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