Major Gifts Officer

Major Gifts Officer

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

POSITION DETAILS:
Reports to: Director of Advancement
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 emailprotected with "Major Gifts Officer"- Your Name" in the subject line by 11/22/2024. Successful applicants will be contacted for interviews.
Online: Visit to complete an application.

Location:

Chicago, IL

State/Region:

Illinois

Position Category:

Affiliate-Opportunity

Type:

Affiliate

Function:

US Affiliate

Travel:

About Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976, is a global, Christian-based nonprofit organization that grew out of an intentionally multi-racial community in rural Georgia. Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat brings together people of all faiths and people of no faith to build homes, communities and hope. Working alongside each other, we help families and individuals build and improve places to call home and achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Habitat seeks individuals who have a willingness to affirm these principles and values.

At Habitat for Humanity International, we embrace a history rooted in creating equity and take our mission seriously by courageously committing to a culture and workplace where all staff feel safe, welcome, visible, respected, supported and valued. As an equal opportunity employer, we realize that our success depends upon building an inclusive workforce of diverse perspectives and encourage people of varied races (which is inclusive of traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, protective hairstyles and hair texture), ethnicities, national origins, tribes, religions, ages, gender identities and expressions, genders, sexual orientations, marital statuses, disabilities, veteran/reserve national guard statuses, socio-economic statuses, thinking and communication styles to work with us.

We also require that all staff take seriously their ethical responsibilities to safeguarding our intended beneficiaries, their communities (especially children), and all those with whom we work. In line with the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, all staff must pass a thorough background screening and will be held accountable to upholding our policies around ethical behavior, including safeguarding and whistleblowing.