Senior Philanthropy Officer, West Coast

Who We Are

American Farmland Trust (AFT) is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect nearly 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families. Long a pioneering leader, AFT continues to evolve to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers nationwide, adapting its approach to ensure the continued strength and resilience of agriculture and rural communities nationwide.

Job purpose

The Philanthropy Officer will manage a portfolio of roughly 100-125 prospects located in the western region of the country, driving identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategy aimed at securing $100,000+ major gifts, leadership annual gifts and planned giving leads.

Job Summary

Working independently, and with AFT’s in-house research team, the Philanthropy Officer identifies and qualifies new prospects, solicits and stewards existing prospects, and is responsible for achieving specific fundraising targets.

Duties and responsibilities

• Manages a portfolio of approximately 100-125 prospects as part of a growing major gifts program.
• Special focus on giving at the $10,000-$100,000 level to build a robust pipeline of gift opportunities that stretch over multiple years. Portfolio work includes a mix of new prospect identification, qualification, existing donor cultivation and stewardship, and maximizing the potential fundraising capacity of the region through strong networking and engaging activities at all levels.Employs a travel and meeting schedule to meet donors where they are, aiming for a minimum of 15-20 visits/meaningful interactions each month (virtual/in-person).
• Provides rapid response to opportunities to engage donors and prospects in AFT’s issues,
• following relevant news articles, AFT successes, and other key moments that arise through the year. The Philanthropy Officer independently drives outreach and dialogue with donors in the region using a stream of AFT activity and program impact stories.
• Effectively responds to individual donors through written correspondence, telephone contact, personal contact and e-mail, assuring the donors that their needs are processed immediately upon request.
• Prepares written materials, including reports, cultivations, stewardship pieces, and direct mail solicitations for individual supporters.
• Works with development staff to research and review top donor prospects through discovery calls and visits and adds to the Individual Giving prospect pipeline and moves management program.
• Plans and coordinates (with the assistance of AFT Development staff) donor events, with a goal of identifying new prospects and cultivating existing donors.
• Works closely with staff from western region to support the development of new funding opportunities, including suggesting and creating engaging experiences that bring individuals closer to AFT’s work in the region.
• Collaborates with the western regional teams on prospect identification, donor cultivation, and the development of region-specific fundraising materials.
• When possible, participate in meetings and gatherings of the western region teams.
• Employs a growth mindset and contributes to a culture of philanthropy and gratitude.

This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities. Management reserves the right to revise the job or to request other or different duties be performed as assigned.

Qualifications

• A collaborative working style.
• Proactive and entrepreneurial.
• Must be experienced and confident asking for philanthropic support in person and virtually.
• Must be good at synthesizing and discussing complex human and environmental systems and must be good at securing meetings with prospects and donors t