Principal Gifts Officer

About the role

The Principal Gifts Officer serves as a frontline fundraiser who will maximize the donor engagement process to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward individual and institutional prospects/donors capable of $500,000 and above in support of ADL’s highest priorities. This role requires significant travel of up to 50%.

Responsibilities

• Cultivate and steward a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals, foundations, and corporate donors with the capacity to make principal-level gifts of $500,000 or more.
• Collaborate with fellow principal gift team members, senior leadership, and program staff to develop strategies for soliciting principal-level gifts using philanthropic trends and best practices to inform fundraising strategies and approaches.
• Develop and maintain strong, personalized relationships with donors, understanding their philanthropic interests and motivations.
• Strategize and execute personalized cultivation and solicitation plans for each donor in the portfolio, collaborating closely with senior leadership and/or other ADL professionals with relevant ties to the donor.
• Lead the development of compelling solicitation proposals and presentations tailored to the interests and priorities of individual donors.
• Orchestrate and participate in solicitation meetings and presentations, ensuring the timely coordination of executive travel and briefings when required.
• Negotiate gift agreements and terms with donors, in collaboration with the Philanthropic Services team.
• Ensure timely and meaningful stewardship of principal-level donors, including personalized acknowledgments, progress updates, and recognition strategies.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date donor records in the CRM database, documenting all interactions and activities related to principal gifts.
• Support the development and implementation of bespoke events and activities targeted to members of the principal gift portfolio.

Qualifications

• Strategic thinker with the ability to analyze data, identify trends, and develop actional insights to develop sophisticated donor strategies.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build rapport with diverse stakeholders, including high net worth individuals, c-suite executives, board members, and colleagues.
• Empathic listener able to engage prospects/donors to help them express themselves philanthropically through ADL.
• Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written, with experience in crafting compelling fundraising proposals and presentations.
• Display a positive attitude and show good judgment, common sense, and excellent listening skills; committed to transparency, accountability, and direct communication.
• Able to anticipate and be responsive to multiple stakeholders' needs simultaneously, internally, and externally, including individual donors and prospects.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to see multiple projects through to completion simultaneously, while meeting tight deadlines.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work both independently and as part of a team while demonstrating an extraordinary drive to meet and exceed goals.
• Prior experience working with fundraising databases (Salesforce), MS Office applications and online collaboration tools.
• Ability to successfully navigate and thrive in a complex organization.
• Committed to advancing the mission and goals of the ADL.

Work Experience

• Significant fundraising experience including a demonstrated expertise in soliciting and closing six-figure and seven-figure gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations, including multi-year commitments.
• Experience working with senior leaders, high net worth individuals and a range of philanthropy professionals.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent professional experience.

Compensation

This position has a salary range of $130,000 to $157,000. This salary range is reflective of a position based in New York, New York. Please note that actual salaries are commensurate with experience and reflect the budget for a given position, and since ADL has a location-based compensation structure, there may be a different range for candidates in other locations. For an overview of our total rewards package, please visit here.