Senior Planned Giving Officer

Senior Development Officer, Planned Giving

Development Department

Union of Concerned Scientists

Washington, DC, Cambridge, MA, Oakland, CA

The Position

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is an independent national nonprofit that uses science to protect our health, safety, and environment.  We are scientists, engineers, economists, activists, and everyday people who develop and advocate for innovative, practical solutions to some of our planet’s most pressing problems—from combating global warming and developing sustainable ways to feed, power, and transport ourselves, to fighting misinformation, advancing racial equity, and reducing the threat of nuclear war.

Our fundraising department seeks a Senior Planned Giving Officer to join our successful team. Our job is to help donors make legacy gifts—i.e., donations through wills, trusts, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and other complex and deferred gift designations. The ideal candidate will have experience forging relationships with donors or clients, can leverage estate and financial planning strategies to assist donors in developing meaningful legacy gifts, and can help our team achieve ambitious revenue and activity goals. The position requires a high degree of initiative, attention to detail, creative thinking and problem-solving skills, and commitment to learning and developing your planned giving skills and experience. If you are adept at building relationships, can travel (only if safe, given COVID-19), and are interested in working in a flexible, collegial, and goal-oriented environment, we hope you’ll join our team!

Responsibilities

The Senior Planned Giving Officer assists the team with successful identification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and retention of Planned Giving prospects and donors. We will ask you to:

• Manage a portfolio of 100+ planned giving donors and prospects, and develop cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies to maximize future revenue
• Meet revenue and activity goals, including the closure of new legacy gift commitments (bequests, beneficiary designations, and life income gifts) gifts of complex assets, as well as the management of complex estate gifts
• Regularly engage with donors through a variety of communication channels and develop donor engagement strategies, including frequent program updates, events featuring UCS leaders and program staff, and in-person visits when possible and when it’s safe to do so
• Respond to a wide variety of donor inquiries generated by marketing and outreach efforts, qualifying and cultivating prospects for gift discussions and solicitations
• Help mentor the Planned Giving Coordinator in their development of donor cultivation and solicitation skills and technical planned giving knowledge
• Provide technical gift planning expertise and strategic guidance to Major Gift Officers and other development staff
• Remain versed and up to date on planned giving tools being offered by UCS and in the field at large, and stay abreast of changes affecting the industry
• Develop and maintain familiarity with all UCS program areas and priorities
• Upholds professional ethical standards of fundraising, as per the Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethics
• Work collaboratively and respectfully with a diverse team of people and be open to engaging in anti-racism work that may fall outside of the scope of your direct responsibilities (UCS provides time and compensation for some such work.

Qualifications and Experience

• Five to seven years of planned giving or relevant fundraising experience, including direct donor or client contact; strategic relationship building; gift, estate, or financial planning; familiarity with fundraising ethics and best practices; and ease working with large amounts of data and program information
• Ability to explain for donors the complicated concepts and issues associated with the wide range of available planned giving options

• Superior interpersonal skills and ability to work independently and as a team player
• Strong planning skills, including the ability to anticipate tasks, set priorities, manage multiple

complex projects, meet deadlines, and function smoothly under strict deadlines and shifting priorities—with thorough attention to detail and follow-through

• Some weekday evenings, weekends, and travel required (as much as 20% on average, as conditions allow)
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook is required and experience with constituent databases and gift planning software (e.g. Raiser’s Edge and PG Calc) is a plus
• Qualified candidates must possess the ability to develop and maintain updated proficiency in current tax law pertaining to charitable giving, as well as estate planning and financial planning tools

UCS is an equal opportunity employer actively seeking to diversify its staff. In particular, we’re dedicated to broadening opportunities for individuals from demographic groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences and in environmental advocacy. We’re also committed to building an inclusive workplace culture where talented people of widely diverse backgrounds can thrive. We believe the inclusion of culturally diverse perspectives will improve our work and produce better societal and environmental outcomes for all, especially historically disenfranchised communities.

Details:

This is a full-time position based in one of UCS’s offices in Cambridge, MA, Oakland, CA, or Washington, DC. For those who meet all position requirements, the salary is around $95,000 UCS offers excellent benefits and a rewarding work environment.

Information about the organization is available at http://www.ucsusa.org.

Comparable training and/or experience can be substituted for degrees when appropriate.

More about the team:

Our team is made up of a dedicated group of researchers, scientists, communicators, campaigners, and advocates from wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and a collaborative and supportive work environment where all staff can thrive. We continually strive to create an environment that is a welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, parents, empty-nesters, and people with a wide variety of interests and backgrounds.

A note on the pandemic:

During the coronavirus pandemic, our staff is working from home. We will resume working from our offices, traveling, and attending in-person meetings when it is safe to do so.

To Apply: We know there are great candidates who won’t check all of these boxes, and we also know you might bring important skills that we haven’t considered. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. Please upload a cover letter and resume. In the cover letter, please confirm that the listed salary meets your expectations. Upload materials in Word or PDF format only. No phone calls, please.

Deadline: until filled