Philanthropy Officer

Position Summary

The Philanthropy Officer role in Leadership Giving & Engagement is responsible for developing and growing engagement with donors, sponsors, and volunteers by managing the Young Leaders Society (YLS) while creating meaningful engagement opportunities that deepen philanthropic investment in the mission of United Way of the Midlands. This position collaboratively leads the strategy, growth, and execution of the Young Leaders Society (YLS) events and programs while supporting the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of Palmetto Society donors and other mid-level individual giving prospects. This innovative leader will develop strong strategic relationships with new and existing donors giving total $750,000 unrestricted dollars with a growth goal expectation of $50-$100K.

This role serves as a relationship builder, fundraiser, storyteller, and community connector who creates pathways for volunteers and emerging leaders to become long-term investors and advocates for United Way of the Midlands (UWM).

Position Responsibilities - Essential

• Understand the Mission of United Way of the Midlands and have a working knowledge of all the various programs United Way funds, operates and sustains federally for our community including the Midlands Association Coalition of Homeless; funding of partner agencies; funding of UWM’s signature programs; etc.
• Develop and direct the Young Leaders Society, an engagement network of United Way of the Midlands, through relationship acquisition strategies, peer to peer engagement, leadership development opportunities and volunteer engagement.
• Support YLS leadership committees to plan and execute programs and events to increase the number of new and retained YLS donors, engage donors year-round and manage expected program outcomes (includes workplace and individual donor engagement, professional/leadership development events, volunteer experiences, networking opportunities, etc.).
• Collaborate with campaign staff and Community Impact department to set and accomplish annual and long-term goals to attract and sustain resources.
• In collaboration with Resource Development and YLS leadership committees, secure sponsorships for YLS programs and events.
• Manage and grow a personal portfolio of approximately 50-75 current and new donors.
• Build pathways for YLS donors to become leadership/major donors and volunteer committee leaders on YLS and United Way of the Midlands’ committees.
• Productively manage time spending appropriate time out-of-office meetings with individual donors/prospects and corporate/community groups while balancing the need for desk time to document all interactions in the software.
• Develop consistent stewardship plans for donors including donor acknowledgements, touchpoints, and stewardship experiences.
• Collaborate and advise Marketing in a timely manner to update and create YLS program and event marketing materials and documents used in cultivating and soliciting new donors annually.

Position Responsibilities - Non-Essential

• Work with Campaign Directors and campaign staff in identifying prospects and driving new YLS relationships in workplace campaigns to achieve shared revenue and recruitment goals.
• Represent YLS and United Way of the Midlands by participating in external community events and in partnerships with other community groups to acquire new relationships and further YLS/UWM community influence.
• Maintain budget for YLS expenses as well as monthly reconciliation of UWM credit card.
• This position maintains and updates donor contact information as needed in the database.

Beneficial Skills and Experience

• Prior non-profit working experience is preferred.
• A strong understanding of the mission, work and programming that United Way of the Midlands is involved in and how we are different from the United Way Association of South Carolina.
• Working with customer databases software is preferred.

• Experience and knowledge in working in Microsoft Office preferred.

  Essential Skills and Experience

  Required

• Three to five years' experience in fundraising and/or community engagement.
• Past success in meeting fundraising goals through individual and/or corporate giving
• Superior ability to develop and sustain positive relationships with all donors.
• Knowledge of development principles, fund raising techniques and ethics, including moves management donor strategies.
• Excellent listening skills, with proven ability to solicit information from others and to use that knowledge to make new connections for prospecting.
• Ability to manage multiple projects in various stages of development and attain success with those projects such cultivation events, or home prospecting events.
• Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communications skills.
• Proven self-starter, and ability to work with minimal supervision.
• This role requires positive personal energy, being very personable and easy for others to talk with and approach and keeps a good sense of humor.
• Ability to travel throughout the area we serve.
• Availability to work some evening hours if given notice ahead of time.
• Proven ability to build strong collaborative relationships across the organization and work cooperatively and flexible as part of the United Way team.
• Bachelor's degree required.