Job Description

HomeStart Overview:

Founded on the principle that every person deserves a safe and healthy place to live, HomeStart has been ending and preventing homelessness in Boston for over 25 years. HomeStart is one of the first and largest agencies in Greater Boston to end homelessness by intervening at any stage in someone’s housing crisis: preventing households from experiencing homelessness by way of eviction, providing housing search for individuals and families while homeless, and providing stabilization supports for households at greatest risk of maintaining stability.

To date, HomeStart has directly led more than 13,000 households through the challenging process of moving from shelters to permanent housing, prevented more than 3,000 households in poverty from becoming homeless by way of eviction and has provided stabilization support for many more thousands.
HomeStart helps individuals and families to secure housing and also helps clients’ re‐integrate into their communities by providing support services such as financial literacy and life skills training.

HomeStart is a regional leader of homeless service and housing stability interventions. With a strongly‐ held belief that having a home restores a person’s dignity and offers the stability necessary for making other life changes, HomeStart is a powerful advocate for both ending and preventing homelessness in the City of Boston.

HomeStart is currently seeking a thoughtful and enthusiastic Major Gifts Officer to partner with the
Executive Director to allow the organization to reach the next level of impact. Reporting to the Executive
Director, the Major Gifts Officer will be responsible for prospect and major gift management responsibilities include setting strategy, proposal development, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors with special focus on five figure multi‐year gifts to support HomeStart’s programs.

Position Overview:

Our five core values ((1) Having compassion/respect, (2) Pursuing diversity and equality, (3) Committing to see everyone housed, (4) Empowering others to live better lives, and (5) Striving for excellence) guides everything we do at HomeStart – how we work with clients and how we work together as an entire organization and community.

HomeStart seeks an experienced and innovative Development professional with a proven track record in donor cultivation and securing major gifts. This individual is HomeStart’s first Major Gifts Officer and first person exclusively focused on building and nurturing our major gifts partnerships, and, as such, will be a key member of the Development Department’s annual giving operation.

This is a dynamic position for an individual who enjoys front‐line relationship building and working in a relationship‐first environment.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Ensure that donors are accomplishing their philanthropic goals and ambitions through relationship building.
• Cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of 100+ current donors and embrace the exciting opportunity to build a more robust pipeline prospective donors.
  • Create and implement moves management plans, increasing the number of mid and high‐level donors and upgrade the giving levels of existing donors.
  • Make direct and face‐to‐face solicitations.
  • Use DonorPerfect to track and cultivate donors and prospective donors.
  • Use wealth screening tools for prospect research.
  • Steward donors through public and private recognition.
  • Track and report progress using specific metrics.
  • Support the Executive Director with projects that contribute to the Department’s overall goals and other duties as assigned.

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following:

• Oral Communication – Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; Responds well to questions; Demonstrates group presentation skills;
  Participates in meetings.
• Written Communication – Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar;
  Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively; Able to read and interpret written information.
• Adaptability – Adapts to changes in the work environment; Manages competing demands;
  Changes approach or method to best fit the situation; Able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
• Motivation – Sets and achieves challenging goals; Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; Measures self against standard of excellence; Takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
• Planning/Organizing – Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Works well independently; Plans for additional resources; Sets goals and objectives; Organizes or schedules with/for the Executive Director and supports those activities; Develops realistic action plans.

Education & Experience

• Seven years related experience with donor relationship building and/or into high‐functioning major gift‐related practice; or equivalent combination of education and experience; Bachelor’s degree (B. A.) from Four‐year College or university preferred

To apply, please send a resume and a cover letter stating salary requirements.
Applicants that do not include salary requirements in their cover letters will not be considered.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $80,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Application Questions

• How many years of nonprofit experience do you have?