Director, Gift Planning
About the Position
The Director, Gift Planning is responsible for overall strategic leadership and management of AMC’s planned giving program. Reporting to the Senior Director, Principal Gifts, this position will work closely with all frontline fundraising staff, including the Chief Development Officer (CDO) and AMC management team at a time of transformation and growth, as the organization launches its largest fundraising campaign in its 150-year history.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Direction
Work in tandem with the Senior Director of Principal Gifts to encourage, motivate, and incentivize frontline fundraisers to cultivate and secure a variety of planned or complex gifts from donors, including combinations of outright and deferred gifts.
Actively contribute to principal and major gift-level strategy discussions. Bring forward blended gift solutions that help donors maximize giving.
Establish budget and activity goals for planned gifts in consultation with the CDO and Senior Director, Principal Gifts, and develop both annual and multi-year strategies to reach them.
Work with the Development Operations team, Finance department, and other colleagues to ensure proper forecasting, handling, and crediting of revenue from planned gifts.
Enhance the existing gift planning marketing program to increase awareness, education, and interest in current and deferred giving opportunities through mass gift appeal mailing, targeted prospect mailings, online appeals, and messaging to all AMC donors, prospects, and members.
Identify high-level prospects for blended gift solicitation, create customized cultivation and stewardship plans based on individual donors’ giving capacity, and engage donors around opportunities for new outright and deferred gifts.
Provide guidance to frontline fundraisers on planned giving approaches and opportunities through trainings and educational sessions and integrate planned giving vehicles into fundraisers’ toolboxes.
Consult with and develop a network of legal and financial professionals and financial institutions as necessary to build knowledge of tax laws and gift planning trends and to ensure that all gifts are in line with donors’ goals, AMC’s mission and policies, and IRS regulations.
Key Qualifications
Minimum of 7 years of planned giving or major gift fundraising experience and/or experience with trusts and estates, tax accounting, financial planning or wealth management with increasing levels of responsibility.
Demonstrated track record of planned giving solicitation experience, with fundraising success in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major (six-figure) and principal gifts (seven+ figures), and success in strategically engaging and securing gifts from previously unaffiliated constituencies.
Strong knowledge of current and evolving trends in charitable giving, particularly in the areas of complex estate planning tools, charitable tax law, estate and probate laws and personal finance.
Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills.
Superior verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex financial and program information clearly and concisely.
Experience using CRMs and reporting to inform a data-driven approach to moves management. Experience using Salesforce a plus.
Experience working with gift planning software such as PG-Calc.
Experience engaging groups of diverse stakeholders, from complex organizational teams to volunteers.
Strong willingness to collaborate in a highly team-based environment; ability to build working relationships up, down, and across a large and diffuse organization.
A history of and commitment to diversity, inclusion, and confidentiality.
Willingness and ability to adhere to the Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethical Standards.
Successful track record translating research and program activity into compelling philanthropic objectives.
Knowledge and experience working on climate and conservation policy and/or environmental issues is a plus.
The ability to travel frequently in support of AMC’s philanthropic priorities (including weeknights and weekends), staffing multiday events as well as cultivation and solicitation visits with the President & CEO and CDO, Board members, and other volunteers.
The ability to travel frequently in support of AMC’s philanthropic priorities (including weeknights and weekends), staffing multiday events as well as cultivation and solicitation visits with the President & CEO, CDO, Board members, and other volunteers.
The ability to travel frequently in support of AMC’s philanthropic priorities (including weeknights and weekends), staffing multiday events as well as cultivation and solicitation visits with the President & CEO, CDO, Board members, and other volunteers.