Major Gifts Manager jobs in Colorado

You are energetic and visionary, have a passion for helping children and families thrive, and the idea of growing and expanding an organization’s positive impact gets you fired up. You know how to build relationships that stick and partnerships that power big ideas. Your extensive experience has made you an expert in developing, leading, and executing multi-faceted fundraising campaigns. The credibility you have is rooted in your proven track record of generating revenue, fluency with strategic and financial plans, and ability to connect people to ideas that move them to action. You are a compelling communicator one-on-one and in larger groups. You have personally secured six figure gifts, foundation grants and/or public funding, and have coached teammates as they grow their fundraising and partnership skillsets. You enjoy managing teams and helping partners within and outside of your organization succeed. You are values-led in work and life and your personal values align with Raise the Future’s vision, mission, and values, so this is a perfect place for you to step into a leadership role.

Raise the Future is powered by the belief that every child deserves to have a caring, capable adult by their side. When our work is done, the foster care system will be empty, and homes and hearts will be full. Our mission centers on children and youth who are in, or at risk of entering, the foster care system. We work directly with those children and youth and with adults in caregiving roles to create the opportunities and skill sets needed to make lasting connections.

Raise the Future’s team is nearly 100 strong and growing. We are headquartered in Colorado with employees across the country and offices in Denver, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City. The Development Team includes the Vice President and 8 other teammates responsible for philanthropic services, government affairs, grant management and communications.

Programmatically, we deliver several evidence-based programs, including Wendy’s Wonderful Kids®, developed by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, and a family support program built around Trust-Based Relational Intervention® developed by the Karyn Purvis Institute for Child Development at Texas Christian University. In addition to our direct service work, we provide capacity-building to child welfare systems nationally through AdoptUSKids, a collaborative funded by the US Children’s Bureau.

Our revenue is approximately $9M, 50% from public sources (federal, state, and local) and 50% from private sources (foundations and individuals).

Five values guide us in all we do:

Embrace Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

Value You.

Foster Relationships.

Strengthen Partnerships.

Raise the Bar.

We have an exciting plan to amplify and accelerate our work and the Director of Development will be a key player in continuing an evolution to meet those goals.

Reporting to the Vice President of Development, the Director of Major Gifts is a key member of the Development team and is responsible for fundraising up to $1 Million annually within an established territory to support the mission of Raise the Future by developing strategies for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major donors and event sponsors. The position is responsible for managing a portfolio of existing and prospective individuals, foundations, and corporate donors, developing individual strategies that will maximize giving. This includes completing proposals, reports, contracts, memorandums of agreement, and/or using planned giving instruments. The Director of Major Gifts will also be responsible for mentoring and managing members of the Development team.

The ideal candidate will appreciate and align with our five core organizational values: Value You. Foster Relationships. Strengthen Partnerships. Embrace DEIB. Raise the Bar.

The Director of Major Gifts, alongside the Vice President of Development, develop revenue goals, tracking progress closely to ensure that targets are met, and strategies re-examined when necessary to ensure achievement of goals.

Financial and Data Responsibilities:

• Acts as primary relationship manager for individual, foundation, and corporate prospects of $10,000 or more/year.

• Works to identify and prioritize high-level prospects within established territory by:

• Conducting prospect research and strategy - using strategies and resources to identify new potential major donors.

• Conducting prospect predisposition planning.

• Conducting prospect visit strategy and planning, including engaging other members of the team, as needed.

• Visiting with prospects in person and virtually, making asks.

• Managing prospect follow-up activities, coordinating with the team as needed.

• Managing and tracking relationship processes and revenue forecasts for donors and prospects in portfolio using donor database.

• Manages the relationship of donor portfolio for prospects in Colorado and on a National scale, ensuring that donors experience high-quality interactions that foster long-term engagement and investment. Develop methods to convey the impact of gifts and ensure that donors are kept up to date on key developments in Raise the Future’s priorities.

• Writes solicitation letters, proposals, donor recognition pieces for publications, and other materials as needed.

Contributing Member of the Development Team:

• Participates in team fundraising for funding opportunities across the Organization.

• Participates in – and seek out – opportunities to learn about the projects and communities served by Raise the Future.

• Builds relationships with organizational leadership and prepares senior leadership for key solicitation meetings.

• Leads sponsorship strategies for key fundraising events in established territory, including recruiting and managing volunteer committees, as needed.

• Works collaboratively with stakeholders on select fundraising events and major donor strategies, assisting with logistics for special events as needed.

• Represents Raise the Future in community events in fundraising territory, as needed, including televised interviews and public speaking opportunities.

• Develops and manages expense budgets for donor strategies, tracking adherence to budgeted spending limits.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Supervising/mentors other members of the Development Team. Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance including recommending and implementing personnel actions such as promotions and dismissals; oversight of administrative elements such as approving PTO, timecards, etc.; support, coaching and recognition of employees; addressing complaints; and resolving problems.

Individual Contributor:

• Meet Individual Fundraising Goals: Manage a pipeline of around 30 individual, foundation, and corporate prospects that contribute $500,000 - $1M annually.