Major and Special Gift Officer

Helen Keller International -
United States

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Job Details

Full-time
$68,000 - $102,000 a year

Qualifications

Confidential information handling
Computer literacy
Employee relationship building
English
CRM system proficiency
Donor and alumni database management

Full Job Description

Helen Keller
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Major and Special Gift Officer
New York, NY based preferred, hybrid office schedule

Guided by the remarkable legacy of its co-founder, Helen Keller, Helen Keller Intl partners with

communities striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty. By delivering the essential
building blocks of good health, sound nutrition and clear vision, we help millions of people
create lasting change in their own lives. Working in 20 countries – across Africa, Asia, Europe
and the United States – and together with a global community of supporters, we are ensuring
every person has the opportunity – as Helen did – to reach their true potential.

We are seeking a Major and Special Gifts Officer, to join the Individual Giving team within our
newly formed Growth and Branding Department. Our department is at a pivotal moment in
which the organization is intentionally growing our community of individual donors, and both
Board members and staff are energized in the effort.

The Officer position will enable Helen Keller to say yes to an emerging group of donor
advisories and donors who are emergency-driven supporting specific programs and efforts,
rising to the challenge of counter acting US foreign aid cuts with their own philanthropy. This
position will enable the team to steward these rising donors and donor advisories well, assure
the potential for our retaining some who would be open to the idea of continued support,
increase proposal submissions, shorten response time, and steward those donors with the
greatest potential for retention.

Candidates who have been part of a development team and are ready to take their career to
the next level by managing their own portfolio of donors will find this position especially
exciting. The Officer will have the support of a team and coaching from colleagues with
extensive major gifts experience.

Functional Relationships
The Officer will report to the Vice President, Individual Giving and collaborate closely with the
Growth and Branding Department, Regional Directors, the Vitamin A Donor Manager,
technical and program staff, Finance, and Grants and Contracts colleagues. Regular
communication and a spirit of teamwork among colleagues, both hierarchically and laterally
are essential to make this structure thrive.

The Officer will help donors stay connected to the work they make possible, facilitating
meetings with on the ground staff, ensuring they receive the reports they need to track our
efforts, occasionally taking them to the field to see the work for themselves, and facilitating a
smooth process by which donors and advisories make gifts, understand our work, ask
questions, and engage with the programs. The Officer will learn the donors’ needs and make
connections across teams within Helen Keller to fulfill those needs, while not over-taxing the
organization’s focus on the children we serve.

Key Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of some 20+ donor advisories and a 20+ portfolio of individual high

net worth individual donors that provide restricted support. This will include cultivation,
stewardship, and engaging them to as key stakeholders to help Helen Keller Intl reach
as many children and families as possible with lifesaving services.

Serve as a liaison with the donors and advisories, enabling them to learn, give, and

access the information they need and to sustain their confidence in Helen Keller.

Work collaboratively across the organization, including with the country teams,

Individual Giving Team, and Core Donor communities to identify who among 40,000+
donors, who give through and because of donor advisories, should be prioritized, met
with, researched, and cultivated beyond what we’re doing today.

Liaise directly with donors and advisories. Call, meet with, travel to see donors and

advisories, personally. Occasionally, travel with the top donors and advisories to the
field to experience the work.

Support country teams to develop tools and content needed to meet

institutional/restricted donor reports.

Prep CEO, staff leaders, and Board members with donor research and points for

discussion with these donors.

Develop plans for each donor and advisory, collaboratively with other teams, to include

marketing, web stories, social media, trips to the field, regular meetings, and spending
and reporting schedules.

Identify potential board members among advisories.
Thank donors compellingly and personally.
This position will ensure that contracts and agreements are developed to help both our

organization and the donors and advisories, that contracts and agreements are
delivered effectively, and that transparency is maintained with our donors. Develop and
sustain key relationships with Finance, Grants and Contracts, and Growth and Branding
colleagues to develop the systems needed to sustain these donors and advisory
relationships.

Review competitive proposals for adherence to solicitation requirements.
Facilitate award negotiations, which may include negotiation of terms and conditions,

revisions to grant proposals, budgets, and budget narratives.

Monitor proposal pipeline, success rate and proposal development cost. Track

submissions and outcomes to determine any trends with specific donors or countries
which will enable us to focus support more effectively.

Maintain data systems that support these donors and advisories.
Help educate colleagues and lead by example in strengthening our culture of

philanthropy.

Occasionally present to staff and Board members on progress and issues arising from

our work with these specific donors.

Other Duties
This job announcement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities,
duties or responsibilities for the position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at

any time with or without notice. All positions are required to perform any additional tasks
assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Strong interpersonal, written, and oral

English language communications skills including ability to: Write business
correspondence, internal memos, routine reports, and document procedures.

Communicate complex information in a clear and consistent manner
Build collaborative relationships with employees from diverse backgrounds.
Energetic, organized, detail-oriented with strong follow-through and problem-solving

skills

Ability to perform duties that require very close attention to detail and synthesize

information from multiple sources.

Ability to handle confidential matters with a high level of integrity and discretion.
Collaborative, flexible, and solution oriented.
An ability to work independently and efficiently within a fast-paced and deadline-driven

environment.

Ability and willingness to work as a team player.
Accuracy and attention to detail are a must; sensitivity when working with highly

confidential information and ability to maintain complete discretion at all times.

Computer literate: Proficient in Raiser’s Edge / RENXT a bonus but will consider other

fundraising CRM software experience. Adept in other applications including Word,
Excel, Outlook, Google, research tools.

Working Conditions/Travel:

Core work hours are expected to follow Eastern Standard Time (US).
This full-time position requires at least two days per week onsite at Helen Keller’s New

York City location.

Education & Experience:

College degree plus a minimum of 3 years directly relevant work experience, or

equivalent combination of education and experience, preferably in a fundraising,
development operations, advancement services, customer service or related field,
particularly in a nonprofit environment.

Experience with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is required.

Compensation and benefits .
Helen Keller offers a comprehensive benefits package. Specific offerings may vary by country
in accordance with local laws. The compensation for this position will be aligned with the local
salary structure. The full-time annualized salary range for this position located in the United
States is $68,000 to $102,000 with the midpoint of the salary range at $85,000

Expectations

Fairness, Belonging and Zero Tolerance to Abuse

As a member of the Helen Keller Family, each employee is expected to:

Help to develop and maintain an environment that welcomes and develops a multi-cultural

workforce with varied lived experiences and identities.

Foster a work environment where everyone feels valued and included.
Support employees’ evaluation and promotion processes based on skills and performance.
Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all members of Helen Keller family,

stakeholders in general, and particularly for the communities we serve.

Follow Helen Keller Code of Conduct helping to prevent any type of abuse including

workplace harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation, and trafficking in persons.

Adhere to the Organizational Core Values, which include courage, compassion, integrity and

rigor.

To Apply

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to [email protected].
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

In the spirit of the extraordinary ability and vision of our founder, Helen Keller Intl fosters an

environment of fairness and belonging for our workforce.

Helen Keller Intl is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to the principles of equal
employment opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment

Apply Now

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