Role Summary

The Senior Major Gifts Officer will work closely with the Director of Development and the President to help build and lead Golden State Opportunity’s (GSO) Major Gifts program. This position will help develop and implement a fundraising and cultivation plan that significantly increases GSO’s major donor base, revenue generated through Major Gifts, and prospect pipeline. They will also work with the Director of Development to create Major Gift goals and revenue projections, track progress towards goals in Salesforce and other internal systems, and collaborate with staff from different GSO departments.

The Senior Major Gifts Officer maintains a sophisticated and nuanced understanding of donors’ individual interests, enthusiasms, connections, and relationships with GSO, in order to advance successful engagement, cultivation, and stewardship strategies across the institution. This person’s efforts directly, and through supporting the frontline activity of the President, will generate approximately $1 million in major gift support from individual donors each year within three years.

Golden State Opportunity is recruiting for one Senior Major Gifts Officer, with that individual based in one of California’s major philanthropic markets: San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles or San Diego. We are not hiring multiple positions at this time.

Supervision

Reports to: Director of Development, works closely with President and Board of Directors

Type of Role

Full time, 40 hours a week

Essential Job Functions

  • Strategic Planning and Implementation: Develop and then execute a comprehensive plan to grow GSO’s major gifts program and successfully reach revenue goals.
  • Donor and Prospect Identification, Solicitation, Cultivation and Stewardship: Identify and qualify prospective donors, make successful solicitations, and then cultivate and steward relationships with donors through a comprehensive moves management process.
  • Fundraising and Stewardship Events and Program: Plan and implement fundraising events, donor stewardship events, and a holistic stewardship program that includes developing advisory councils and/or affinity groups. This position will also develop and track related budgets.
  •  Develop Persuasive Materials: Work with key staff from different departments to develop persuasive and customized donor materials, proposals, reports, and presentations.
  • Records and Data Management, Analysis, and Reporting: Ensure donor interactions and gifts are recorded accurately in Salesforce and other internal systems, track progress towards goals, generate reports, and utilize data analysis to refine strategies and goals.
  • Travel and Work Hours: Extensive travel required within California and occasional travel to other states, with evening and weekend work hours as required.
  • Willingness to perform other related duties as assigned.

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

  • 5+ years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and major gifts, in progressively responsible roles.
  • Demonstrated success in securing high five- and/or six-figure major gifts and growing a major giving program.
  • Excellent written and oral donor communication skills
  • Outstanding interpersonal and relationship-building skills with both internal and external stakeholders, including staff members in different GSO departments, donors, and community partners.
  • Demonstrated ability to independently manage fundraising operations, including the ability to plan, budget, analyze data, and execute daily tasks.
  • Ability to juggle competing priorities, make judgment calls, and be self-directed while also being a core contributor to a small team.
  • Strong working knowledge of CRM and donor databases, with ability to perform data entry, track donor interactions, and generate reports; Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack experience preferred.
  • Demonstrated interest in contributing to working to end the systems and conditions that create poverty in the U.S.
  • Robust understanding of California and nationally-oriented individual donors for social change, and other areas that connect with GSO’s mission and programs.
  • Knowledge and familiarity with equity, inclusion, diversity, and belonging principles; proactively prioritizes these principles in one’s work and approach to relationship building.
  • Commitment to confidentiality and integrity.
  • Ability to work overtime, holidays, weekends, and evenings as well as travel up to 30%.
  • Detail oriented.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

  • Demonstrated success in securing seven-figure major gifts.
  • Expert-level familiarity with Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack to track donor interactions and manage prospect portfolios; ability to perform data entry and generate reports as requested.
  • Strong working knowledge of Google Workspace products (Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.)
  • Language skills sufficient to conduct business and community-based conversations in a language other than English; strong preference for Spanish, Chinese, Talog, Russian or Hmong.
  • Expertise and/or lived experience with low-income communities and their needs, earned income and young child tax credits and policy, and/or economic justice.

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive compensation and benefits package includes employer sponsored medical, dental and vision coverage for you and your family, a 401k, unlimited PTO, nine days of sick time, and 20 paid holidays a year. Salary range $100,000-125,000.

Selection Process

Please submit your resume no later than December 2, 2024 to jobs@goldenstateopportunity.org for consideration. If you have any questions about the position or our process, please reach out to Lindsay Cooper Martin at lindsay@goldenstateopportunity.org or (916) 234-0231.