities and campaign events with the Executive Director, the Director of Advancement, and volunteers, as needed. 
• Assist the Director of Advancement and the Campaign Coordinator with staffing the Resource Leadership Committee and Campaign Steering Committee, as appropriate. 
• Stay informed about developments in the affordable housing field and philanthropy best practices, continuously seeking opportunities to enhance major gifts fundraising strategies and tactics.
• Other duties as needed. 

Key Responsibility: Leadership and Teamwork (10%)

Help grow Habitat Chicago through collaboration, leadership and vision:

• Maintain a “team first” outlook, supporting the success of the team and the mission in attitude, ideas, and actions, including ideas for growing and improving the affiliate.
• Champion teamwork, record/data maintenance, and creative problem solving in all team members.
• Demand excellence of team members and model proactive, creative, and positive solutions.
• Contribute enthusiastically to Habitat Chicago events, helping as necessary with set up/take down, management, networking, etc.
• Engage enthusiastically with all members of team, program participants, and core volunteers.

This job description is not to be construed as an exhaustive list of duties nor required skills. Employees may occasionally perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities to meet the needs of the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Strong written, oral and presentation communication skills
• Strong interpersonal and motivational skills, including ease and skill in conveying a nonprofit’s mission to a wide variety of constituents 
• Demonstrated ability to meet financial goals for major gift fundraising, with a proven track record of cultivating and securing five-figure gifts and above
• Experience supporting and engaging Board members and volunteer leaders in a fundraising context, as well as comfort and skill coordinating staff and volunteer teams 
• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the technology tools including Salesforce Customer Relationship Management System and associated applications; Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; project management systems
• Strong interest in the mission and vision of Habitat Chicago 
• Ability to manage confidential information with discretion and tact
• Current authorization to work permanently in the United States
• Ability to travel as needed within the region and attend evening and weekend events 

Education and Experience

• Minimum four to six years of demonstrated experience in major or planned gift fundraising, or comparable work in other client-management professions
• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) preferred

CORE VALUES:

• Mission Driven: Mission first. We center neighborhood priorities in our relationships, decisions, and actions to advance our shared goals of affordable homeownership and neighborhood health.
• Collaboration: We are stronger together. We encourage, welcome, and integrate varied perspectives with intention.
• Adaptability: We listen and adjust. We are curious about and responsive to change, and innovative in our solutions.
• Trust: We do what we say we will do. We engage in relationships honestly and with integrity, holding ourselves accountable for our decisions and actions as a reliable partner/presence.
• Equity: We promote access and opportunity. We value diversity, create inclusive spaces, and tailor efforts to prioritize practices and resources that meet unique needs, disrupting the harm of racism and other systems of oppression.
• Respect: We listen to foster understanding. We recognize the inherent worth and value of every individual and honor the various gifts, talents, and perspectives each person brings.

POSITION DETAILS:

Reports to: Director of Advancement

Supervises: N/A

Hours: Full-time; 8am-4pm plus evening and weekends meetings as required.

Environment: The Habitat Chicago office is located at 111 W Jackson. It is accessible by car or by public transit. The Major Gift Officer will have a desk, computer, and phone line in an open office environment.

Conditions: Ability to lift 25 pounds, ability to work at a computer for long periods of time.

Compensation: Salaried; $70,000 - $75,000, depending on experience. 30+ vacation/sick/personal days per year. 90% employer paid health insurance; access to dental, vision, life and 401k plans.

FLSA Status: This position is exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and therefore will not earn overtime or compensatory time for additional time worked.

Training: The position will begin with an onboarding period to become familiar with the organization’s work and policies; they will be trained on the specifics of the role through a combination of in-person, online and written trainings and will be expected to take the initiative to review materials as needed and seek understanding of new developments in order to perform their responsibilities.

HOW TO APPLY:

By email: Please submit a compelling cover letter and resume to careers@habitatchicago.org with “Major Gifts Officer”– Your Name” in the subject line by 11/22/2024. Successful applicants will be contacted for interviews. 

Online: Visit https://habitatchicago.jobs.flair.hr/ to complete an application.

Habitat for Humanity Chicago values a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply.

Habitat for Humanity Chicago is an equal opportunity employer. This organization does not discriminate in employment and personnel practices based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability status, religion, national origin or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.