Job Description

At Our Children’s Trust, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our Children’s Trust believes that diversity and inclusion is critical to our success and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

Our Mission:

Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit public interest law firm that provides strategic, campaign-based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate. We work to protect the Earth’s climate system for present and future generations by representing young people in global legal efforts to secure their binding and enforceable legal rights to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate, based on the best available science. We support our youth clients and amplify their voices before the third branch of government in a highly strategic legal campaign that includes targeted media, education, and public engagement work to support the youths’ legal actions.

Position Summary:

The Director of Development will vision, execute, supervise, track, and report on all fundraising initiatives and programs supporting this non-profit law firm.  The Director will maintain relationships with existing donors, develop relationships with donor prospects and solicit gifts at all levels.  The Director will meet prospecting and annual revenue goals. Reporting jointly to the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, the Director of Development must have a successful background in designing and executing nonprofit fundraising strategies.

The Director of Development will also oversee and execute the identification, cultivation, solicitation, acknowledgement and stewardship of all levels of institutional and individual donors, including proposal and report writing, as well as planned giving and social media fundraising strategies. The Director of Development will also manage fundraising support staff.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintain a deep understanding of OCT’s legal strategy and case developments in order to communicate with OCT’s broad base of donors
• Solicit gifts and oversee all fundraising activity to ensure revenue goals are met each year
• Cultivate, solicit, recognize, and steward all donors including assigned major donors and prospects
• Draft major gift proposals for support and grant proposals and reports
• Lead major donor prospect research to identify new major donors (individual and institutional) to meet revenue goals
• Build and execute planned giving program
• Develop and cultivate relationships with Community Foundations to enhance DAF giving and with institutional funder representatives
• Coordinate with Legal and Communications, Education and Engagement teams on organizational messaging and integration of related fundraising strategies

Additional Responsibilities

• Communicate with donors and staff in person, via email, phone/zoom, and social media
• Track and assess fundraising metrics
• Ensure response to donor and staff inquiries in a timely fashion
• Employ prospect research tools and donor database to build donor relationships.
• Create solicitation collateral
• Stay informed of current fundraising trends and matters affecting the nonprofit community
• Build recurring donor base
• Integrate segmented solicitation strategies across giving levels

Minimum Qualifications:

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they have every one of the qualifications as described in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and our hiring processes are centered on assessing candidates based on diverse lived experiences. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of our qualifications described. If you are unsure of whether you meet the qualifications of this position, or how this would be determined, please contact us to discuss your application.

• Proven track record in closing major gifts
• Demonstrated success leading multi-channel fundraising campaigns
• Familiarity with fundraising CRM software, donor databases, and fundraising technology
• Expertise with online screening systems for donors and marketing tools
• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills
• Strong adaptability to changing organizational needs and ability to adjust job priorities to meet those needs
• Deep interest in our cause and the ability and passion to develop a complex understanding of the legal process.

Preferred Qualifications:

• J.D. or equivalent knowledge of litigation and the U.S. court system
• Strong project management skills; able to balance reactive daily tasks with planning and stewarding longer-term projects
• Excellent networking skills and alliance-building experience
• Excellent time management and organizational abilities
• Prior work experience with non-profit advocacy organizations
• Metrics driven work ethic

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of litigation processes and strategies
• Ability to quickly digest, understand, and communicate foundational climate science and constitutional rights litigation
• Strong communication skills, ensuring information is effectively exchanged with others
• Ability to identify and solve problems with sound judgment and effective solutions
• Respectful, approachable and team oriented, building strong working relationships and contributing to a positive work environment
• Takes personal responsibility for job performance; receptive to feedback, willing to learn, and embraces continuous improvement
• Displays emotional resilience and the ability to withstand pressure on an on-going basis

Salary and Benefits:

Salary commensurate with experience. Benefits include 100% employer paid medical and dental for employee, long- and short-term disability, life insurance, SIMPLE IRA plan, generous vacation, sick and holiday leave including restorative leave after 6 years.

Working Conditions/Work Schedule:

Work is primarily performed in a standard office setting. Work is primarily performed Monday through Friday; however, evening and weekend hours may be necessary dependent upon deadlines and workload.

Physical Working Requirements:

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 will be provided to the extent possible and appropriate in the event of ADA qualifying disability.

This position requires the incumbent to sit for long periods of time; understand speech of another person and speak clearly so listeners can understand; routinely uses fingers to grasp, type move or assemble small objects. Position occasionally lifts and carries files and boxes weighing up to 20 pounds.

How to Apply

Please click here to apply.

Job Categories: Climate Change. Job Types: Full-Time.

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