The Trust For Public Land Career Opportunities
Which best describes your total Philanthropy experience?
Which of the following most closely applies to your current fundraising responsibilities?
Within the last 5 years, what role did the following play in your job:
Soliciting major gifts from donors
Please note that this position is no longer available.
If you would like to be considered for similar opportunities now or in the future, feel free to apply and/or set up a notifier for yourself.
Major Gift Officer
IL - Chicago
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Opportunity Snapshot

This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in an organization with thriving programs, and join a high functioning national Major Gift team. You will cultivate and solicit gifts of $25,000 and above from individual supporters and prospects of The Trust for Public Land. You'll focus on donors in the Chicago area, as well as throughout the Mid-South Division (that spans as far south as Florida and Texas), to secure gifts that support national organizational initiatives and state and local programs. Quick question for you - click here You'll leverage your drive, vision and passion to obtain funding for innovative and visionary programs. For example, Parks for People-Chicago focuses on creating and adding more parkland and green space in Chicago's underserved urban neighborhoods (pictured). Working with the Chicago Park District and local neighborhood organizations, The Trust for Public Land is the lead private partner working to create The 606, an elevated, linear park and trail system running through four densely populated Chicago neighborhoods on the city's Northwest side. The team in the Chicago office is a dedicated and close-knit group, and the national Major Gift team is long on collaboration and short on politics.

The Trust for Public Land creates parks and conserves land for people to ensure healthy, livable communities for generations to come. We work to ensure that everyone has parks, gardens, playgrounds, trails, and other natural places within a ten-minute walk from home. We also protect the land and water that keep us healthy, inspired, and connected with nature and each other. While our efforts support environmental conservation, there is much more at stake. Well-managed urban parks, for example, are essential for community health, safety and well-being. This past year, our organization protected 75,916 acres of land nationwide (that's 156 football fields/day!). We helped generate more than $13 billion in public funds for land protection, designed and developed 33 parks and Fitness Zones, and created 16 "greenprint" visions for conservation. Good things are happening, and you will love working here!
 

The Requirements

To meet the basic qualifications for this role you will have a bachelor's degree or equivalent. To be a good fit for the Major Gift Officer opportunity, you also should have:
  • At least five years of experience in development (or related field) with a proven ability to raise significant five- and six-figure gifts from individuals, family foundations and/or major corporations, as appropriate. Quick question for you - click here
  • Experience with best practices including the efficient use of database systems for prospect tracking, a willingness to strengthen strategies through prospect review and an openness to share philanthropy techniques while learning The Trust for Public Land's system of best practices.
  • A strategic approach to fundraising and the ability to engage both existing donors and new prospects, as well as to foster relationships with key program leaders.
  • Demonstrated success developing and sustaining relationships with key supporters and volunteer leadership.
  • An exceptional ability to organize and motivate others, including The Trust for Public Land staff, peers, and volunteers, as well as experience training and mentoring other philanthropy staff and volunteers in fundraising practices and techniques.
  • A commitment to The Trust for Public Land's mission, including the health benefits of outdoor play.
Just as important as your experience and skills will be the following characteristics and competencies:
  • Outstanding verbal and written communication skills along with exceptional interpersonal and organizational abilities.
  • The ability to function effectively both independently and as a member of a national geographically distributed team, and a willingness to participate in activities and assignments that will benefit other members of the team or will contribute to the accomplishment of team objectives.
  • The ability to exercise good judgment, take initiative and make recommendations in resolving problems and provide guidance to other staff.
  • Professional maturity and the ability to establish and achieve goals independently.
You will spend a good deal of your time out and about in the extended Chicago area, as well as occasional out-of-state travel, meeting with prospective and current donors. You may travel overnight once in a while, but we don't expect that to be more than 15% of the time.

Pictured: our work in Chicago centers around creating and improving parks, installing Fitness Zone areas and championing green alleys. (image by iStock).

The Role

Reporting to the Director of Major Gifts, you will become part of a team working to secure gifts to support initiatives at the local, state, and national levels. You will be responsible for best practices of moves management and direct solicitation of supporters located in the Midwestern United States. Quick question for you - click here The focus will be on donors who can support national institutional initiatives as well as local and statewide programs. In addition to serving as a member of the national Major Gifts Team, you will partner with the State Directors and Associate Directors of Philanthropy within the Mid-South Division. More specifically, you will:
  • Manage a donor portfolio of approximately 120 individual supporters and prospects.
  • Make 12 to 15 donor visits each month.
  • Maintain an active schedule of solicitations, cultivation visits, donor trips, events, and stewardship activities.
  • Identify and qualify new prospects.
  • Develop an annual fundraising plan.
  • Engage The Trust for Public Land’s Board of Directors and volunteers on donor cultivation and solicitation.
  • Engage in industry best practices, including creating written solicitation strategies, documenting moves and information through the efficient use of The Trust for Public Land's philanthropy database, initiating and participating in prospect reviews, and sharing pertinent information with volunteers.
  • Ensure close coordination and integration with other Philanthropy staff (Division Philanthropy Directors, Major Gift Officers, State Philanthropy Directors, and Institutional Giving Directors), as appropriate, within the Philanthropy division.
  • Foster and maintain productive relationships with staff across The Trust for Public Land.
  • Train and mentor other Philanthropy staff and volunteers in fundraising practices and techniques.
  • Perform other related duties as assigned by supervisor.
Pictured: Top, nearly 40 years after Chinatown's only public park was demolished to make way for the Dan Ryan Expressway, the South Side neighborhood celebrated the dedication of Ping Tom Memorial Park, a new five-acre jewel on the Chicago River. Bottom, at the request of the city of Chicago, The Trust for Public Land optioned a former rail yard to expand tiny Senka Park in this predominantly blue-collar neighborhood in southwest Chicago and transferred it to the park service over three years.

Why The Trust for Public Land

Diverse challenges -- on many levels this will be a "plug and play" role for you, and you can start making an impact right away. You'll also be able to showcase your results orientation and leadership skills as you develop strategy, help our team become more fundraising savvy, expand our funding base and more.

Exciting, fundable programs -- our message and mission are very popular and attractive to donors. You'll help increase name recognition for The Trust for Public Land throughout the Midwest and South, leveraging a compelling story: we are at the forefront of making cities and towns better by connecting people to land. We're also very successful in our programs and our fundraising. For example, we're currently in the "quiet phase" of our first national campaign, the Power of Place, and we're more than halfway to our goal of raising $400 million by 2017.

Cooperative team -- the Director of Major Gifts has developed a team that collaborates and supports one another in a culture that values transparency and shared goals. In fact, we sometimes think of Major Gifts as our "SWAT team," responding quickly and strategically to opportunities wherever they arise.

Local impact, national resources -- we have a solid donor base in Chicago and throughout the Mid-South Division. In addition, you'll be able to share ideas and insights with other philanthropy professionals in our organization across the U.S.

Top ratings -- because we spend so little to gain so much, The Trust for Public Land is one of the country's top-rated nonprofit organizations. Our skill at pooling many funding sources allows us to conserve $4 worth of land for every $1 donated. A couple of examples:
  • The American Institute of Philanthropy gives The Trust for Public Land an "A for efficiency" for putting 84% towards program costs while generally spending only $9 to raise $100.
  • Forbes Magazine gives us high marks for fundraising efficiency and charitable commitment, in our entry on their list of "The 200 Largest U.S. Charities."
Conservation is just the beginning -- we're also building community; our school playground program, for example, uses a participatory design process that involves students, parents, school staff and neighbors. This promotes a strong sense of community pride. Our programs help cool the urban environment, improve air quality, and enhance water management.

Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary we offer comprehensive benefits, including health, dental, vision and prescription plans; generous paid time off; flexible spending accounts; retirement savings plan; a commuter benefits program; and more.

Pictured: Above, urban parks and green spaces change lives and transform communities. Below, in addition to recreation and renewal, open water and lands perform critical behind-the-scenes services, from helping mitigate the effects of climate change to safeguarding clean drinking water.

Keys to Success

Your key challenge in this role will be finding new donors on a continual basis, often building relationships from scratch. To do this you will need to be driven and motivated, and you will need to enjoy meeting with potential donors and soliciting gifts. You will need to be self-directed and capable of organizing and prioritizing tasks. You'll have a number of projects and activities under way, so you'll need solid skills in organizing and prioritizing.

We strongly prefer that you already are familiar with the philanthropy community in the Greater Chicago area. If you are not, however, you will need to be a very strong networker, and you'll need to be proactive about putting those skills to work. Perhaps most important of all, to excel in this role you will need to share enthusiastically in our mission of creating parks and protecting land for people.

About Us

The Trust for Public Land works to protect the places people care about and to create close-to-home parks -- particularly in and near cities, where 80 percent of Americans live. Our goal is to ensure that every child has easy access to a safe place to play in nature. We also conserve working farms, ranches, and forests; lands of historical and cultural importance; rivers, streams, coasts, and watersheds; and other special places where people can experience nature close at hand. We focus our efforts in two major initiatives:

Parks for People
For the 80 percent of Americans who live in or near a city, neighborhood parks offer the closest connection to nature. Yet, today there is only 1 park for every 3,000 people in America. As a result, an entire generation is growing up disconnected from nature and the outdoors, missing out on the fun, fitness, and relaxation that parks provide.

Research shows that parks promote public health and revitalize local economies. They make cities more energy-efficient and less vulnerable to the effects of climate change. They connect people to the great outdoors and to each other.

The Trust for Public Land was founded to create parks and protect land for people to enjoy, and we're still the only national conservation organization focused on this goal. Today, nearly ten million Americans live within a ten-minute walk of a park or natural area created with our help, and millions more visit these sites every year. We're working toward a day when everyone has easy access to a safe, green place to play.

Our Land and Water
The American conservation movement was born from a shared desire to protect our wildest places. Early visionaries proposed setting aside land to safeguard natural resources and connect people to the great outdoors. These park pioneers believed that as cities grew, access to nature would become one measure of a great nation.

Today, the wilderness and waterways they protected are integral to our health, our happiness, our economy, and our quality of life. And with an estimated two million acres lost to development every year, it's more important than ever to protect these special places.

The Trust for Public Land helps communities nationwide balance the demands of growth with the protection of wilderness, waterfronts, and working farms and forests. We use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to identify and prioritize conservation goals -- then we employ our internal expertise to accomplish them. Whether improving the health of a local bay or preserving public access to a beloved mountain trail, we're protecting life-giving land and water resources for all to enjoy.

Video: America's open spaces are disappearing at a rate of 6,000 acres a day. Together, we can change that. Join The Trust for Public Land as we work with communities nationwide to conserve the land, water, and resources that keep us healthy and inspired. Since 1972, we've protected more than three million acres and created more than 5,000 parks and natural places for people to enjoy.

Opportunity Snapshot

This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in an organization with thriving programs, and join a high functioning national Major Gift team. You will cultivate and solicit gifts of $25,000 and above from individual supporters and prospects of The Trust for Public Land. You'll focus on donors in the Chicago area, as well as throughout the Mid-South Division (that spans as far south as Florida and Texas), to secure gifts that support national organizational initiatives and state and local programs. Quick question for you - click here You'll leverage your drive, vision and passion to obtain funding for innovative and visionary programs. For example, Parks for People-Chicago focuses on creating and adding more parkland and green space in Chicago's underserved urban neighborhoods (pictured). Working with the Chicago Park District and local neighborhood organizations, The Trust for Public Land is the lead private partner working to create The 606, an elevated, linear park and trail system running through four densely populated Chicago neighborhoods on the city's Northwest side. The team in the Chicago office is a dedicated and close-knit group, and the national Major Gift team is long on collaboration and short on politics.

The Trust for Public Land creates parks and conserves land for people to ensure healthy, livable communities for generations to come. We work to ensure that everyone has parks, gardens, playgrounds, trails, and other natural places within a ten-minute walk from home. We also protect the land and water that keep us healthy, inspired, and connected with nature and each other. While our efforts support environmental conservation, there is much more at stake. Well-managed urban parks, for example, are essential for community health, safety and well-being. This past year, our organization protected 75,916 acres of land nationwide (that's 156 football fields/day!). We helped generate more than $13 billion in public funds for land protection, designed and developed 33 parks and Fitness Zones, and created 16 "greenprint" visions for conservation. Good things are happening, and you will love working here!
 

The Requirements

To meet the basic qualifications for this role you will have a bachelor's degree or equivalent. To be a good fit for the Major Gift Officer opportunity, you also should have:
  • At least five years of experience in development (or related field) with a proven ability to raise significant five- and six-figure gifts from individuals, family foundations and/or major corporations, as appropriate. Quick question for you - click here
  • Experience with best practices including the efficient use of database systems for prospect tracking, a willingness to strengthen strategies through prospect review and an openness to share philanthropy techniques while learning The Trust for Public Land's system of best practices.
  • A strategic approach to fundraising and the ability to engage both existing donors and new prospects, as well as to foster relationships with key program leaders.
  • Demonstrated success developing and sustaining relationships with key supporters and volunteer leadership.
  • An exceptional ability to organize and motivate others, including The Trust for Public Land staff, peers, and volunteers, as well as experience training and mentoring other philanthropy staff and volunteers in fundraising practices and techniques.
  • A commitment to The Trust for Public Land's mission, including the health benefits of outdoor play.
Just as important as your experience and skills will be the following characteristics and competencies:
  • Outstanding verbal and written communication skills along with exceptional interpersonal and organizational abilities.
  • The ability to function effectively both independently and as a member of a national geographically distributed team, and a willingness to participate in activities and assignments that will benefit other members of the team or will contribute to the accomplishment of team objectives.
  • The ability to exercise good judgment, take initiative and make recommendations in resolving problems and provide guidance to other staff.
  • Professional maturity and the ability to establish and achieve goals independently.
You will spend a good deal of your time out and about in the extended Chicago area, as well as occasional out-of-state travel, meeting with prospective and current donors. You may travel overnight once in a while, but we don't expect that to be more than 15% of the time.

Pictured: our work in Chicago centers around creating and improving parks, installing Fitness Zone areas and championing green alleys. (image by iStock).

The Role

Reporting to the Director of Major Gifts, you will become part of a team working to secure gifts to support initiatives at the local, state, and national levels. You will be responsible for best practices of moves management and direct solicitation of supporters located in the Midwestern United States. Quick question for you - click here The focus will be on donors who can support national institutional initiatives as well as local and statewide programs. In addition to serving as a member of the national Major Gifts Team, you will partner with the State Directors and Associate Directors of Philanthropy within the Mid-South Division. More specifically, you will:
  • Manage a donor portfolio of approximately 120 individual supporters and prospects.
  • Make 12 to 15 donor visits each month.
  • Maintain an active schedule of solicitations, cultivation visits, donor trips, events, and stewardship activities.
  • Identify and qualify new prospects.
  • Develop an annual fundraising plan.
  • Engage The Trust for Public Land’s Board of Directors and volunteers on donor cultivation and solicitation.
  • Engage in industry best practices, including creating written solicitation strategies, documenting moves and information through the efficient use of The Trust for Public Land's philanthropy database, initiating and participating in prospect reviews, and sharing pertinent information with volunteers.
  • Ensure close coordination and integration with other Philanthropy staff (Division Philanthropy Directors, Major Gift Officers, State Philanthropy Directors, and Institutional Giving Directors), as appropriate, within the Philanthropy division.
  • Foster and maintain productive relationships with staff across The Trust for Public Land.
  • Train and mentor other Philanthropy staff and volunteers in fundraising practices and techniques.
  • Perform other related duties as assigned by supervisor.
Pictured: Top, nearly 40 years after Chinatown's only public park was demolished to make way for the Dan Ryan Expressway, the South Side neighborhood celebrated the dedication of Ping Tom Memorial Park, a new five-acre jewel on the Chicago River. Bottom, at the request of the city of Chicago, The Trust for Public Land optioned a former rail yard to expand tiny Senka Park in this predominantly blue-collar neighborhood in southwest Chicago and transferred it to the park service over three years.

Why The Trust for Public Land

Diverse challenges -- on many levels this will be a "plug and play" role for you, and you can start making an impact right away. You'll also be able to showcase your results orientation and leadership skills as you develop strategy, help our team become more fundraising savvy, expand our funding base and more.

Exciting, fundable programs -- our message and mission are very popular and attractive to donors. You'll help increase name recognition for The Trust for Public Land throughout the Midwest and South, leveraging a compelling story: we are at the forefront of making cities and towns better by connecting people to land. We're also very successful in our programs and our fundraising. For example, we're currently in the "quiet phase" of our first national campaign, the Power of Place, and we're more than halfway to our goal of raising $400 million by 2017.

Cooperative team -- the Director of Major Gifts has developed a team that collaborates and supports one another in a culture that values transparency and shared goals. In fact, we sometimes think of Major Gifts as our "SWAT team," responding quickly and strategically to opportunities wherever they arise.

Local impact, national resources -- we have a solid donor base in Chicago and throughout the Mid-South Division. In addition, you'll be able to share ideas and insights with other philanthropy professionals in our organization across the U.S.

Top ratings -- because we spend so little to gain so much, The Trust for Public Land is one of the country's top-rated nonprofit organizations. Our skill at pooling many funding sources allows us to conserve $4 worth of land for every $1 donated. A couple of examples:
  • The American Institute of Philanthropy gives The Trust for Public Land an "A for efficiency" for putting 84% towards program costs while generally spending only $9 to raise $100.
  • Forbes Magazine gives us high marks for fundraising efficiency and charitable commitment, in our entry on their list of "The 200 Largest U.S. Charities."
Conservation is just the beginning -- we're also building community; our school playground program, for example, uses a participatory design process that involves students, parents, school staff and neighbors. This promotes a strong sense of community pride. Our programs help cool the urban environment, improve air quality, and enhance water management.

Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary we offer comprehensive benefits, including health, dental, vision and prescription plans; generous paid time off; flexible spending accounts; retirement savings plan; a commuter benefits program; and more.

Pictured: Above, urban parks and green spaces change lives and transform communities. Below, in addition to recreation and renewal, open water and lands perform critical behind-the-scenes services, from helping mitigate the effects of climate change to safeguarding clean drinking water.

Keys to Success

Your key challenge in this role will be finding new donors on a continual basis, often building relationships from scratch. To do this you will need to be driven and motivated, and you will need to enjoy meeting with potential donors and soliciting gifts. You will need to be self-directed and capable of organizing and prioritizing tasks. You'll have a number of projects and activities under way, so you'll need solid skills in organizing and prioritizing.

We strongly prefer that you already are familiar with the philanthropy community in the Greater Chicago area. If you are not, however, you will need to be a very strong networker, and you'll need to be proactive about putting those skills to work. Perhaps most important of all, to excel in this role you will need to share enthusiastically in our mission of creating parks and protecting land for people.

About Us

The Trust for Public Land works to protect the places people care about and to create close-to-home parks -- particularly in and near cities, where 80 percent of Americans live. Our goal is to ensure that every child has easy access to a safe place to play in nature. We also conserve working farms, ranches, and forests; lands of historical and cultural importance; rivers, streams, coasts, and watersheds; and other special places where people can experience nature close at hand. We focus our efforts in two major initiatives:

Parks for People
For the 80 percent of Americans who live in or near a city, neighborhood parks offer the closest connection to nature. Yet, today there is only 1 park for every 3,000 people in America. As a result, an entire generation is growing up disconnected from nature and the outdoors, missing out on the fun, fitness, and relaxation that parks provide.

Research shows that parks promote public health and revitalize local economies. They make cities more energy-efficient and less vulnerable to the effects of climate change. They connect people to the great outdoors and to each other.

The Trust for Public Land was founded to create parks and protect land for people to enjoy, and we're still the only national conservation organization focused on this goal. Today, nearly ten million Americans live within a ten-minute walk of a park or natural area created with our help, and millions more visit these sites every year. We're working toward a day when everyone has easy access to a safe, green place to play.

Our Land and Water
The American conservation movement was born from a shared desire to protect our wildest places. Early visionaries proposed setting aside land to safeguard natural resources and connect people to the great outdoors. These park pioneers believed that as cities grew, access to nature would become one measure of a great nation.

Today, the wilderness and waterways they protected are integral to our health, our happiness, our economy, and our quality of life. And with an estimated two million acres lost to development every year, it's more important than ever to protect these special places.

The Trust for Public Land helps communities nationwide balance the demands of growth with the protection of wilderness, waterfronts, and working farms and forests. We use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to identify and prioritize conservation goals -- then we employ our internal expertise to accomplish them. Whether improving the health of a local bay or preserving public access to a beloved mountain trail, we're protecting life-giving land and water resources for all to enjoy.

Video: America's open spaces are disappearing at a rate of 6,000 acres a day. Together, we can change that. Join The Trust for Public Land as we work with communities nationwide to conserve the land, water, and resources that keep us healthy and inspired. Since 1972, we've protected more than three million acres and created more than 5,000 parks and natural places for people to enjoy.
The Trust For Public Land is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center as a result of your disability.
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