The Acton Institute is a leading international educational organization located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Acton Institute’s mission is to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles.
The Acton Institute is seeking a Major Gifts Officer who is passionate about being part of the liberty movement sustained by religious and moral principles.
This integral role will be responsible for managing donors and prospects, developing and implementing strategies to engage and cultivate donors, and soliciting gifts.
WHAT YOU WILL DO:
- Manage a dynamic major donor portfolio (estimated 100-125 individual and foundation prospects and donors) by cultivating relationships through frequent communication, keeping them informed of Acton’s work and the impact of their contributions
- Identify and qualify prospects, cultivate ongoing donor relationships, solicit funds, and steward donors, cycling through the portfolio by implementing strategic moves management
- Conduct approximately 10-15 major donor meetings monthly to present on Acton’s mission and ongoing projects to those within portfolio and make approximately 5 solicitations monthly
- Serve as a secondary giving officer for the President by helping plan, develop, and execute strategic presentations, proposals, and other collateral for donor meetings
- Work closely with the foundation relations team on strategy, proposals, and reporting for foundations within the portfolio
- Travel to donor-centric events involving the cultivation and stewardship of current donors and the identification and qualification of prospective donors
- Prospect donors using various tools for upcoming events or meetings
- Assist with strategy and execution of small-scale campaigns for specific projects
- Establish metrics and use data to track, analyze, and prepare monthly reports to analyze progress and subsequently determine necessary actions to maximize productivity
- Utilize a CRM database for recording tasks
THE SKILLS YOU NEED:
- Bachelor’s degree in related field, graduate degree is a plus
- Strong alignment with the institute’s mission and culture, possessing the passion to promote a free and virtuous society
- Intellectually rigorous and intellectually curious!
- 3-5 years of experience in fundraising and direct personal solicitation of funds, preferably in major gifts
- Experience identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding prospective and current donors with a demonstrated track record of attracting major contributions
- Can travel 35% domestically and 5% internationally
- Excellent relationship building skills and the ability to give persuasive presentations to achieve desired fundraising results
- Exceptional written and verbal skills
WHAT YOU WILL LOVE:
- Acton is the only institute within the liberty movement which also understands the necessity of religion and morality in order for liberty to be sustained
- Major growth opportunity to move into management within an organization that is also rapidly increasing in size!
- Work with a team of like-minded professionals who are passionately committed to a vision of society that is both free and virtuous, the end of which is human flourishing. To clarify this relationship, the Institute holds conferences and seminars and publishes various books, films, monographs, periodicals, and articles.
Additional requirements for this role:
- This position requires you to be onsite at our headquarters located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- The role requires that you are currently legally authorized to work in the USA for any employer.
This position is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate! Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to submit the following application materials:
- Cover letter, which should detail your interest in Acton’s mission and this role
- Résumé
- Desired salary range for this opportunity
Applications should be submitted to the attention of Human Resources and sent to talent@acton.org .
Qualified candidates who submit a complete application with all of the required materials will be considered for this position. While we thank all applicants in advance for their interest in this role, we are only able to contact those to whom we can offer an interview.