Director, Major Gifts

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Director, Major Gifts to oversee the organization’s major giving strategy and program. The Director, Major Gifts will develop and implement a fundraising and donor strategy that effectively moves existing and prospective major donors to support our organizational revenue goals.This is a full-time role reporting to the Vice President, Development; this role is based in Washington, DC, with an expectation to come into our office at least 2 days per week, and to travel around the country 10+ times per year. We hope our new Director, Major Gifts will start in July.ResponsibilitiesManage the Major Gifts teamManage Major Gifts team, including Major Gifts OfficersCollaboratively set clear, actionable goals, coach and develop them towards these goals , and support their career progression and retention at Common CauseLead team meetings and ensure cross-team coordination in service of Development and External Affairs team priorities and goals pipelineDevelop budgets and monitoring systems for any and all major gifts fundraising activities and produce internal and external reports regarding projected and achieved goalsEnsure all staff interactions with major donors are recorded in our CRM of recordManage and grow a portfolio of prospects and current donors with the capacity to contribute significant support toward the priorities of Common Cause, including support of the President’s and Executive Leadership’s donor portfoliosSecure leadership level contributions totaling $1.25 million or more annually in support of Common CauseDevelop strategies, cultivation plans, and goals for each donorSolicit, close gifts, and steward donors to create increased, consistent, and diverse revenueBuild strong, impactful relationships with donors and prospects through proactive and personalized outreach and engagement so that you can engage and upgrade existing donors, re-activate lapsed donors, and inspire new prospective donors to giveAlign and maximize the President’s travel to include major donor meetings and event invites attended by major donorsCreate small-scale engagement and event opportunities to educate, inspire, and uplift major gifts donors and prospectsBuild and nurture relationships with Donor Advisors and Donor Advised FundsOversee an impactful major gifts program to ensure consistent growth of Common Cause’s $10K+ giving communityDevelop, plan, and implement a comprehensive prospect strategy to achieve successful cultivation, engagement, and solicitations, including but not limited to moving prospects from one giving level to the nextEstablish annual and monthly revenue major gifts goals focused on strengthening and expanding our pool of major donors; and provide reporting on major gift program performanceMaintain the necessary systems, processes, and tools to communicate the role of major gifts fundraising across Common Cause and ensure an integrated fundraising strategyAlongside major gifts officers, design and execute major donor fundraising campaigns, with the goal of increasing engagement and multi-year annual supportSupport senior leadership in the preparation of prospect communications, research, collateral, and funding proposalsOther duties as assignedQualificationsYou will thrive in this role if you have:A strong commitment to Common Cause’s nonpartisan mission and to advancing civil rights through our pro-democracy agendaAbility to compel action through both written and verbal communication, including distilling complex concepts for a broad audience, and to differentiate communications as needed for various audiencesA track record of working collaboratively with others, with the ability to build rapport, trust, and credibility with multiple stakeholders with diverse interests – including board members, senior management, volunteers, and othersInnovative and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to navigate through ambiguity to achieve goals, and a resourceful approach to solve problemsAbility to navigate organizational and power dynamics, respectfully navigate conflict while maintaining your values, and influence others to adopt changes to meet common goalsAbility to manage and meet deadlines for multiple short- and long-term priorities at once, with high attention to detail; strong organization skills, and the ability to manage your time independentlyA commitment to equity in the goals of your work and in how you work with othersOpenness to feedback and awareness of your own strengths and areas for growthFamiliarity with office productivity tools including Microsoft Office and Zoom, and a working knowledge of CRM software (Common Cause uses ROI Solutions and Action Network)The following is required:Experience cultivating and closing five-, six-, and seven-figure major gifts, developing donor strategies, and effectively cultivating and stewarding major donorsKnowledge of how to differentiate between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) fundraising practicesHave managed and developed a team; set strategic direction for a team, and built a unified approach to achieve goalsDemonstrated knowledge of the philanthropic landscape, prospect research methodology, best practices, and evolving trends in philanthropyExperience managing a multi-state portfolioA track record of leading organization-wide change initiativesAbility to travel at least 10 times per year for meetings with donors, as well as team and/or all staff retreatsAbility to work in-person in the DC office at least two days per weekWilling to have a social media presence on behalf of Common Cause, including being tagged on posts and creating content on behalf of the organization (as needed, Common Cause will provide accounts for staff members to use)Per our nonpartisan policy, Common Cause staff members may not currently be in elected office (or running for office); on the Steering Committee or Finance Committee for any political candidate; or affiliated with the leadership of a political partyAdditional information about this role:This position is classified as supervisory and therefore not included in the union-represented collective bargaining unitCommon Cause is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time; please note that if hired, you will be asked to produce documentation for authorization to work in the US