https://www.aldoleopold.org/join-and-support/employment 

Position Impact Statement

The Development Manager is an integral part of the Aldo Leopold Foundation’s leadership team and advances the foundation’s mission by growing a culture of donor centric philanthropy that results in greater donor loyalty, a growing number of supporters, and ultimately increasing total revenue.

Position Summary

The Aldo Leopold Foundation’s Development Manager plays a vital role in developing, managing, and implementing effective strategies and plans that cultivate and solicit philanthropic support. Working directly with the Executive Director and the board of directors you will directly engage, and activate others, in cultivating and soliciting major donors and prospects, you will sit on the management’s Strategic Leadership Team integrating principles and practices of fundraising across the organization’s work, and you will supervise the Development Team responsible for annual fundraising, planned giving, and strategic campaigns. Your primary objective will be to insure sustainable financial growth by increasing philanthropic revenue.

This is a unique opportunity to elevate both the development program and, in turn, the entire organization and the Land Ethic. To be successful, you will bring exceptional communication and collaboration skills, along with a strong foundation in philanthropy and a willingness to deepen your expertise across its many facets.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

· Manage a portfolio of qualified donors and by cultivating strong relationships increase their giving. These tactics may include using normal communication channels such as email, phone, and letters as well as planning and hosting in-person and virtual meetings and highly personalized events and field trips.

· Persuasively convey the mission and work of ALF to diverse groups including donors, corporate executives, board members and others that are important to the organization’s overall prosperity.

· Lead research and planning efforts to identify new prospects, evaluate donor capacity, and develop engagement and cultivation strategies to move donors into, and up, the donor pipeline.

· Manage the Development Team and coordinate with the Marketing & Communications Team to:

o Support the foundation’s annual fundraising campaigns, including print and electronic materials (e.g., solicitation, pledge confirmations, and gift acknowledgements) and coordination of their design and production.

o Identify and help develop content related to the impact of philanthropy through video, social media, and digital platforms.

o Support social media content creation and online giving opportunities.

o Coordinate a successful donor relations program that targets annual giving and organizing stewardship and recognition activities.

· Serve on management’s Strategic Leadership Team to represent and integrate the Development Team’s work and principles of philanthropy into the foundation’s key programs and strategic plans.

· Maintain confidentiality in terms of private information and/or sensitive information.

· Travel and at times work unconventional hours in order to accommodate donor availability and needs.

· Operate independently, in a self-motivated, professional manner.

Qualifications & Job Expectations, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

Required:

· At least five years of experience in relationship-driven roles such as fundraising, sales, or community engagement

· Demonstrated success building and sustaining long-term relationships that result in increased financial support, participation, or commitment

· Experience making persuasive, values-based requests for significant commitments or resources

· Experience managing multiple prospects, partners, or stakeholders simultaneously using organized systems or CRM tools

· Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to convey mission and impact effectively

· Experience leading teams or initiatives and collaborating across departments

· Excellent interpersonal, communication, writing, editing, and organizational abilities.

· Strong command of Microsoft Office and donor database functionality

· Demonstrated respect and sensitivity for others; ability to inspire trust and work with integrity.

· Demonstrated understanding of the value of inclusiveness and diversity in all its forms: racial and cultural, political, age, gender, economic, and social.

· Versatility, flexibility, and a willingness to work within changing priorities.

· Ability to adapt to a rapid work pace with frequent deadlines.

Desired:

· Proven ability to work within and lead cross-functional teams.

· Familiarity with the work of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and Aldo Leopold’s history and legacy.

· Familiarity with a wide range of current issues in natural resources and conservation.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary range: $75,000-$85,000 annually depending on education and/or years of related work experience.

Benefits include health, dental, vision, life/AD&D, and short-term disability insurance – 100% of premiums covered by employer, Health Savings Account that includes an employer contribution, Vanguard 403b retirement plan with up to 3% employer match, and a generous paid time off package (includes vacation, floating holidays, and sick leave).

Reporting Location, Hours and Schedule

While the Leopold Center in Baraboo serves as the primary organizational hub, the Development Manager is not expected to work onsite daily. Periodic in‑person presence is required for donor engagement, staff supervision, and key organizational activities.

Full-time; M-F; hours may be flexible; Some Saturdays and evenings may be required

Travel on occasion and at times on short notice, work long and flexible hours as needed.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities of this position.

While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk and must be able lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Vision abilities required for this job include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Application Instructions

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Position will remain open until filled. Submit cover letter, resume and 3 professional references to Eva Lorraine at eva@aldoleopold.org with the subject line Development Manager.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. In addition to federal law requirements, ALF complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Organizational Overview

The mission of the Aldo Leopold Foundation is to foster the land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. Based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, we manage and interpret the renowned Leopold Shack and Farm (a National Historic Landmark), which annually receives visitors from all over the world. Our care of this special place continues the Leopold family tradition while demonstrating on-the-ground conservation relevance for the 21st Century. ewe also work to inform and inspire regional, national, and international audiences through a variety of education programs. We impart Leopold’s land ethic as described in A Sand County Almanac—the book for which Leopold is most widely known—actively engaging educators, citizens, natural resource professionals, and landowners to improve land health in their own communities.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation headquarters is in an idyllic setting surrounded by 600 acres of foundation-owned property and an additional 16,000 acres managed collaboratively among public and private landowners as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The Leopold Center, constructed in 2007, is a LEED Certified Platinum “green” building that is home to the foundation’s office space and visitor center.

Diversity Statement

The Aldo Leopold Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and recognizes that just as a healthy ecosystem depends on biodiversity, cultural and social diversity are also essential to a healthy human society. We are committed to expanding the conversation on land ethics by acting to achieve a rich diversity of staff, board, volunteers, members, supporters and those we seek to engage with our programming. We encourage applicants to address this goal in their application materials.