Director of Philanthropy (SO CA)

About Opportunity International

Opportunity International is a global non-profit that has been empowering people to work their way out of poverty since 1971. Opportunity provides 18.7 million people with innovative financial resources, training, and support to grow their small businesses and send their children to school. In 2022, Opportunity International and its partners helped fund 5,600 schools that reached 1.6 million children, and they released more than $2.6 billion in capital across 30 countries. Discover more at opportunity.org or join the conversation on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

About the role

Opportunity International is looking for a Director of Philanthropy (SO CA), responsible for rapidly growing revenues in an assigned territory by meeting and exceeding major gift revenue and portfolio goals.

The role will primarily manage a territory in Southern California with additional opportunities in the Pacific Northwest territory.

The Director will have a strong emphasis on discovering and developing new relationships and funding partnerships. To succeed, the Director must be dynamic and engaging, highly organized, goal oriented and proactive; using effective techniques and resources to present a clear and compelling case for supporting Opportunity International’s unique business model and transformative mission.

Responsibilities

• Meet and exceed assigned territory goals of existing and additional revenue generated by an income-to-cost ratio of 3:1 in year 1, 5:1 in year 2, and 7:1 in year 3.
• Maintain and grow a portfolio of prospects and donors that can generate five, six and seven figure gifts and pledges from a wide range of sources including individuals, family offices, churches, private foundations and in limited occasions, corporations, focusing activities and overall portfolio around donors and prospects with gift potential of $10,000 and up.
• Build a strong portfolio of new prospects and donors, attending to the balance between discovery, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Identify, cultivate, and steward donors and new major gift prospects that meet and exceed all goals.
• Meet or exceed 80% retention of active donor portfolio, 25% lapsed donor reactivation, and 50% new donor retention goals year over year.
• Develop and implement an annual strategic Portfolio Action Plan for portfolio to generate major gifts and multi-year pledges from prospects and donors that meet and exceed set revenue, portfolio, and activity goals. Recording all donor and prospect interactions into Raiser’s Edge CRM.
• Conduct face-to-face and virtual meetings with both existing donors and new prospects at a rate of 12 per month.
• Host regular donor events in assigned territory to attract new donor prospects and retain existing donors.
• Ensure the development of quality donor events through pre-event planning and timely and thoughtful post event follow up with donors.
• Maintain a cost-effective fundraising budget, including cost-effectively leveraging resources such as development support staff, international visitors, events, and Insight Trips.
• Work closely with board members, Ambassadors Council members, and Board of Governors to implement the established assigned territory fundraising strategy.
• Nurture and maintain strong relationships with members of the Philanthropy team and other departments to further help further the organization’s mission and fundraising strategy.
• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of all Opportunity programs with ability to articulate a compelling case for support using Brainshark Training Modules and CRM/Power BI tools.
• Understands and ability to share value added donor information around Planned Gifts and blended gifts.
• Stay abreast of emerging trends in the major giving field as well as the overall economic development, poverty alleviation & microfinance industries.

Skills, qualifications and experience

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• At least seven years of demonstrated fundraising experience, proven experience growing revenues year over year, and a track record of being in the top 20% of peer performers.
• Prior experience managing or growing portfolios to $1M-$3M+ annually.
• Experience managing high-level, strategic, donor or client relationships.
• An entrepreneurial self-starter with experience building new relationships in a region while managing competing deadlines and attaining goals.
• Established skills in developing long-term donor/client cultivation and solicitation strategies, intangible sales experience a plus.
• Financial acumen that includes both budgeting and understanding key financial statements.
• Ability to maintain a positive attitude and ability to maintain strong interpersonal relationships with various stakeholders.
• Ability to motivate others and convey the mission of Opportunity International senior level leaders from a wide variety of constituencies.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to persuade others through written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Ability to articulate compelling reasons for supporting Opportunity International’s mission.
• Highly organized, with a high degree of technological proficiency, including experience with fundraising systems, preferably Raiser’s Edge and/or other CRM platforms.
• A deep, abiding passion for the mission of Opportunity International and its commitment to economic, spiritual, and social transformation

Language skills

• Written and verbal fluency in English required, fluency in French or Spanish desirable.

Travel Requirements

• Ability to travel 50% and attend program and fundraising activities on evenings and weekends.

APPOINTMENT DETAILS

Location: Remote in Southern California (e.g., Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Diego Country, Santa Barbara County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County)

Contract length: Permanent

Salary: $120,000 – $135,000