Senior Major Gifts Officer

Who We Are + What We Do

The Land Institute co-leads the global movement for perennial, diverse, regenerative grain agriculture at a scale that matches the enormity of the intertwined climate, water, and food security crises. An independent 501c3 non-profit founded in 1976, the organization seeks to reconcile the human economy with nature's economy, starting with food. The transdisciplinary team of scientists and global partners are developing new perennial grain crops, like Kernza©, and diverse cropping systems that function within nature's limits while researching the social transformation required for a just, perennial human future.

How You’d Fit In + Stand Out

As the Senior Major Gifts Officer, you will play a crucial role on our Development team, expanding and nurturing our network of donors who have a strategic focus on climate, regenerative agriculture, and food-focused philanthropists and organizations with the capacity to fund sustained six-figure + gifts. Managing a portfolio of up to 100 major gift prospects, you will identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors, ensuring they feel deeply connected to our mission. Ideally, you bring strong, existing relationships within a network that aligns with our donor prospect audiences. Representing The Land Institute’s research enthusiastically and accurately to key stakeholders, you will be instrumental in our organization’s responsible and rapid growth by leading major gift fundraising efforts. As you grow and succeed in your role, there will be opportunities to mentor and leverage a team of frontline fundraisers. Your proactive approach and strategic mindset will drive significant, sustained support, advancing The Land Institute’s mission.

Primary Responsibilities + Expectations

Donor Cultivation and Stewardship (50%):
- Manage a Portfolio of High-Capacity Donors (35%):
- Develop and implement strategies to identify, acquire, cultivate, solicit, and steward new, current, and lapsed major donors, emphasizing six-figure multi-year commitments.
- Utilize a portfolio system to build and maintain strong relationships through personalized communications and engagement.
- Conduct regular outreach, including phone calls, emails, cards, videos, and personal visits, to thank donors, provide updates, and solicit feedback. Maintain frequent touchpoints tailored to each donor's preferences.
- Meet or exceed annual revenue goals in collaboration with the Development team.
- Plan and Execute Major Donor Recognition and Cultivation Projects (15%):
- Organize personalized events, tours, and activities to engage major donor prospects, demonstrate appreciation for current major donors, and encourage continued and increased support.

Fundraising and Donor Engagement (30%):
- Develop and Execute Major Gifts Strategy (15%):
- Collaborate with the Director of Development to create and implement a comprehensive major gifts plan aligning with overall fundraising goals and the strategic focus on high-capacity climate, regenerative agriculture, and food-focused donors.
- Track and Analyze Donor Data (5%):
- Work closely with the database manager to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement in major donor acquisition, retention, and engagement.
- Create Personalized Fundraising Appeals and Campaigns (8%):
- Collaborate with the Communications and Development teams to craft compelling, personalized collateral and proposals to cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with a focus on multi-year commitments.
- Ensure Consistent and Impactful Messaging (2%):
- Collaborate with the Communications team to ensure aligned messaging, track success metrics, and regularly report on the impact of major gifts within the broader fundraising efforts.

Administrative and Reporting (10%):
- Manage Major Gift Inquiries (3%):
- Oversee communications related to major gifts, ensuring timely and accurate responses to donor questions and requests.
- Maintain Accurate Major Donor Records (5%):
- Keep detailed records of major donor interactions and contributions in the donor database.
- Prepare Regular Reports (2%):
- Provide updates on major gifts progress, donor engagement activities, and campaign outcomes for the Director of Development.
- Collaborate with the Director of Development, Executive, and Accounting teams to develop annual revenue projections based on donor and prospect profiles, capacity, and engagement strategies.

Team Collaboration (10%):
- Support Overall Fundraising Goals (3%):
- Collaborate with the Development and Communications teams to achieve overall fundraising objectives, focusing on major gifts.
- Participate in Team Activities (3%):
- Engage in team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and professional development opportunities.
- Support Major Fundraising Events and Initiatives (4%):
- Assist with planning and executing events, donor outreach, and on-site logistics, particularly those involving major donors.

Diversity + Inclusion

- Participate in The Land Institute’s diversity initiatives.
- Develop, maintain, and honor relationships with diverse groups and people.
- Build mutually beneficial relationships with diverse partners with a mind toward further collaboration and cooperation.

Organizational Competencies

- Mission Driven: You are passionate about the mission of The Land Institute and are interested in aligning your skills and personal genius to benefit the mission.
- Courageous: You do not retreat or shy away from hard things. You face challenges and conflict with professionalism, grace, and resolve.
- A Boundary Spanner: You bring an interdisciplinary skill set and model self-awareness in your preferences. You are always motivated to learn, and you adapt to span boundaries with people across various perspectives.
Inspiring and Inspired: You are inspired by the people around you—finding and harnessing the genius in your colleagues to meet the organizational objectives—and you inspire others through example and your applied genius.
- Growth Mindset: You have the vulnerability to know what you don’t know, identify and learn from mistakes, and learn from others to grow and develop yourself and the organization.
- A Creative Collaborator: You believe in the power of a diverse collective to generate ideas and solutions. You excel at strategic thinking, being open to new perspectives, and managing innovation. You bring a playful, positive approach to the work and enjoy meeting new people and deepening connections with those you already know.
- Excited by Change: You embrace nascent and evolving situations and enjoy engaging new people, ideas, and possibilities. You think about change holistically: internal, external, organizational, and cultural. You like iterating systems, building efficiency, and operationalizing design. You are willing to jump in and contribute to new projects as needed. 

Who You Are

- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Nonprofit Management, Communications, or a related field
- 10+ years of experience in fundraising, development, or a related field
- 5+ years in major gifts or high-net-worth donor cultivation, with a proven track record of securing six-figure gifts
- Exceptional and transferrable understanding of fundraising principles, techniques, and best practices.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills
- Confidence in discussing money, wealth, values, and a passion for connecting resources and networks to our mission
- Self-motivated, proactive, curious, adaptive, and energetic, focused on achieving goals.
- Outstanding at building mutually beneficial, long-lasting relationships with diverse communities by prioritizing listening and learning.
- Highly organized with strong project management skills and the ability to prioritize,  multitask, and meet deadlines.
- Leadership experience inspiring, motivating, and mentoring direct reports, cross-functional teams, and partner stakeholders.
- Proficient in donor database management, Google Suite, and Microsoft Office
- Passion for The Land Institute’s mission and commitment to making a positive impact while living our values.
- Preference will be given to applicants who are part of a virtual or geographic network that aligns with our donor prospect audiences.

Qualifications That Could Help You Succeed:

- Development/Fundraising: Proven financial success in development for a large nonprofit. Actively seeks to deepen current donor relationships and forge new ones.
- Project Leadership: Experience in planning, leading, and managing development projects, including coordinating, collaborating, and consulting with peers and cross functional stakeholders to achieve desired outcomes and tracking and reporting on progress to leadership and the board of directors.
- Entrepreneurial Spirit: Takes initiative to create efficiencies, utilize new tools, test and learn different approaches to strengthen relationships and fundraising results, and proactively shares insights and recommendations with the team.
- Communications: Skilled in creating powerful and compelling written and oral communications for fundraising. Ability to convey complex ideas through brief, simple materials and messaging. Experience and credibility when presenting materials to external audiences.
- Influencing: Gets others to accept ideas by building trust, creating a win-win situation, deploying effective arguments, and appropriately responding to key stakeholders.
- Collaboration: Effective at working with others to reach common goals and objectives.
- Relationship Building: Skilled at establishing and cultivating strong generative relationships across different levels of the organization, with partners, and with external audiences.

Hours

Generally available to work 40 hours per week via in-person and digital meetings, primarily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time on weekdays when most of our staff and collaborators are working. Some evening and weekend working hours will be needed for donor visits. We are flexible for caregivers who might need to provide rides or support, attend appointments, or be available for caregiving.

Location + Travel

This role has a flexible base but will require travel for events and meetings. Primary travel will happen in the United States, but international travel may occur infrequently. Estimated travel is approximately 50% of the time. This role will be supported by a travel budget that includes mileage reimbursement, and you will be provided with a laptop computer.

Environmental + Working Conditions

Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer and phone.
Work in a general office environment.
Travel in varying conditions (50%).
Compensation + Benefits

The Land Institute offers an excellent benefits package and competitive salary commensurate with experience. 

The salary range for this position is $90,000 to $125,000.

Remote-friendly work environment
Paid parental leave
Competitive, equitable compensation
403(b) Retirement
403(b) Employer contributions
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Employer-Provided Life Insurance
Flexible Spending Account
Dependent Care
Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance
Voluntary Life Insurance
Accidental Insurance
Critical Illness Insurance
Employee Assistance Program
Paid holidays
Generous paid time off
Complete laptop workstation and set up for remote work

The Land Institute is an equal opportunity employer and embraces the opportunity to provide employment to qualified individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. We are pleased to provide reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.