Vice President, Individual Giving

About the role

Reports to the Chief Development Officer. Based at the Bronx Zoo (exempt, full‑time). WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We are the only organization that combines on‑the‑ground field conservation programs in more than 55 countries with the world’s largest network of urban wildlife parks, based in New York City. WCS’s five wildlife parks, led by our flagship Bronx Zoo, have educated and inspired over 425 million visitors since 1899. Each year, WCS welcomes about 3.5 million visitors to the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and New York Aquarium—opening people’s eyes to the wonders of the natural world, while setting the gold standard for animal care and well‑being. WCS has a long track record of achieving innovative, impactful results at scale. Our scientists, veterinarians, and conservation experts have helped recover bison, tigers, gorillas, whales, coral reefs, and more. In the past century, we have helped governments create more than 430 protected areas around the world on land and sea, and we currently work with national governments and local communities to manage and monitor several hundred protected areas. 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. You will set and execute a unified individual giving strategy for donors giving from six‑ to nine‑figure gifts and secure new transformative philanthropic investments aligned with WCS’s priorities; identify, qualify, and move a robust pipeline of prospects, in partnership with the Research and Data Analytics teams; and increase donor engagement, in partnership with the Donor Engagement and Events team.

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.