San Diego Major Gifts Director, Part-Time

Organizational Background:

Avodah develops and engages a network of Jewish leaders working within the Jewish community and beyond to promote social justice and fight the causes and effects of domestic poverty. We achieve this through our many programmatic offerings including the Jewish Service Corps, the Jewish Justice Institute, our alumni network, and our community education and engagement work.

Avodah is in the midst of a campaign to raise the money necessary to bring the Jewish Service Corps to San Diego by the summer/fall of 2021. By launching in San Diego, Avodah will have a profound, long-term impact on local antipoverty nonprofits and their clients, the San Diego Jewish community, and the young Jewish adults who participate in our gold-standard leadership development program. Avodah and Jewish Family Service of San Diego have entered into a partnership to help bring this project to fruition. We have also recruited a group of local ambassadors who are committed to helping make Avodah San Diego a reality. 

Position Overview:

Avodah seeks a seasoned, engaging fundraiser with major gifts experience to help launch and sustain our San Diego Service Corps by executing a local fundraising plan, stewarding and growing our local donor portfolio, and engaging local ambassadors. The part-time San Diego Major Gifts Director will be located in Avodah’s San Diego office, and will remotely report to and collaborate closely with Avodah’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, located in Chicago. 

Primary Responsibilities:  

• Grow and manage a portfolio of local donors;
• Review (and supplement, to the extent appropriate) Avodah’s work to date to map the San Diego philanthropic community, including the compiled list of top prospective donors;
• Work with San Diego-based lay leaders, organizational partners (including Jewish Family Service of San Diego) and Avodah’s national staff to secure (virtual*) meetings with prospective local funders;
• Conduct one-on-one (virtual*) meetings with prospective funders to share information about Avodah San Diego and solicit gifts as appropriate;
• Schedule (virtual*) meetings for Avodah national staff and board members with prospective funders and handle logistics regarding same;
• Regularly inform Avodah staff of progress toward fundraising goals and confer with staff regarding same;
• Act as the professional key point of contact for all prospective local funders;
• Plan and recruit for local (virtual*) fundraising events; and
• Launch and manage a local Advisory Council, including running bi-monthly meetings, and engaging members as ambassadors in development efforts.

 * Avodah is holding all meetings/events virtually during COVID. However, these would become in-person engagements once it is deemed safe to gather in person. 

Qualifications:  

• Minimum of 5-7 years of relevant development experience;
• Demonstrated success in securing gifts from San Diego-based Jewish philanthropists;
• Strong understanding of and connections to the local Jewish and/or social justice nonprofit landscapes; and 
• The ability to both aggressively pursue fundraising objectives, while building relationships with prospective funders for the long term.