Director of Planned Giving

Compassion & Choices is seeking a Director of Planned Giving to advance our work to improve care, expand options and empower everyone to chart their end-of-life journey.

The director of planned giving is responsible for planning, cultivating, and continuing to grow a vibrant planned giving program with annual revenues of $5 million. The director is responsible for turning our 500 legacy circle members and active pipeline of 75 estate gifts into exponential growth in the years ahead. The director assists donors in understanding tax-wise giving strategies and planning for their future. The director must have extensive experience and expertise in the range of planned giving and tax-wise giving strategies, including wills and estates, real estate, gift annuities, donor-advised funds, IRAs, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, and life insurance.

This is a full-time, remotely-located (based anywhere in the continental US), paid positions. Compensation offered will be commensurate with experience.

We offer excellent benefits including employer-shared medical and dental insurance premiums, employer-paid short- and long-term disability, life and accidental death & dismemberment insurance, flexible spending account for medical and child care, commuter pre-tax benefit, eligibility to participate in 401K with generous 5% employer match and 100% vested at time of eligibility, 12 paid holidays, 17 PTO days first year, and personal days.

This position will primarily be responsible for:

Planned Giving Fundraising – 60%

• Cultivates and solicits prospective planned gift donors via personal visits, phone conversations, and by mail/email, actively managing a portfolio of prospects across the nation. Most gifts include estate gifts, CGAs, QCDs, real estate, and other planned gifts.
• Evaluate and analyze the planned giving prospect pool to identify the best prospects for follow-up and further cultivation/solicitation to enhance overall giving to the planned giving program.
• Helps ensure timely organizational review of potential gifts following the gift acceptance policy.
• Evaluate and strengthen the team-based approach to maximize philanthropic potential with key donors.
• Direct all planned giving vendor relationships such as Pentera, Stelter, PG Calc, and FreeWill, including establishing the strategy and ensuring it is executed.
• Coaches staff and provides training (as necessary), promoting a collegial atmosphere and empowering the staff to make planned gifts themselves.
• Coordinate with the philanthropy team to integrate planned giving into fundraising strategies, including the development and implementation of a double-ask with major donors (i.e., coordinated prospecting, trips, etc.)
• Communicate with estate representatives, including preparation of requested documents for
• signatures, tracking and updating planned giving plans related to estates in process, and closing
• estates at fiscal year-end.
• Provide donors with information and guidance on various planned giving options.
• Organize and conduct planned giving seminars and presentations.
• Stay informed on the latest trends and developments in planned giving.
• Work with legal and financial professionals to ensure compliance with all relevant laws and policies.
• Maintain detailed records of donor interactions and planned gifts and ensure the database is updated.
• Regularly report on the progress and impact of the planned giving program.

Marketing – 10%

• Develop strategies to consistently promote planned gift options to all constituencies.
• Directs all planned gift marketing efforts via internal communications and external planned gift vendors.
• Prepares written material as needed, including but not limited to brochures, articles, donor testimonials, and ad copy.
• Collaborate with the marketing team and external vendor to create informative and persuasive planned giving materials.

Donor Stewardship – 15%

• Provides ongoing, active stewardship to existing Legacy Circle members.
• Maximizes the role of Legacy Circle to honor and recognize planned gift donors.

Budget/Admin – 10%

• Develop an annual plan for the planned giving program, including a 12-month calendar for all Legacy Circle and direct marketing activities in collaboration with external vendor/s and internal communications and digital teams.
• With development services, prepares/maintains reports to communicate program performance.
• Participates in staff conference call(s) and gift officer calls.
• Oversee the planned giving associate to direct all activities related to:
  • Coordination with the Finance/Legal/Compliance Team on transferring and recording estate assets for the Consolidated Financial Statements and Audit.
  • working with PG Calc and the Finance Team to ensure compliance in all states for the registration and reserve requirements for CGAs.
  • work with CTAC, our CGA administrator, to book all new CGAs and ensure that payments and tax records are completed correctly.
  • Maintains planned giving donors and prospects records within the existing C&C development database.
  • Preparing reports to track planned giving metrics to illustrate program success.
  • Drafting planned giving content for Eblasts and Newsletters.
  • Planning and executing stewardship opportunities for the Legacy Circle Members.
  • Communicating with estate representatives, including preparation of requested documents for signatures, tracking and updating planned giving plans related to estates in process, and closing estates at fiscal year-end.

Misc: - 5%

• Demonstrates commitment to and active support of C&C’s Diversity & Inclusion program.
• Support all C&C efforts as requested, including, but not limited to, activities such as sharing prospects, briefing staff on donors, alerting staff of fundraising opportunities, reaching out to donors, etc. or other activities that enhance the visibility and potential of the planned giving effort.
• Support all C&C efforts as requested, including activities such as identifying prospects, briefing donors, alerting staff of fundraising opportunities, reaching out to donors, participating in phone-athons, etc.
• Complete related reports in a timely and accurate manner (such as company credit card statements, performance reviews, time cards, etc.).
• Other duties as required.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Currently manages a consultant and vendors.

Preferred Qualifications (You will be a good fit):

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field. An advanced degree or certification in fundraising, financial planning, or estate planning is a plus.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in planned giving, fundraising, or a related field.
• Strong communication and leadership skills, gift planning and tax law expertise, and experience working with a geographically diverse donor base.
• Proven experience working with estate attorneys to close complicated seven-figure estates, including assessing risk and selling real estate and other assets.
• Extensive experience and expertise in the range of planned giving and tax-wise giving strategies, including real estate, gift annuities, donor-advised funds, IRAs, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, and life insurance.
• Strong understanding of tax laws.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with donors, team members, and external partners.
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and confidentiality.
• Proficient in CRM software and Google.
• Commitment to the mission and values of Compassion & Choices.
• Demonstrated experience working with professional fundraising staff to help maximize opportunities for major, planned, and blended gifts.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Non-Profit Management (or related field), or equivalency in experience or combination of education & experience. Legal experience is not required but a plus.

Skills:

• Language Skills: Ability to read and interpret documents and reports. Ability to respond to inquiries or complaints from donors. Ability to effectively present information to donors, volunteers, organizational management, and public groups.
• Mathematical Skills: Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
• Reasoning Ability: Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully, an individual should have working knowledge of Microsoft Office, donor databases, and basic prospect research tools.

Values:

Must be energized by the idea of working at an organization with the following values:

• Compassionate in our conviction that dying patients should be free of unwanted treatment, suffering or outside interference.
• Respectful of the autonomy of individuals to decide what end-of-life options are best for them and their family.
• Courageous in our willingness to confront the toughest end-of-life health challenges, disrupt the broken status quo and protect an individual’s right to self-determination.
• Credible in all our education, advocacy and partnerships — our efforts are grounded in objective research and demonstrable facts.
• Resilient in our capacity to respond to opportunities and threats in the movement so that we can achieve our vision as quickly as possible.