Director, Principal Giving (East)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

Job Overview/ Summary: 

The External Relations (ER) department is comprised of three main but complementary functional areas: Private fundraising, Communications, and Advocacy. The main objective of the department is to enable this organization of more than 15,000 staff to have the resources needed to continue serving 18 million people worldwide in places affected by war and disaster. The Philanthropy unit, part of the ER department, leads on the organization’s work with High-Net-Worth Individuals. Positioned within USA Philanthropy, the Principal Giving East team has a goal of improving private individual support for the IRC by engaging, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant, multi-year commitments from ultra-high net worth individual supporters that are based in the eastern region of the United States.

The Director, Principal Giving East will lead the IRC’s Principal Giving Program in the Eastern United States, providing strategic leadership, direction, and management to a team of fundraisers responsible for securing philanthropic support from high-net-worth individuals, with a capacity rating of $2.5M and above. They will be an entrepreneurial professional who enjoys leading and mentoring teams, building donor relationships, and has a track record of closing 7 and 8+ figure gifts. The Director, Principal Giving East is accountable for the achievement of team revenue targets as well as overseeing their own portfolio of prospects and donors. 

The Director will supervise and collaborate with officers to renew and upgrade gifts of $1M+ as well as to build a strong pipeline of principal gift donor prospects and identify new partnerships. They will also have a portfolio and will craft and implement strategies to cultivate, solicit, and steward donors and prospects with the capacity to give principal gifts in partnership with the Senior Director, IRC Leadership, and the IRC's Board of Directors.

Reporting to the Senior Director, the Director serves a critical role in helping to develop and implement strategies that are informed by bold revenue targets. They will be expected to understand the needs and performance of donors and prospects, communicate and collaborate superbly with colleagues, think strategically, make recommendations, and offer creative solutions to continually grow and improve the IRC's donor relationships.

Major Responsibilities: 

• Supervise a team of front-line fundraisers, inspiring, motivating and challenging them to optimize the size and impact of gifts to IRC through active mentorship and fostering an environment that supports new ideas and innovative approaches to donor relationship management.
• Provide dynamic and effective thought leadership for the Principal Giving East team's efforts towards increased financial revenue and other modes of private sector engagement that support impactful delivery of the IRC's mission.
• Develop and support the Principal Giving East team's efforts to cultivate, solicit, and steward a large and ever-growing portfolio of major donors and prospects. This includes ensuring a steady pace of personalized communications and face-to-face visits, tracking progress in Salesforce and other software applications, and plugging these efforts into the larger Philanthropy team’s strategic goals.
• Build a strong fundraising structure including a prospect pipeline and donor giving tracks to support IRC as a whole.
• Work with IRC's senior leadership, program staff, and relevant colleagues across IRC to create compelling cases for philanthropic investment and engagement opportunities for donors and prospects.
• Partner with the Senior Director to develop a bold strategic plan, including setting annual goals and key outcomes for the team and developing standards, tools, and procedures for a best-in-class approach to donor engagement and fundraising.
• Lead the direct and indirect management of entirety of the Principal Giving East Team, comprised of up to 7 individuals.
• Manage a small portfolio of Principal Giving capacity donors, prospects, and suspects that results in retaining donors and realizing ever-increasing size gifts at the seven and eight figure level.
• Undertake special projects as requested.

Candidate Requirements: 

• 10+ years of non-profit fundraising experience and demonstrated expertise in ultra-high net worth individual fundraising.
• Demonstrated history of being an empowering and supportive manager to front line fundraisers

Preferred Experience & Skills: 

• Consistent record of securing 7 and 8+ figure gifts from a multifaceted portfolio of donors and prospects, including qualifying prospects and upgrading donors.
• Experience leading and directly supervising frontline fundraisers.
• Ability to lead, motivate, and develop a strong and complex team.
• Consistent record of developing blended and multi-year funding opportunities.
• Outstanding communication skills, including writing, listening, verbal presentation, and speaking.
• Ability to develop creative and nuanced donor strategy often carried out in partnership with program staff or senior leadership.
• Adaptable to change in a fast-paced work environment while keeping donor priorities at the center of strategy and relationship building.
• Ability to respectfully and sensitively collaborate across teams internally, regardless of distance, and garner support for and implement initiatives effectively.
• Ability to identify, build, and implement processes vital to supporting effective donor relationships;
• Ability to analyze and interpret financial data.
• Ability to navigate CRM systems.
• Dedication to fundraising for international development, humanitarian, human rights, gender and racial equality, social justice, and US immigrant communities.

Working Environment: This is a hybrid role which requires an average presence in the NYC office of 2-3 days a week in combination with remote/flex-time work.

Compensation: (Pay Range: $160,000 - $180,000) Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

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Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $163 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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Why Choose the IRC?

Work that has meaning: Every day at the IRC is a chance to make a difference through a purpose-driven career. Whether you're working directly with communities or providing support behind the scenes, you will be part of a dynamic team that is always innovating, scaling, and testing new and better solutions to ensure the best possible outcomes for the people we serve.

Global scale, dynamic workplace: At the IRC, we believe that the dynamic, global make-up of our team is our strength. When you join us, you're not just starting a job—you will be part of a global organization positively impacting millions of lives in over 40 get to work with colleagues from all around the world—working across time zones and regularly exchanging different ideas, perspectives and insights. You’ll join a team that is dedicated to fostering a supportive environment to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and heard.  

Challenging work, innovative solutions: We’re committed to excellence and innovation, and pride ourselves in setting industry-leading standards while practicing evidence and data-lead strategies. Come challenge norms, shatter conventions, and pioneer change while working on real, nuanced and complex issues we face in the world today.  

Community centered: We’re an empathetic community that truly cares for one another. Our comprehensive safety and security initiatives ensure a safe work environment, while our continuous learning and development programs provide ongoing opportunities for personal and career advancement.

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Our Typical Recruitment Process

The interview process typically includes three rounds, though the number may vary depending on the role and level of seniority. It usually begins with a conversation with our recruiting team to learn more about you and your goals. This is followed by an interview with a hiring manager or business stakeholder to explore your background and provide more insight into the role. The final round focuses on assessing your role-specific expertise and may be conducted as a panel interview to evaluate your cross-functional strengths. Before extending an offer, we generally conduct reference checks, and after an offer is made, a standard background check is completed. While we strive for consistency, the process may differ based on the role, business unit, location, job type, legal requirements, and other factors.

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