Major Gifts Officer

M4BL Major Gifts Officer (Manager)
Location: Remote
Reports to: M4BL Director of Resource Development
Salary: $100,000 - $110,000 with full health benefits for employee and dependents, employer-funded retirement plan, remote work stipend, and 28 days of vacation

Movement for Black Lives

The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) formed in December of 2014 and was created as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural and political wins, convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement wide strategy. M4BL is an ecosystem of more than 150 Black led organizations representing thousands of Black people from across the country that have come together with renewed energy, strategy and purpose to articulate a common vision and agenda. Our ecosystem is united by core values and politics that seek to build an anti-capitalist, abolitionist and Black queer feminist future. The Movement for Black Lives’ budget has grown significantly to meet the needs of the ecosystem and the urgency of this political and cultural moment. M4BL’s donor base now consists of multi-year commitments from diverse funding streams across major individual donors, corporations, private, public and family foundations, trusts, and other assets. In this phase of our growth, M4BL is looking for new staff members to join an expanding development team.

Position Summary
The Major Gifts Officer is responsible for implementing strong and innovative fundraising strategies to solicit and secure principal and major level gifts from a portfolio of donors who support the organization with an annual gift of $25K+. The position will also be responsible for maintaining and growing a pipeline of new and prospective major donors, foundations, and institutional funders and collaboratives who have recently incepted over the last 18 months. The Major Gifts Officer will work independently as well as interact closely with the Resource Development Director to build a sustainable revenue stream allowing for year over year growth to fuel the Movement for Black Lives. The Major Gifts Officer is a key member of the Resource and Development team and will significantly contribute to the organization’s revenue goals by soliciting, renewing, and stewarding 6- and 7-figure level gifts. May require travel and work on occasional weekends and evenings as determined.

Essential Areas of Work

• Develop and manage a portfolio of major donors and prospects to hit forecasted revenue goals;
• Maintain a fast-paced schedule to support the outreach and engagement to steward current donors and identify and engage new major donor prospects
• Ensure that team members are tracking all funder strategies and solicitation activity using a moves management system in the organization’s newly implemented CRM, EveryAction;
• Write individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship letters, proposals, and reports to secure individual gifts as well as foundation and institutional grants;
• Strategically oversee and facilitate donor engagement efforts for the Resource Development Director, members of other tables, and outside resource generation partners
• Review funding agreements to identify key terms and restrictions and work with the Finance Team to ensure restrictions are communicated and grant money is tracked in accordance to grant agreements.
• Collaborate with M4BL teams to gather information related to projects with restricted funding and facilitate the smooth flow of information regarding the projects and related spending
• Ensure funding reporting requirements are identified, tracked, and communicated. Work collaboratively with M4BL teams to manage reporting deadlines and ensure reports are completed and requirements are met.
• Work together with the Finance team to ensure any donor/grant deposit follow-up items are resolved.
• Develop a rich understanding of M4BL’s mission, programs, history, relationships with key stakeholders, and strategic goals.

Note: The Movement for Black Lives is committed to responding flexibly to changing circumstances and priorities which means that the expectations of every position are dynamic. This description reflects the assignment of essential functions, but does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

Key Qualifications

• At least 3-5 years of professional experience with fundraising and securing major and principal level gifts from high net worth individuals, foundations and institutional funders and collaboratives;
• A demonstrated ability to manage multi-faceted projects and a capacity to perform independently in a fast-paced, team building, and growth-mindset environment;
• An entrepreneurial spirit with outstanding analytical, strategic planning, time management, and organizational skills;
• Demonstrated ability to influence and engage diverse audiences and to build long-term relationships, including experience leveraging stakeholders and colleagues to achieve fundraising success;
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including presentation skills and the creation of proposals and donor facing materials;
• Proficient in Google Suite, Microsoft Office, and other online office tools as well as experience with fundraising CRM is required. Experience with EveryAction and Action Network is preferred;
• Strong organizational, written, and verbal communication skills required

Desired Core Competencies

• Passion for M4BL’s mission in support of Black liberation and joyful Black life;
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and relationship building skills across diverse populations and partnerships
• An entrepreneurial work ethic with a ‘no problem too big, no question too small’ attitude
• The ability to thrive in a collaborative, dynamic, fast paced work environment where priorities are often evolving to adapt to the movement’s needs and emergent opportunities;
• A team leader and a team player who can drive impact at the operational and tactical levels; and
• Unimpeachable ethical standards, confidentiality, and personal integrity, demonstrating self-awareness and dependability at all times.

Equal Opportunity Workplace

The Movement for Black Lives in partnership with its fiscal sponsor the Common Counsel Foundation is proud to be an equal employment workplace. We welcome and encourage job applicants who are motivated to work with us in addressing social injustice and those who have personal experience with injustice. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on any of the follow factors; race, color, religion (including religious dress and grooming practices), age, sex/gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/ or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition (genetic characteristics, cancer or a record or history of cancer), military or veteran status, national origin, ancestry, disability (mental and physical including HIV/AIDS, cancer, and genetic characteristics), and genetic information.