Major Gift Officer; Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Job Listing:
Major Gift Officer (Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden)

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s mission is connecting people through plants to improve communities.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, including the Lewis Ginter Nature Reserve, reveals the unity and integration of human and plant life, celebrates the fundamental significance of the natural world, and enriches communities through horticultural and educational excellence and innovative outreach activities.

Responsibility, Innovation, Integrity, Hospitality and Inspiration

Founded in 1984, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a nonprofit garden located in Richmond, Virginia’s Lakeside neighborhood. The Garden encompasses 82 acres, four lakes, 5,500 unique taxa of plants within 15 distinct outdoor gardens, 11 major buildings including a conservatory and greenhouse, plus an 80-acre branch site, the Lewis Ginter Nature Reserve. Annually, Lewis Ginter engages over 17,000 students in innovative and exciting education programs.

This cadre of identified learners is just a fraction of the more than 400,000 annual visitors to the Garden. In recent years, the Garden has been honored with inclusion in several top ten lists for botanical gardens in North America.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability or national origin in the hiring, retention, or promotion of employees. We support the diversity and inclusion policy adopted by The American Public Gardens Association: to create an equitable, diverse and inclusive culture where the contributions of all community members are valued, respected and appreciated.

The Major Gifts Officer (MGO) serves in a high impact position on the Advancement team crucial to the success of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s major gift fundraising and annual fund initiatives. Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO), the MGO will build a robust portfolio by identifying donors of $10,000+ and cultivate relationships with prospective major and annual fund donors. This includes conducting prospect research, developing effective solicitation strategies, and stewarding donors throughout the major giving process.

The MGO will collaborate with senior leadership to coordinate and execute fundraising initiatives and strategies to advance the Garden’s mission.

• Build and serve as the primary relationship manager for a portfolio of approximately 150 prospects including research, qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of gifts ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, with written engagement and focused solicitation strategies for the core 75 constituents in the portfolio.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for the portfolio of prospects, communicating through in-person interaction, solicitation, stewardship meetings and written strategies, ensuring healthy segments in all stages.
• Present the Garden’s mission and strategic goals by working independently and creatively to match donor interests with Garden priorities.
• Partner with the Chief Advancement Officer and the Director of Advancement to develop solicitation strategies for donors/prospects in support of the Garden’s fundraising goals.
• Collaborate with Advancement staff, finance and other Garden staff to ensure proper recording, allocation, documentation, acknowledgement, stewardship and analysis of major gifts and pledges.
• Actively engage in the greater Richmond community to identify new prospects and expand the Garden’s donor community.
• Occasional evening and weekend work required.
• All other duties as assigned.

• Demonstrated ability to secure major gifts from individuals, corporations, foundations, and other private funding sources.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and implement long and short-range development initiatives in conjunction with strategic planning processes.
• Demonstrated ability to deploy fundraising metrics, track and analyze results, and resolve complex problems.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with leadership, prospects, donors, and/or volunteers in…