Philanthropy Officer

Taking advantage of the Museum’s upward trajectory, the
Philanthropy Officer will be responsible for securing philanthropic
support for the mission of Mystic Seaport Museum. The position will
focus on securing, cultivating and stewarding major gift donors at
Mystic Seaport Museum. The approach is a donor-centric undertaking
that results in a trust-based donor relationship, ultimately
resulting in significant donations. The successful candidate will
work collaboratively with other relationship managers and support
staff, program staff, and members of the management team to
identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift
donors. The position reports to the Director of
Philanthropy. 

The Philanthropy Officer will seek gifts for operating support
and programs across the institution, including capital projects,
education, special exhibition initiatives, endowment, planned
gifts, and in-kind support.  

Outreach will include correspondence, face-to-face socializing
and meetings, presentations, special experiences and exclusive
hosted events on and off the museum grounds. Some out-of-state
travel will be required. 

The Philanthropy Officer will be responsible for individual
fundraising objectives within their portfolio and for supporting
the collective success of the Advancement Team. 

 

Essential Functions: 

• Build a portfolio of 100- 150 donors with potential to give at
  the $50,000 level and above.
• Manage donor engagement and cultivate their passion for the
  institution.
• Establish an individualized strategy for each potential donor,
  qualifying their area(s) of interest and the impact they would like
  to have on the Museum.
• Plan for and successfully execute solicitations with these
  donors.

Measuring Success: 

• The successful candidate will maintain their portfolio’s annual
  fund giving, secure new revenue and increase the number of major
  gifts received annually.
• The successful candidate will work with the Director of
  Philanthropy to set performance metrics including fundraising goals
  as part of the annual institutional budgeting
  process.
• Performance will be evaluated quarterly based on the
  effectiveness of strategic initiatives to meet objectives, and on
  self-measured levels of activity, including but not limited to
  number of donor meetings, outgoing touches, successful engagements,
  actual solicitations, and most critically, actual portfolio
  results.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Five or more year’s fundraising experience in major gifts as an
  individual giving officer
• Experience with legacy or deferred gifts and / or grants and
  foundation work preferred
• Fundraising training and experience, coursework toward CFRE,
  CFRE certification preferred
• Experience with prospect research
• Prior experience at a mid to large-sized non-profit
  organization’s fundraising department
• Self-starter with a demonstrated strong work ethic
• Ability to work independently, and collaboratively as part of a
  team
• A sense of integrity and emotional intelligence
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Proficiency with Tessitura or another CRM database
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including
  Outlook, Word, and Excel