Associate Director, Development

ABOUT NIA TERO

Nia Tero is a global bridging organization that brings Indigenous Peoples and allies together to advance what we call Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship. Our partnerships with Indigenous Peoples are explicitly structured to honor self-determination, respect time-honed knowledge and ways of being, and build trust while upholding the sacred value of reciprocity. To achieve this, we work in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples to safeguard their ancestral thriving territories and ways of being, collaborating on essential global efforts towards a vibrant and habitable future Earth.

• Our vision is that Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship is enabled everywhere possible on Earth as part of a just and vibrant future.
• Our mission is to directly support Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship and elevate the role and influence of Indigenous Peoples as essential to ensuring planetary health and habitability.

Our team is international and based across South America, the Pacific Islands, Asia, and North America, with a large contingent at our Seattle headquarters. We speak many languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and a wide range of Indigenous Peoples’ languages.

Nia Tero is entering the first of our new five-year strategy and is seeking candidates who thrive in a fast-paced environment, adapts quickly to change, and seeks to strengthen the impact of a mission-driven organization.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Associate Director of Development has the responsibility of raising large contributions to support the organization’s commitment to working alongside Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to secure their territories and cultures. The ideal candidate is a senior fundraising professional who enjoys developing and implementing strategies for cultivating and soliciting major and principal donors—most notably from high-net-worth individuals and complex, multidisciplinary partnerships with professional operating foundations and family foundations. They serve as a day-to-day point person for select donors, acting as a liaison between external philanthropic staff and Nia Tero colleagues and coordinating/implementing Nia Tero’s relationship management strategy. This proactive Associate Director works with Nia Tero staff and partners to craft competitive, compelling proposals and stewardship materials while keeping the leadership team and colleagues apprised of various donor priorities, interactions, and deadlines.

The successful applicant would also benefit from having deep ties and understanding of Indigenous cultures, a passion for our mission, and possessing outstanding collaboration and teamwork skills. This position will also mentor and collaborate with colleagues to demonstrate fundraising best practices and trust-based, transformative philanthropy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop appropriate cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies in order to execute individualized action plans for a portfolio of six and seven-figure donors.
• Routinely analyze fundraising progress towards goals to communicate and coordinate with the Managing Director to develop and manage a healthy fundraising pipeline.

• Work in collaboration with the Managing Director, Development, and communications staff/consultants to draft customized request materials, proposals, donor correspondence, and ancillary materials.

• Generate creative solutions for stewarding donors to advance Nia Tero’s efforts to maintain and strengthen high-quality individual donor relationships.

• Persuasively convey the mission of Nia Tero to diverse groups important to the organization’s overall prosperity.
  

PEOPLE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

This position does not have current supervisory responsibilities but may in the future. This position will have access to Nia Tero’s fundraising database and sensitive financial information, so discretion is required.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree preferred*
• Strong work tenure: seven or more years of experience, coursework, or other relevant training in resource development, nonprofit administration, particularly in the areas of capital campaigns, major gifts and planned giving
• Experience in asking for and closing gifts of $100,000 or more, including planned gifts / bequests.
• Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with constituents, particularly major donors and foundations
• Experience managing and tracking multiple prospects and donors
• Experience working with fundraising principles and practices
• Experience using word-processing, database management and spreadsheet software, and navigating the Internet
• Proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Power Point) and Adobe Acrobat

*A combination of education, training, and experience which has provided theoretical and practical knowledge will be evaluated for equivalency.

Skills and Abilities (including languages and software)

• Ability to design and implement fundraising strategies, including cultivation, solicitation, and recognition strategies.
• Ability to determine a donor’s interests, capacity, and potential for helping Nia Tero meet its goals and act appropriately to match those interests with Nia Tero’s work.
• Demonstrated experience as an active listener, using diplomacy and tact to build strong relationships and motivate donors.
• Proven ability to negotiate complex, high-profile, or sensitive agreements.
• Ability to adapt or modify processes in response to changing circumstances.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including communications with stakeholders whose first language is not English.
• Highly resourceful team player who supports colleagues with achieving their best work and is also extremely effective independently.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
• Prioritizes competing needs, handles matters expeditiously and proactively, and follows through on projects to successful completion while managing work across multiple deadlines.

Ideal:

• Experience raising funds for a global organization.
• Working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, or French.
• Experience with start-up cultures and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience are appreciated.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND TRAVEL

This full-time position is ideally based in Seattle, with flexibility to work some evenings and weekend hours as needed. For the right candidate, the team is open to a teammate who works remotely on a permanent basis.

Physical Requirements:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job:

• Visually or otherwise identify, observe, and assess distance, color, and depth; required to regularly communicate with others and exchange accurate information.
• Able to operate a computer and other office productivity equipment; able to remain stationary at a computer for extended periods of time and move around his/her assigned workspace.
• Occasional day and night domestic travel and some international travel are potential (up to 15%)

HOW TO APPLY

If interested in this role, click on the APPLY NOW button below to email your cover letter and resume. Please include “Associate Director, Development” in the subject line.

Nia Tero is an Indigenous Peoples serving global organization that strives to have an inclusive, equitable, and diverse work culture. We strongly encourage people from historically excluded groups to apply.

The salary for this position is USD $135,000-$155,000 annually based on experience. Our compensation program is U.S.-based, and pay ranges are representative of compensation in the U.S. market. For positions outside of the U.S., pay rates are determined based on the applicable local regional market.
This is a full-time permanent position and qualifies for healthcare benefits (medical, dental, and vision), 401K, and paid time off (including vacation leave, sick leave, and personal days).