About Us
Founded in 1899, The American Society of Landscape Architects is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 15,000 members in 49 professional chapters and 82 student chapters. The Society has a staff of 50 and annual revenues of $12.9 million. The Society’s mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship.
Sustainability has been part of ASLA’s mission since its founding and is an overarching value that informs all of the Society’s programs and operations. ASLA has been a leader in demonstrating the benefits of green infrastructure and resilient development practices through the creation of its own green roof, co- development of the SITES® Rating System, and the creation of publicly-accessible sustainable design resources.
The ASLA Fund is the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of ASLA, supported by the tax-deductible contributions of ASLA members and other individuals and organizations, and committed to the careful stewardship and artful design of our cultural and natural environment. The Fund’s mission is to expand the body of knowledge of the landscape architecture profession and increase public understanding of environmental and land-use issues and principles. Its work supports public and professional education and outreach, professional and student award programs, and special projects that provide real-world demonstrations of core values like the Center for Landscape Architecture and Chinatown Green Street.
ASLA offers an attractive, competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, and life insurance; a generous 401(k) plan; a comprehensive wellness program; and flexible schedules.
Nature of the Position
The Development Manager will be responsible for the direct fundraising operations for the Fund from philanthropic and/or government funding sources. This role is both strategic and tactical, requiring the ability to think big while minding all the details. The Development Manager can expect his or her work to include:
Development Strategy, Fundraising, and Donor Relations
- Plans and implements all aspects of ASLA Fund direct fundraising programs, including development and targeting of solicitations from all funding sources (individual gifts, corporate sponsorships, and foundation and government grants).
- Work closely in collaboration with the Director, Public Relations and Communications and other senior staff on ASLA’s development plan, budget, and short- and long-term goals to support the ASLA Fund’s priority programs and projects, specifically the Chinatown Green Street project currently in progress.
- Cultivates relationships with external organizations and individuals to build support for ASLA and ASLA Fund programs.
- Coordinate cultivation and solicitation activities with other staff and departments as needed.
- Ensure a continuously robust opportunity pipeline big enough to hit fundraising goals by actively managing all funding sources.
- Create and maintain a grants management calendar by researching, targeting and preparing all foundation and government grant proposals.
- Research and design the moves management plans for all individual and corporate donors.
- Work with communications and external relations team to produce online campaigns and direct mail appeals for ASLA Fund priority projects.
- Project manage the CEO’s fundraising work, directing her where and how best to spend her time and efforts on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis.
Managing Development Operations and Revenue Tracking
- Develop, monitor, and manage assigned budgets.
- Ensure gift processing and acknowledgment letter mail merges are processed weekly.
- Spearhead data input and ensure data integrity and accuracy in all records and reports in ASLA’s fundraising database.
- Manage the execution of ASLA’s donor stewardship plan.
- Work with accounting department to ensure fundraising database tracking and accounting reconcile.
- Offer input to the senior staff on realistic future fundraising goals during the annual budgeting process.
Public Relations and Communications
- Must develop a broad knowledge of ASLA, including organization and chapter structure, key stakeholders, and programs and priorities.
- Represent ASLA at events and meetings of external organizations as needed.
- Support departmental and ASLA-wide planning, performance monitoring, and performance improvement processes and intiatives.
- Work in partnership with supervisor and other ASLA staff and volunteers to advance the Society’s mission, strategic objectives, and priority issues. Upholds the ASLA values and culture.
- Other duties as assigned by supervisor.
Preferred Background/Experience:
To be maximally successful in this role, you need to be:
- A born project manager with a knack for working backwards from a deadline to create a plan
- Accustomed to working on multiple projects with different deadlines simultaneously
- A natural people person who appreciates that everyone has an important story to tell
- A dynamic, professional, and poised brand ambassador for ASLA
- A reliable and friendly communicator who reaches out and follows up
- A practiced public speaker who can think on your toes
- A stickler for details and quality
- A caretaker of sensitive donor information
- A strong self-motivator
- A creative thinker willing to test out new ideas
- An advocate for healthy, beautiful, and resilient spaces for all
You need to have:
- A BA/BS degree
- Minimum 5-7 years of nonprofit development experience
- Demonstrated success at grant writing
- Experience designing, executing, and analyzing fundraising campaigns
- Experience being a relationship manager/primary POC to donors
- Experience working with associations, member-based and/or chapter-based organizations
- Knowledge of the landscape architecture profession and related design/planning issues a plus
Total Rewards
Competitive compensation and benefits package included. ASLA is a conscious leader and employer that values the work-life balance of staff through many inclusive wellness initiatives and professional development programs.
ASLA is committed to hiring a diverse workforce and fostering a vibrant and inclusive workplace culture. ASLA values are dedication, excellence, integrity, leadership, and stewardship. The ASLA culture is collaborative, member-focused, accountable, responsible, and volunteer-supported. The organization embraces the “Baldrige Excellence Framework” – an integrated leadership and performance management system.
A leader in environmental sustainability, ASLA is headquartered in a state-of-the-art facility designed to achieve LEED Platinum and WELL Building Standard Gold. The Center for Landscape Architecture features a green roof, landscaped patio, flexible meeting/event space, collaboration spaces, and advanced lighting, air quality, and A/V systems. The building is located one-and-a-half blocks from the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station serving the Red, Yellow, and Green Lines. ASLA has received awards for its employee wellness programs and is recognized as a Best Workplace for Commuters.
How To Apply
Interested applicants are requested to submit a cover letter, resume, a list of three professional references and a writing sample to [email protected] as a part of our standard application process. Please reference “Development Manager” in the subject line of the e-mail and tell us how you learned about the career opportunity.
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