Development Officer

Company : The Mountaineers

Job Type : Full Time

Remote / Work from Home

Number of Applicants

:

000+

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Job Description - Development Officer

Hiring Organization Information

Organization Name:

The Mountaineers

Website:

https://www.mountaineers.org/

City:

Seattle

State:

WA

Country:

USA

Position Information

Employment Type:

Full time

Experience Level:

Professional

Salary Range:

$74,000 - $79,000

Job Category:

Development | Fundraising

Organizational Overview:

Who We Are

The Mountaineers is a community of outdoor recreationists and conservationists founded in 1906 to explore the peaks and waterways of the Pacific Northwest. Today, we have more than 16,000 members and seven branches across Western Washington, where we deliver most of our outdoor education programming. Thanks to the work of generations of volunteers and our internationally-recognized publishing division, we continue to enjoy an outstanding reputation in the fields of outdoor education, recreation, and public lands conservation and advocacy.

Our dedicated volunteers and staff get people outside to experience the power of the natural world. We advocate for access to and protection of recreational lands so that future generations can enjoy these places as well. Our core value of community reflects our belief that a diverse and inclusive outdoors inspires unity, respect, and passion for the places we love. Our 60 staff, divided between our program centers and our nonprofit publishing division, Mountaineers Books, and 2,500+ volunteers work together to achieve our mission to enrich lives by helping people explore, conserve, learn about, and enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Visitmountaineers.orgto learn more.

Role Responsibilities:

Position Overview

The Mountaineers is seeking a relationship- and community-oriented Development Officerto lead and grow our individual giving fundraising programs with a strategic focus on major gifts. Joining a growing Community Engagement Team you’ll play a key role in achieving the organization’s $3M combined philanthropy ($2M) and membership ($950K) goal. To help our team reach this shared goal, you will be responsible for soliciting major gifts, bequest commitments, and deepening donor engagement with The Mountaineers strategic priorities.

Reporting to the Director of Community Engagement and working closely with staff across our outdoor programs and publishing divisions, the Board of Directors, and external partners, the Development Officer will build an elevated stewardship plan designed to engage donors at the $2,500 level and above through our Peak Society and Summit Society donor recognition circles. You will also oversee a calendar of donor-specific communications with a goal to demonstrate impact, improve financial storytelling, and support a culture of philanthropy within our internal and external communities.

This role requires a strong understanding of “moves management” and will be charged with developing a CRM infrastructure and coaching other relationship managers to adopt its use. It will also require an ability to inspire donors at all levels, through excellent written and verbal communication to articulate the organization's mission and funding priorities effectively.

This core member of our fundraising team will strengthen our culture of giving to help accelerate our fundraising and individual donor engagement programs, and secure philanthropic support to advance our mission and vision for a future where all people can confidently enjoy and are inspired to protect the natural world.

Objectives and Key Results

Achieve Major Gift Fundraising Goal: FY25 $350,000, FY26 $400,000, FY27 $450,000
Meet or exceed our average 50% donor retention metric for donors at the $2,500+ level.
Carry a balanced portfolio of approximately 120 donors and prospects.
Make at least 120 visits (aspire to 160 visits) with donors and prospects annually.
Leverage the Leadership Team to steward and grow a highly engaged donor community.
Develop a keen understanding of Mountaineers programs, goals, strategies, and financial needs to retain individual donors and seek creative opportunities for securing funding.

You will love this job if:

You are results-driven with demonstrated ability to set and achieve ambitious goals.
You are a confident fundraiser and feel at ease stepping in to support donors at any point in the giving cycle.
You find joy serving as a bridge between a donor’s desire to make a difference and the financial needs of The Mountaineers.
You are energized by interacting with and communicating to a wide range of community members including other staff members, volunteers, donors, and Board members.
You value a culture of accountability and enjoy partnering with your team to strengthen donor systems that support the entire donor cycle at scale.
You believe that time outside empowers people to lead healthier, happier lives and are excited to be part of a fun-loving team that makes outdoor recreation more accessible and sustainable.

Key Responsibilities

Frontline Fundraiser: Guiding Mid Level Donors to Major Gifts: (60%)

Responsible for developing and managing The Mountaineers mid-level to major gifts donor pipeline, including supporting portfolio holders across the organization to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects. In addition to prospecting a mid-level donor pipeline of 500+, this position will curate a personal major gift portfolio of ~120 mid level donors and prospects. You will also guide portfolios for the Director of Community Engagement, CEO, and other Senior Leadership Team to increase overall annual revenue received through gifts of $2,500 or more to The Mountaineers and Mountaineers Books.

Management of Prospect Pipeline: Meet fundraising goals through stewarding a community of current individual donors ($2,500 and above) and an evolving pool of donor prospects from Ridgeline and Peak Society members and other qualified community members engaging through events.
Make at least 120 visits with donors and prospects annually.
Document all outreach, conversations, and commitments in Salesforce.
Develop fundraising strategies for individual donors that integrate into the organization’s mission and priorities. When appropriate, execute donor engagement opportunities through donor events and campaigns.
Lead a monthly meeting to advise and collaborate with other relationship managers to maximize potential of current donor prospects.
Support the Director of Community Engagement to build a three-year roadmap to achieve a near-term philanthropic target of $2.1M, growing contributed revenue to $2.7M by 2028 through a mix of funding strategies.
As part of the three-year road map, establish an annual plan for our major giving program that contributes at least $350,000 (outside of fundraising events) to the organization’s larger annual philanthropy plan.

Development Communications & Donor Stewardship: (25%)

Responsible for overseeing a communications strategy to support a culture of philanthropy, including donor-impact messaging, fundraising education blogs, magazine articles, and other helpful related communications. As a piece of this work, this role oversees the Community Engagement team’s elevated Peak Society donor stewardship program, and will partner with the Associate Director of Member Engagement to develop systems, processes, and broad-based communications that showcase the impact of philanthropic support within our donor, volunteer, and membership communities.

Leveraging our leadership giving circle, Peak Society, as a means to cultivate deeper philanthropic engagement, collaborate with the Associate Director of Member Engagement to cultivate a positive member experience.
Compose communications designed to engage donors through a moves management plan. Coordinate with the Development Coordinator to ensure holistic and cohesive donor recognition and acknowledgments.
Guide content strategy for monthly donor impact stories, including six Impact Giving blog articles and four quarterly Mountaineer magazine articles. Responsible for authoring or delegating to authors to keep a steady pace of communications.
Partner with Board and staff members to share the story of how donor funds are utilized within individual programs and priorities.
Maintain an annual communications plan that bolsters donor engagement from 25+ Year members and 50+ Year members, including an annual thank you call campaign and quarterly updates. Lead our annual 25-Year and 50-Year member luncheons with logistical support from our events team.

Program Management: Legacy Gift Planning: (15%)

Responsible for continued development and management of The Mountaineers planned giving program, establishing best practices to engage planned gift prospects. Additionally, this role will lead efforts to expand and strengthen the organization’s gift acceptance policies to ensure seamless utilization of transformational gifts.

Lead a gift planning program to include all appropriate planned giving pathways.
Determine top goals for The Mountaineers planned giving program, including measurable benchmarks and outcomes. Support the organization in answering, “How will we know this program is successful?”
Collaborating with the Community Engagement and Communications team to develop strategic communications for planned giving prospects, leads and participants.
Conceptualize, review, edit, and facilitate production of materials needed to steward and secure planned gifts.

Other Duties and Admin Support (5%)

Support annual fund, special programs, and year-end fundraising efforts
Participate in outdoor programs to connect directly with The Mountaineers impact story.
Other duties as assigned.

Candidate Qualifications:

Requirements

Minimum of five years experience in direct fundraising roles, including annual giving, individual gift solicitations, planned giving programs, strategic donor engagement, campaigns, or complex fundraising project management.
Proven track record of securing mid-level to major gifts ($2,500 - $10,000).
The ability to communicate effectively and respectfully with donors, Board members, volunteers, staff, and the general public.
Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills.
Proficiency with word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, database, email, virtual meeting, and calendaring applications.
Proficient in Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and relationship-management software such as Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, or other similar CRM databases.
Cultural humility and ability to work with people of all races, ages, genders, abilities, and economic backgrounds.
High ethical standards and a commitment to the confidentiality of donor records.
Passion for outdoor education, publishing, conservation, and environmental stewardship.
Ability to pass a national criminal background and sex offender check.

Desired Qualifications

7 years experience in fundraising roles with proven ability to secure gifts of $5,000+.
Experience working in publishing, environmental, education, or nonprofit organizations.
Ability to work independently and well under pressure with tight deadlines, changing priorities and inputs from multiple stakeholders.
Demonstrate commitment to supporting The Mountaineers Strategic Plan to lead innovation in outdoor education, engage a vibrant community of outdoor enthusiasts, and advocate on behalf of the natural world.

Cultivating an inclusive staff is central to The Mountaineers focus on advancing equity and achieving a sense of belonging. Our core values are Adventure, Advocacy, Community, Education, and Volunteerism, and we believe a diverse and inclusive environment inspires unity, respect, and passion for our work and one another. We’re interested in hearing from people who can work with colleagues of varied experience and backgrounds. The Mountaineers is an equal-opportunity employer, and candidates from all backgrounds are considered, and as an organization that values equity and inclusion, we highly encourage people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and veterans to apply.

Work Environment

This role is based in Seattle, WA, at The Mountaineers program center in Magnuson Park. This position is expected to have a regular presence in our Seattle-based program center, with opportunities for a partial remote work schedule. The Mountaineers will provide a laptop computer for remote access. For remote work, the Development Officer is expected to have a suitable remote work environment, including broadband internet access, to accomplish their job duties.

Physical Demands

Ability to work evening and weekend hours, as necessary for Board meetings and events.
Must have regular and reliable transportation for local travel and willing to travel when necessary. Occasional local travel expected for donor meetings and volunteer working groups.
On events days (to support setup to tear down):
Ability to be active and mobile for 4 or more hours continuously.
Ability to work greater than a 10-hour day.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.