Director of Philanthropy (Campaigns and Events)

APA! BACKGROUND: Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is one of Austin’s most dynamic and best-loved nonprofits. The organization is the leader in the no-kill movement nationally and is considered a national thought leader in animal welfare. APA! locally rescues, treats, and adopts out 10,000 homeless dogs and cats each year, providing the safety net for Austin’s most at-risk shelter pets, which helps Austin to be a no-kill city, while also assisting other communities in saving homeless animals. The organization is distinguished by the scrappiness of its grassroots, non-traditional community-based animal rescue work. The organization continues to innovate best practices to save sheltered lives and teaches its renowned no-kill lifesaving model across the nation.

BRIEF POSITION SUMMARY/OVERVIEW: The central purpose of this specialized role is to produce and carry out a lively and well-coordinated plan for individual giving, focusing solely on our mass of “regular” supporters, those giving below mid- and major donor levels. The Philanthropy Director supervises a Philanthropy Data Entry Specialist who is responsible for entering all donor and donation data, a Philanthropy Stewardship Specialist who manages our Constant Companions (monthly recurring donors), a Senior Philanthropy Communications Specialist who leads the writing of our mass campaigns, and a Philanthropy Coordinator who supports the whole department. The Director of Philanthropy is responsible for carrying out the strategy for identifying, inspiring, soliciting, thanking, and recognizing the people who provide the backbone of charitable support for Austin Pets Alive!. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Fundraising  

• Manage and create mass, multi-channel campaigns that inspire and engage the organization’s tends of thousands of supporters and that expand our donor base
• Support the management of signature events, in cooperation with the Director of Marketing, and identify and implement new opportunities in this revenue stream
• Meet ambitious fundraising goals each month, ensuring that the annual revenue goal for the campaign streams this position oversees is met (approaching $4 million annually)
• Track engagement, donor, and revenue data related to individual giving, providing regular reports to the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy and Chief of Philanthropy
• Identify donor segments for email and direct mail campaigns, finding new opportunities to segment and engage donors for maximum impact
• Bring a creative, data-driven approach to existing and new fundraising strategies, with a focus on revenue results 

Stewardship  

• Contribute to the plan for and oversee stewardship for donors at the “regular” level, coordinating with staff who build our pipeline of donors and work with mid- and major-level donors
• Use creative means such as videos, digital updates, and social media to keep mass giving donors engaged
• Ensure donors are thanked appropriately, feel appreciated, and have a clear sense for how their support enables APA!’s mission

Management 

• Manage four staff, specializing in content production, donor and data entry management, recurring donations, and in-kind gifts
• Set KPIs and SMART goals for these four staff and communicate progress regularly to the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy about performance
• Recruit and manage volunteers to broaden Philanthropy team’s capacity 

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and levels of work to be performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties.  

OTHER FUNCTIONS:

• Attend and participate in all required training sessions and meetings
• Maintain open and consistent communication with Program Manager or designee, supervisor, and other colleagues
• Partner with Volunteer Managers to learn about the volunteer programs and manage volunteers interested in your department on an ongoing basis
• Able to react to change productively and perform other related duties as assigned
• Able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed
• Able to work in a high-volume, fast-paced, high-stress environment

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Five or more years’ experience in Philanthropy with a record of progressive and successful fundraising, or other equivalent experience 
• Proven success in mounting mass fundraising campaigns for individuals
• A strong storyteller with an ability to write compellingly and effectively 
• A natural project manager with an ability to coordinate and sustain management of long-term projects
• A thorough understanding of and skill in digital fundraising, including engagement and solicitation through email, social media, and websites, and knowledge of tracking performance of digital campaigns
• Experience with multiple types of individual giving including single gifts and recurring gifts
• A willingness to learn about new trends and tools in charitable giving and identify those that will work best. We value well-considered, out-of-the-box thinking
• Personable, approachable, and natural abilities with collaboration and inspiring support 
• An enthusiastic, experienced people manager, able to inspire and lead a team, whether paid or volunteer 
• Desire to take initiative and lead in their role and responsibilities 
• Passionate about animal welfare and the No Kill cause 
• Proficiency in Google Suite
• Able to demonstrate what it means to be a highly ethical fundraiser
• Must embody APA!'s core values of innovation, respect, drive, resourcefulness, and inclusion
• Commitment to APA!'s customer experience expectations

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Background in Marketing
• Demonstrated leadership and success in large-scale annual fundraising campaigns
• Thorough understanding of solicitation through direct mail
• Experience analyzing donation data and segmenting donors
• Experience with donor management systems and email marketing platforms

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Standard office environment, with exposure to environmental conditions that include working with and near ill and injured animals
• Uses own transportation to travel and transport
• After-hours or weekend work may be required to support program needs

TIME COMMITMENT:

This is a full-time, exempt position of 40+ hours weekly. May include evenings and weekends as required

WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: 

• This position reports to the Deputy Chief of Philanthropy
• This position oversees the Philanthropy Data Specialist, Philanthropy Coordinator, Philanthropy Stewardship Specialist, and Senior Philanthropy Communications Specialist
• This position works in close collaboration with the other two Directors of Philanthropy who are responsible for mid-level/major giving, and corporate/grant funding, and the Director of Marketing who acts as this role’s counterpart in campaign and event planning and execution

LOCATIONS:

• Offsite/remote (must live in Austin area)
• Occasional work at Austin Pets Alive!’s main location at 1156 W. Cesar Chavez St., Austin, TX 78703
• May travel to offsite locations as needed

SALARY:

$75,000-85,000 annually, based on experience 

BENEFITS:  

Austin Pets Alive! is proud to offer a competitive benefits package for full-time employees, including up to 95% subsidy on employer-sponsored medical coverage, up to 2% match on 401(K) retirement plan, subsidized and voluntary life insurance, voluntary dental, vision and short term disability options, all effective the first day of employment. We also offer voluntary wellness and emergency sick plans, supplemental benefits, subsidized pet insurance, flexible spending accounts, and additional life coverage. Full-time employees receive 6 paid holidays and accrue 10 days paid time off during the first year of employment, with a third week of  PTO accrual upon completion of 12 months of employment.  Employees will also receive professional development opportunities through APA!’s ongoing mission to advance our animal welfare professionals in our lifesaving work.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT

Austin Pets Alive! is an equal employment opportunity employer, and we value having staff who come from communities that are most impacted by the issues we engage on. We especially encourage people of color, LGBTQ people, women, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities to apply. 

Austin Pets Alive! does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Austin Pets Alive! is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion, respect and integrity, community focus, and innovation.