The Director of Donor Engagement will grow support for TNC’s mission through the key strategic pillars of the Donor Engagement Team: travel, events, storytelling, and community empowerment. This position leads a dynamic team to increase innovative approaches to expand the reach and deepen engagement with current, new, and potential donors in support of TNC’s mission. The Director of Donor Engagement is responsible for growing and reimagining our portfolio of experiences, and executing them with excellence, to reach new supporters and expand TNC’s reach.
The Director of Donor Engagement will work towards meeting the strategic priorities of the Donor Engagement Team by developing and managing plans and strategies for donor travel and events. The Director is responsible for working closely with the Global Campaign Director to drive organization-wide philanthropic impact and network engagement through travel and events designed to increase support of TNC’s global conservation strategy. They are responsible for ensuring the programmatic work is a collaborative and well-integrated effort within philanthropy and across the organization, including organizing internal communications. They manage vendor relationships, as needed, building and maintaining external partner relationships. They reinforce consistency in the organization's policies and procedures and provide direction related to donor engagement. They provide business requirements to develop analyses and reports for the organization's leadership in support of strategic function. The Director of Donor Engagement will refine metrics of program success and implement accountability systems to track progress. The Director provides advice, guidance, and oversees training programs related to specified functions. They will lead diverse activities, develop complex processes, project outcomes, and initiate solutions in order to improve effectiveness. They will serve as team leader for the enhancement of systems and tools used by the team. The Director leverages constructive and effective relationships with a wide range of people, including senior management, public and private sector colleagues, and partners including financial/legal advisors.
The Director will lead and manage the Donor Engagement Team through excellent management and communications. They will serve as liaison between Donor Engagement and the Office of the CEO, Principal Gifts, Directors of Philanthropy, and local efforts.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
- Broad management responsibility for donor engagement team members, including training, professional development, establishing clear directions, setting “stretch” objectives, and overseeing the execution of day-to-day work.
- Commit actions and resources in a way that affects public image and binds the organization financially or legally.
- Develop and administer budget, evaluate results and develop corrective strategies as needed.
- Ensure that programmatic commitments, TNC policies and procedures, and financial standards are met and managed for ethical compliance.
- Implement and direct multiple projects, directing work of staff, managing budget, setting deadlines, and ensuring accountability.
- Lead new programs/initiatives that will ensure department and organization-wide goals and strategies are achieved.
- Maintain confidentiality of frequently sensitive and emotionally charged information.
- Manage strategic initiatives through stakeholder collaboration to enhance performance in accordance with short and long-term objectives.
- Maximum opportunity to act independently, resolves complex issues within program area.
- May direct or participate in negotiations for complex, high profile or sensitive agreements.
- Minimize legal risk to the Conservancy and ensure legal compliance with applicable state and local regulations.
- Responsibility and accountability for meeting strategic goals and objectives.
- Travel frequently and on short notice, work long hours and weekends.
- Work environment involves only infrequent exposure to disagreeable elements and minor physical exertion and/or strain.
- Experience implementing and managing multiple projects and strategic goals.
- Experience managing and supervising a multidisciplinary team.
- Experience in planning and delivering budgetary responsibilities.
- Experience working across complex organizations.
- Experience working with cross-functional teams across multiple organizational levels.
- Experience, coursework, or other training in principles, practices, and procedures of donor engagement.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience working in philanthropy, donor engagement, and/or alumni engagement.
- Effectively communicates via presentations, conversations, and documents.
- Experience managing a team in a large, complex organization and/or a geographically dispersed team.
- Expert knowledge of current and evolving trends in relevant discipline.
- Effective training skills.
- Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
- Proficiency in synthesizing materials from multiple sources into a coherent and accurate summary.
- Proficiency in working independently as well as jointly with colleagues on a team.
- Understanding of best practices in non-profit management.
The Nature Conservancy offers competitive compensation, 401k or savings-plan matching for eligible employees, excellent benefits, flexible work policies and a collaborative work environment. We also provide professional development opportunities and promote from within. As a result, you will find a culture that supports and inspires conservation achievement and personal development, both within the workplace and beyond.