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SalaryAbout us:
The American Forest Foundation (AFF) unlocks the power of family forests as a climate solution while helping thousands of landowners care for their land and improve forest health. Through its Family Forest Carbon Program, AFF expands access to the voluntary carbon market for family forest owners from all walks of life while producing high quality forest carbon credits to help companies reach their net zero goals. The organization’s strategic direction seeks to enable family forests to capture and store one billion tonnes of carbon by 2050.
We do not do this alone. AFF works across a broad coalition of conservation partners, corporations, and policymakers to equip family forest owners with financial and technical support to implement sustainable forest management practices on their lands and activate their forests as a critical tool in the fight against climate change.
AFF is in a mode of complex problem solving and rapid iteration. All teams at AFF are working to discover solutions to the planet’s most pressing climate issues through developing and iterating viable and scalable models for impact. AFF is driven by values of our shared purpose, measurable and verifiable results, and learning for continuous improvement to tackle big conservation challenges.
About the Role:
The Senior Manager of Legacy Giving works with a team of stakeholders throughout the organization, including but not limited to the CEO/President, Executive Vice President of Climate Funding, the Senior Director of Philanthropy, Product Owners and enabling teams throughout the organization to generate philanthropic revenue to support the mission and vision of the American Forest Foundation. The Senior Manager of Legacy Giving is the key member of the Philanthropy Team who oversees the organization’s cultivation, solicitation and stewardship associated with planned and Legacy Giving. This member of the team may also work with individuals who are capable of making annual impact or major gifts in support of the organization’s mission.
Responsibilities:
- Grow Philanthropic Support
- Developing a thorough strategy of how to use data to identify and solicit Legacy Giving donors
- Developing and testing strategies to deepen the organization’s Seedling Society
- Coordinating, supporting, and where necessary, training key members of AFF staff in outreach to Legacy Giving prospects and identified donors for cultivation and solicitation.
- Donor Relationship Management
- Assume primary responsibility for Legacy Giving donors and manage a portfolio of approximately 100-150 donors at any given time;
- Provide ongoing stewardship to donors – updating them on programs of interest and facilitating learning and engagement opportunities including the use of financial and technical reports on related activities;
- Attend events and meet with donors to understand donor impact goals and grow the network of support, this includes meeting with estate planning professionals and others who support donor decisions in Legacy Giving;
- Maintain record of stewardship actions and contact reports in donor database;
- Lead the annual Seedling Society event to recognize Legacy Giving donors;
- Work with MarComms team to ensure recognition and storytelling is implemented consistently and on brand.
- Expertise on Legacy Giving
- Serve as the organization’s expert on Legacy Giving opportunities for giving, including: bequests, gifts of land/real estate, gifts
- Manages the preparation and submission of proposals and reports in a timely fashion, ensuring enough lead time is given to other staff contributing to the proposal including work with the program teams, Finance and Leadership. This includes collaborating with other team members to take into account major gift solicitations, annual gifts with Legacy Giving proposals.
- Responsible for all administrative duties related to Legacy Giving, including securing all paperwork, signatures, attachments, and documentation – internally and externally.
- Maintain accurate records in database, including prospect tracking and follow-up actions.
- Ensure meaningful stewardship of all Legacy Giving donors, to include events, publications, premiums and one-on-one communication.
- Research & Pipeline
- Identify and qualify Legacy Giving prospects; perform continual research (online and via visits and calls) for new Seedling Society members.
- Manage and execute appropriate strategies for identifying and soliciting new prospects and obtaining funding, which includes our existing donor database and networking with wealth management advisors, donor advised funds, real estate professionals and others.
- Utilize online database tools and past interest from AFF historical research.
- Philanthropy Team
- Attend weekly meeting with the Philanthropy Team to support ongoing work including; annual giving, public funding, magazine production, database maintenance, virtual check reviews, funder trips and other duties as assigned
- Attend weekly 1:1 with Director of Philanthropy to track progress, addresses challenges and plan for donor engagement
- Pursue professional development opportunities to for donor impact goals
- Observe market trends and engage in learning of new learning.
- Work closely with team members
- Contribute Woodland Magazine articles that highlight and celebrate funding received from Legacy Giving donors.
Candidate Requirements:
- Bachelors or Masters Degree
- 10-12 years experience in philanthropy for non-profits
- Demonstrated success in securing planned or major gifts.
- Working knowledge of the functions of family trust, private foundations and wealth management.
- Demonstrated success in identifying, cultivating and managing fundraising relationships with individuals and foundations
- Significant writing, researching and reporting experience
- Ability to utilize CRM for research and pipeline purposes
- Proven track record of establishing and growing revenue from a portfolio of donors over time
- Experience working in partnership with program staff in a support/coaching role and the ability to collaborate in the development of programs and business opportunities
- Proficient in using Microsoft Suite, communication platforms (Slack, Miro, Canva), Adobe Suite and various internet search engines including Foundation Directory Online
Core Competencies:
Agility – Thriving in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments by anticipating and responding to changes with swift, focused and flexible actions.
Collaborating with Others – Working together with others in a cooperative and supportive manner to achieve shared goals.
Ensuring Accountability – Holding yourself and others to high standards of accountability, creating an infrastructure and transparent organization culture that supports and measures personal and organizational responsibility and accountability.
Problem Solving – Identifying problems and the solutions to them. Your contributions and leadership will be appreciated. Our staff is passionate, dedicated and good at what they do, and will be deeply grateful for your efforts to create and preserve an environment that is both fun and fair.
Job Function Competencies:
Networking - Establishing, sustaining and fostering professional contacts to build, enhance and connect networks for work purposes.
Visioning and Alignment - Actively shaping and communicating the organizational vision and values to ensure understanding and alignment throughout the organization.
Event Management - Planning, coordinating and managing events e.g. inauguration of plants/projects, product launches, trade fairs and exhibitions, family/community fun days, conferences/workshops, social responsibility initiatives etc, to achieve specific business objectives.
Customer Relationship Management - Analyzing, coordinating and supporting integrated sales, marketing and customer support functions, internal audit, internal controls, risk management, regulatory compliance and reporting.
What’s attractive to the right candidate:
- You have the unique and exciting opportunity to work with amazing colleagues, partners and landowners to help connect forest landowners with technical and financial assistance to better steward their land and achieve vital landscape-scale conservation impacts.
- Your contributions and leadership will be appreciated. Our staff is passionate, dedicated and good at what they do, and will be deeply grateful for your efforts to create and preserve an environment that is both fun and fair.
- We offer a flexible work environment that respects your life outside of work
- Salary is commensurate with experience.
- AFF offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package
