Major Gifts Officer

JOB SUMMARY

Forest Home is a Christ-centered nonprofit camp dedicated to providing life-changing experiences for children, youth, and families. Through outdoor adventures, biblical teaching, and authentic community, we seek to cultivate spiritual growth and lifelong faith in Jesus Christ.

We are seeking a passionate and strategic Major Gift Officer to help grow our mission through meaningful donor relationships and impactful giving opportunities.

The Major Gifts Officer is responsible for developing and managing relationships with current and prospective major donors to support Forest Home's vision, programs, and capital needs. This position will focus on identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individuals capable of making gifts of ($10,000+) or more annually.

The ideal candidate will be a committed follower of Jesus Christ with a heart for ministry, a high degree of emotional intelligence, and a proven ability to engage major donors in transformational giving.

The Major Gifts Officer works directly under the direction of the Chief Development Officer in the execution and support of the Forest Home strategies. The Major Gifts Officer is a key member of the development team, responsible for securing and growing significant philanthropic support. In addition to managing their own portfolio of high capacity donors, the MGO oversees the Charitable Gift Advisor and Annual Fund Coordinator, ensuring a coordinated donor pipeline and an intergrated strategy that advances donor relationships at every level.

This is a full-time, remote position working out of a home office. Seasonal travel to Forest Home in Forest Falls is required during the summer months or as needed for donor engagement, as well as regional travel throughout Southern California including but not limited to Orange County, San Diego County, Los Angeles County, Arizona and Nevada.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Fundraising & Donor Relations
  • Manage a portfolio of 100 major gift prospects and 125-150 major gift active donors.
  • Build authentic, long-term relationships through personalized engagement.
  • Develop and implement customized cultivation strategies, stewardship and solicitation plans for each donor.
  • Solicit major gifts through weekly face-to-face meetings, virtual meetings, calls, and visits with active donors and prospective donors. (travel required)
  • Initiate, develop & maintain relationships with donors to increase major gifts and annual giving commitment donations.
  • Participate in each step of the donor development pipeline including: identification; qualification through research; cultivation; briefing; request for support (ask); prompt and consistent follow up, stewardship, and recognition.
  • Proactively establish new donor relationships via prospecting targeted lists, referrals, networking opportunities, and proactive development of donor referrals
  • Provide camp tours on site for prospective donors as needed.
• Solicitation & Fundraising Strategy
• Collaborate with the Chief Development Officer to set annual fundraising goals for major gifts.
• Identify mid-level donors to major gift prospects.
• Prepare compelling proposals, impact reports, cases for support, and donor presentations.
• Secure major gifts for annual fund, capital campaigns, scholarships, and special projects.
• Use a gospel-centered approach to connect donor philanthropic passions with the camp's mission.
  • Develop individual donor strategies for major donor engagement through cultivation and opportunities to deepen relationships with the ministry.
  • Utilize donorsearch/RE Wealth screening to analyze donor data to identify new prospects and upgrade existing donors.
  • Maintain consistent stewardship with current donors and determine appropriate solicitation strategies to secure renewals and increase annual giving.
• Reporting, Communication and Administration:
• Maintain accurate up to date donor records and activity reports in CRM.
• Provide regular updates and donor reports to the Chief Development Officer on progress toward fundraising goals.
• Adhere to ethical and confidentiality standards in all fundraising activities.
• Collaborate with marketing team on donor communication materials.
• Ensure donor recognition and acknowledgments reflect Christian values and excellence.
• Communicate effectively through different mediums (face to face, email, phone calls, written notecards, etc...)
  • Group presentation experience and communication skills
• Team Leadership & Supervision:
  • Supervise, coach, and support the The Charitable Gift Advisor and Annual Fund Coordinator.
  • Set clear performance goals, conduct regular check-ins, and support professional development.
  • Expected 10% growth rate annually for mid-level and major gifts.
  • Ensure alignment of efforts across the giving pipeline, from mid-level donors to planned and major gifts.
  • Foster a collaborative and goal oriented culture within the team.
• Ministry Engagement
  • Participate actively in prayer and spiritual support for donors and staff
  • Attend and represent the camp events, retreats and ministry gatherings
  • Model Christlike character and uphold Forest Home's vision, mission and core values.
• Highly motivated and driven person who does not need to be prompted to do their job
• Strong work ethic
• Attention to detail and good discernment
• Demonstrates Godly stewardship managing expenses and timely submission of them.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Bachelor's degree preferred

Minimum of 5 years in major gift fundraising with demonstrated success securing gifts of $70,000+ and successfully growing a donor portfolio on an annual basis

Ability to interact professionally with executive leadership team

Self-starter, energetic, empathetic, and enthusiastic professional

History of building strong relationships with a variety of individuals

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Uphold and support the Mission, Vision and Core Values of Forest Home

Ability to hear from God and pray for people, both in person and on the phone

Actively supports and participates in the staff spiritual life activities

Agree with and sign the Statement of Faith

Display a professional attitude through performance, appearance, and demeanor

Ability to work well and collaborate in a team environment

Flexibility and willingness to adjust to changing environments

Regular, timely attendance

Servant heart and Christ-like attitude

Must possess an excellent "can do" attitude of love, care and collaboration

Strong communication abilities.

Professional, high level group presentation skills as well, exceptional verbal and written skills.

Excellent time management and ability to perform high quality work within assigned deadlines

Participates in spiritual life activities, including regular church attendance and daily Bible reading.

Leadership ability to correctly guide expectations and recommend ideas

Availability for business travel as needed

Must see problems as opportunities to build relationships and have exceptional problem-solving skills

Passion for camp ministry encouraging the body of Christ to invest into an opportunity through Forest Home ministry resulting in a kingdom eternal impact.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: The Major Gifts Officer is responsible to oversee the Charitable Gifts Advisor and the Annual Fund Coordinator ensuring a coordinated donor pipeline and an integrated strategy that advances donor relationships at every level.

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

While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit, and requires sufficient hand, arm, and finger dexterity to operate office machines. Requires mild physical work; some lifting, pushing, or pulling of objects over 30 pounds. Requires visual acuity to read words and numbers and speaking and hearing ability sufficient to communicate in person or over the phone.

ADA: The employer will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This job description will be reviewed periodically as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Work involves moderate exposure to unusual elements such as extreme temperatures, dirt, dust, fumes, smoke, unpleasant odors. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate but can be loud at times.

FOREST HOME EMPLOYMENT STATEMENT: Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. All terms and conditions of Forest Home's at-will employment, duties, and responsibilities are subject to the Forest Home Employee Handbook.

FOREST HOME CORE VALUES

Surrender to Christ (Romans 12:1-2)

• Abide with the Lord daily through study of His Word and prayer
• Surrender to the Lord daily through obedience to His Word
• Worship the Lord with the Forest Home Community
• Commit to grow in your faith through regular attendance at a local church
• Prioritize God, Family, and Work appropriately
• Be prepared to share your testimony with staff or guests

• Walk in Biblical purity (1 Timothy 4:12) by rejecting one's sinful nature

Love (I Corinthians 13)

• Display the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22)
• Be respectful to others
• Demonstrate compassion

Serve (Philippians 2:3-11)

• Give generously to God and others through time, talent and treasure
• Seek to put others' needs above your own
• Demonstrate humility in both spirit and deed
• Actively look for ways to serve

Walk in Integrity (Titus 2:11-12, Proverbs 4:23-27)

• Show loyalty to others, even when they are not present
• Do the right thing, even when others are not present
• Extend trust and seek to believe the best in others
• Ask for forgiveness quickly when necessary
• Be truthful and transparent with others

Strive for Excellence (Colossians 3:23-24)

• Demonstrate accountability with time and resources
• Request and receive training
• Desire to improve, and challenge others to do the same
• Commit to exceeding guest expectations
• Refuse mediocrity

Engage in Community (I Thessalonians 5:11-13)

• Seek first to understand before being understood
• Communicate clearly, empathetically and respectfully
• Work through conflict Biblically (Matthew 18-15-17)
• Participate in intentional and purposeful community activities
• Partner with teammates for the goal of unity and team effectiveness
• Play and appreciate "campy" fun
• Faithfully pray for one another

Innovate (Ephesians 3:20-21)

• Dream Big
• Proactively seek solutions
• Think outside the box
• Dream, plan and execute new ideas
• Acknowledge and trust that all things are possible through Jesus Christ our Lord (Matthew 19:26)

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