Vice President, Individual Giving

About the role

The Vice President of Individual Giving is a senior frontline fundraising leader responsible for driving the strategy, performance, and growth of individual philanthropic revenue at WCS. You will oversee both the Principal Gifts and Major Gifts programs, managing a high-performing team while also personally cultivating and soliciting a portfolio of the organization’s most significant donors and prospects.

Principal Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive individual giving strategy spanning major ($100K+) and principal ($10M+) gifts.
• Raise the performance bar and redefine the major gifts threshold to $100,000+ annually through multi-year, multi-layer team revenue models built on disciplined moves management.
• Define clear revenue goals, growth targets, and performance metrics across all individual giving programs.
• Build a robust pipeline of high-capacity donors, expanding and diversifying the funding base.
• Elevate the collaboration amongst all frontline fundraisers from individual, corporate, and foundation teams.
• Personally manage a portfolio of 20–30 top-tier donors and prospects, capable of making 7-, 8-, and 9-figure gifts.
• Lead cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of transformational gifts ($1M–$25M+), including multi-year commitments.
• Partner closely with the President & CEO, CDO, and Trustees on top prospects.
• Lead, mentor, and manage Directors, Officers, and Associates across Major and Principal Gifts.
• Establish a high-performance culture with clear data-driven expectations, accountability, and coaching.
• Set and monitor monthly and quarterly metrics (activity, pipeline, revenue).
• Ensure disciplined portfolio management and pipeline tracking across the team.
• Drive accurate forecasting and revenue modeling for individual giving.
• Establish and strengthen use of Salesforce and data systems to support decision-making and accountability.
• Collaborate with program, finance, communications, and executive teams to develop compelling funding opportunities.
• Work with donor engagement team to maximize cultivation opportunities.
• Represent WCS in key philanthropic communities, particularly New York and global ultra-high-net-worth networks.
• Develop familiarity with WCS’s programmatic priorities, budgets, and strategic initiatives to position compelling investment opportunities.

Qualification Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum 7–10 years of leadership fundraising experience with demonstrated success closing seven-and eight-figure gifts.
• Deep knowledge of the New York philanthropic landscape and strong existing relationships preferred.
• Experience managing and mentoring frontline fundraisers; ability to coach for performance and accountability.
• Demonstrated success managing large and complex donor portfolios with strong moves management discipline.
• Entrepreneurial, growth-oriented mindset; hunger to build and scale a high-performing major gifts program.
• Excellent communication, writing, and interpersonal skills.
• Able to influence and collaborate across a complex, multisite organization.
• Passion for WCS’s mission and global conservation work.
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed.

Workplace Conditions and Environment

This is a hybrid NYC-based position with office locations at Bronx and Central Park Zoos. Requires regular interaction with colleagues, donors, and leadership; occasional evening and weekend work for donor events; and periodic travel.

Compensation

The Vice President, Individual Giving is compensated between $285,000 - $315,000 annually, commensurate with experience and includes a comprehensive package of employee benefits. The salary offer will reflect the selected candidate’s individual experiences, skills and qualifications, internal equity, work location and country of work.