Director of Institutional Advancement

The Opportunity: Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, in the New York metropolitan area, the Garden Conservancy is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, sharing, and celebrating Americas gardens and diverse gardening traditions. Through its programs and partnerships, the Garden Conservancy advances the appreciation and stewardship of gardens for the education and inspiration of the public. Our offices are easily accessible by public transportation.

Position Summary:

The Director of Institutional Advancement is a high-impact executive leadership role responsible for designing, executing, and scaling a comprehensive nationwide fundraising strategy for The Garden Conservancy. Reporting directly to the President and CEO, the Director aligns annual contributed revenue goals with the organizations broader strategic vision, providing senior oversight for a robust portfolio that includes major gifts, membership, capital campaigns, planned giving, and flagship events.

As a key partner to the Board of Directors, the Director manages the Development Committee, reporting on performance trends while mobilizing board members to maximize their philanthropic impact. This role blends high-level strategic cultivation leading the execution of exclusive national and domestic garden-study tours and stewarding high-net-worth relationships with a commitment to organizational data integrity, ensuring departmental fundraising data and donor records accurately support the Conservancys cultivation and retention goals.

• Develop the overall fundraising strategy and annual contributed revenue goals in consultation with the President and CEO to ensure alignment with the larger strategic plan.
• Manage the Development Committee of the Board of Directors, working closely with the Chair to ensure deep engagement and maximize value from participation.
• Represent the development department to the Board of Directors, reporting regularly on revenue progress, identifying challenges, and collaborating on growth strategies.
• Monitor fundraising performance
  , trends, and results to recommend forward-thinking revenue and growth strategies.
  Collaborate across departments to ensure all fundraising efforts accurately reflect organizational program priorities and institutional needs.
• Partner with the President to strategically design and implement upcoming capital campaigns.

• Provide strategic direction for donor acquisition, cultivation, solicitation, retention, and stewardship across the organization.
• Actively cultivate and identify opportunities to strengthen relationships with major and high-level donors to increase philanthropic support.
• Participate directly in donor meetings
  , cultivation activities, solicitations, and stewardship efforts as appropriate.
• Oversee the planning and execution of the organizations garden-study tours and special donor experiences designed to engage high-level donors.
• Develop tour goals, budgets, schedules
  , participant communications, and donor engagement strategies in coordination with leadership and staff.
• Attend domestic garden-study tours
  , Open Days, preservation, and educational events to cultivate attendees, prospects, and hosts.
• Identify, cultivate, and solicit planned gifts on an individual donor basis while implementing strategies to advance the overall planned giving program.

• Provide strategic oversight of the membership and annual fund programs.
• Oversee the management of fundraising events
  , ensuring all event activities are tightly coordinated with wider cultivation and stewardship strategies.
• Leverage events strategically to drive donor acquisition, cultivation, retention, and increased giving.
• Work closely with communications staff on newsletters, website articles, invitations, annual reports, and printed materials to ensure unified mission messaging.

• Provide strategic oversight of departmental data and record keeping, ensuring the proper filing of solicitations, acknowledgments, and data entry workflows.
• Ensure significant donor correspondence
  , strategic data, and institutional background are accurately logged into the constituent database.

• Philanthropic Domain Knowledge: Deep understanding of non-profit fundraising principles, ethics, and modern advancement practices.
• Strategic…