Senior Major Gifts Officer

About Ownership Works

Founded in 2021, Ownership Works (O.W.) is a fast-growing nonprofit organization with a mission to increase prosperity through shared ownership at work. O.W. helps companies and investors implement shared ownership programs that make every employee an owner and honor the collective effort behind a company’s success. At scale, employee ownership can help millions of lower-income workers and people of color build savings and wealth, often for the first time, at businesses that are more dynamic, resilient, and successful.

O.W. has set an ambitious goal of creating at least $20B of wealth for workers by 2030 and, over the long term, making broad-based employee ownership the new norm at work. To achieve these goals, O.W. has two areas of focus:

Movement Building. Through partnerships, network-building, education, data, and storytelling, O.W. is building a movement to increase the adoption of shared ownership by private and public companies. Over 80 private equity firms, financial institutions, foundations, labor advocates, and pension funds have joined the O.W. consortium as Founding Partners and made unprecedented commitments to advance the shared ownership movement.

Hands-on Guidance. In collaboration with its Founding Partners, O.W. helps public and private companies implement broad-based employee ownership programs that improve corporate cultures, increase employee engagement and satisfaction, and create an alignment of interests between employees and employers, all of which can support better outcomes for companies and workers. Since O.W.’s founding, over 75 companies have implemented shared ownership programs, reaching over 100,000 workers.

For more about O.W.’s impact, visit https://ownershipworks.org/our-impact/.

About the Position

Ownership Works is seeking a self-motivated and ambitious mission-driven professional interested in a challenging role that will help them develop their career as a fundraising professional and a rising leader in the economic justice space.

This position will own all aspects of managing Ownership Works’ top-tier and growing network of individual donors, including across all key constituency groups (UHNWIs, board members, small-dollar donors, champions emerging from our founder’s and board’s network, individual supporters at partner institutions, etc.). The position will steward individual donors’ philanthropic commitments to the nonprofit, meaningfully recognize their contributions, and support leadership in helping grow their giving as our team aims to raise the funds necessary for executing our mission.

Key Responsibilities

High Net Worth Individual (HNWI) stewardship:

• Manage an existing portfolio of donors and prospects and grow our pipeline by researching O.W.’s consortium of partners and identifying connections from O.W.’s board and leadership.
• In partnership with the advancement team and Executive Director, manage high-touch donor engagement strategy and create and implement tailored cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies.
• Prepare and support the Executive Director in making direct, face-to-face solicitations of UHNWIs, securing new major gifts at the five-, six-, and seven-figure levels.
• Plan and establish a sustainable and branded donor program aimed at growing contributions.
• Manage regular portfolio review and routinely qualify new donors for further engagement.
• Support stewardship of and contributions from O.W.’s Board of Directors.
• When applicable, work with program staff to identify and develop individualized donor strategies.

Campaigns & material creation:

• Plan and execute O.W.’s annual Giving Tuesday and End of Year campaigns.
• Explore campaign opportunities with engaged corporate philanthropy partners, targeting individual giving and corporate matching opportunities.
• Craft outstanding communications and materials for individual giving purposes, including reports, briefing materials, correspondence, and individual proposals.
• Personally acknowledge all gifts in a timely and thoughtful manner.

Operations & administration:

• Work closely with the Advancement team to align efforts, set fundraising goals, and track all individual donor activity.
• Manage donor research software to surface and prioritize prospects for cultivation in our network and prepare the Executive Director for meetings.
• Leverage O.W.’s existing Salesforce instance for tracking all donor data, annual goal setting, task management, and pipeline work, with special attention to preparing dashboard views.
• Collaborate with the Operations and Finance team on all aspects of finance operations as it relates to fundraising efforts, including but not limited to: donation follow-up, gift receipt, acknowledgments, audit-related reconciliation, and end-of-year financial reporting.
• Ensure timely and 100% accurate gift processing, tracking, acknowledgment, and documentation in O.W. systems.

Events:

• Coordinate with the O.W. Advancement and Events teams to develop, plan, and participate in donor engagement opportunities, including intimate gatherings, summits, salons, and explicit fundraising-focused events.
• Creatively leverage Ownership Works’ existing events calendar to craft and execute fundraising “add-ons” to program-focused convenings.
• Research and field invitations for O.W. leadership to join select conferences or make select speaking engagements and/or guest appearances that raise the O.W. brand specifically among a UHNW donor base.

Leadership support & strategy:

• Ensure that O.W. leadership (Founder and Executive Director) are in regular contact with donors to build relationships and prepare donors for solicitation.
• Develop an annual written work plan that: sets individual fundraising goals; outlines major activities; identifies benchmarks for success; and projects a realistic timeline.
• Provide thoughtful insights and high-level strategic input in all areas of fundraising and prospect management.

Preferred Skills & Qualities

• Proven record of closing five- and six-figure gifts.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and a strong ability to inspire and engage a wide range of donors and build long-term relationships.
• Ability to write succinctly and elegantly with an expert grasp of O.W.’s mission using outstanding grammar and punctuation.
• Highly responsive, accountable, and collaborative team member.
• Superior organizational skills; an ability to maintain constant attention to detail; strong instinct to proactively document and track everything.
• Exceptional project management skills that enable the execution of complex, multi-stakeholder projects over short-, medium- and long-term timelines.
• Empathetic and compassionate, with an understanding that positive relationships (both internal and external) are essential components of successful fundraising.
• Interested in joining a fast-paced organization on the cutting edge of doing good.
• Basic experience in Salesforce, or a willingness to learn.

Minimum Qualifications

• B.A. required.
• 6-8 years of experience with fundraising or sales, preferably in a mission-driven context.
• Passion for social justice and the mission of Ownership Works; interest in becoming a subject matter expert in employee ownership.

At Ownership Works, we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this position but your experience doesn’t precisely align with every qualification, we encourage you to still apply.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Ownership Works is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA persons, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

Base Salary Compensation Range

The compensation available for the role considers a variety of factors including, but not limited to, work location, individual skill set, previous/applicable experience, and other business needs. The estimated annual salary range for individuals who work in New York City is $125,000 - $145,000.

Benefits

Competitive compensation package commensurate with professional services sector experience. Benefits include excellent health, vision, and dental care benefits for you and your family. Unlimited paid time off. 401(k) retirement plan with generous employer contributions.18 weeks fully paid parental leave.

Location

O.W. is building a New York City-based team. The team works from our brand-new midtown Manhattan office space (with unlimited drinks and snacks) two days per week.