JOB OPPORTUNITIES

The Southern Environmental Law Center is seeking an experienced fundraiser to build and manage a major gift portfolio that includes individuals, families, and foundations who appreciate the value of law and policy advocacy and who care deeply about the future of the South’s environment. This is a unique opportunity to join one of the nation's most effective non-profits at a dynamic, exciting time—the final year of our successful $45 million Power of the Law Campaign and the upcoming celebration of SELC’s 25th anniversary, which will include exciting new outreach, engagement, and fund-raising initiatives. This position is located in SELC’s headquarters office in Charlottesville, Virginia, and involves travel and relationship-building in our six-state region (VA, TN, NC, SC, GA, and AL.)

About SELC: A Quarter-Century of Law and Policy Leadership

The Southern Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to address environmental issues of critical importance to the people, communities, and natural resources of the Southeast. Thanks to an impressive 24-year track record of results, SELC has earned a reputation as one of the most effective non-profits in the U.S., and holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating. With offices across the region (core offices in Charlottesville, VA; Chapel Hill, NC; and Atlanta, GA; a government relations office in Washington, D.C.; and satellite offices in Asheville, NC; Birmingham, AL; Charleston, SC; and Richmond, VA), SELC stands up for the things we all love about the South—clean air, clean water, mountains, forests, the coast, our rural countryside, and community character.

SELC’s approach is unique and powerful. We work in Congress and state legislatures to inform and create environmental law, with regulatory agencies to implement environmental laws and policies, and in the courts to stop the worst abuses of southern resources and set far-reaching precedents. SELC works collaboratively with more than 100 national, state, and local groups to complement their skills and achieve our common conservation goals. We currently have a staff of 85, including 45 attorneys who are national experts in their fields, and a committed 15-member development and marketing staff.

SELC’s “Greatest Hits” include giving added protection to 2 million acres of national forest; bringing 8 million acres of high-quality southern wetlands under federal protection for the first time; and winning a unanimous victory in the U.S. Supreme Court that is leading to the largest-ever clean-up of our oldest, dirtiest power plants. Additional information regarding SELC’s programs and staff is available at www.southernenvironment.org.

About the Position

We are seeking a self-motivated development professional with a proven track record to join a successful, strategic regional fund-raising team serving the Southern region. This position will work in close partnership with SELC’s founder and Executive Director, impressive Board of Trustees, SELC’s office directors and staff attorneys, and SELC friends to identify, meet, and build relationships with existing and prospective supporters. This position has strong support from on-staff writers, graphic designers, and specialists in development information systems, prospect research, and donor relations. In addition to planning and executing effective, individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies, the leadership gift officer will be an integral part of the creative team that plans small, high-touch special events and produces polished, customized packages—handouts, proposals and reports, and presentations for use in face-to-face calls and group meetings. The position is supervised by SELC’s Director of Development and Marketing.

The success of the leadership gift officer will depend on forming lasting personal relationships with donors through face-to-face visits, contacts by mail and telephone, and planning and participating in special events and customized stewardship. He/she will be expected to schedule and execute introductory, cultivation, and solicitation calls on a regular basis, and to manage a prospect “pipeline” that includes peer review screening and other field research. This position involves travel in throughout our six-state region. SELC uses a customized DonorPerfect database with advanced moves management capacity, which development officers are expected to use for their portfolio management.

Mastering and following the organization’s fast-paced conservation work in three branches of government, in six states, and in five major programmatic areas is intellectually stimulating, challenging, and always varied. Due to the complex character of SELC’s advocacy, it is harder for us than for most environmental groups to identify and engage new supporters, so it is essential that our “road warriors” be skilled at digesting both multiple details and a big-picture perspective, and recounting them to our audiences in tight, compelling stories.

The Southern Environmental Law Center is an organization that values employee growth and satisfaction. An impressive proportion of SELC’s staff has been with the organization for ten years or more, growing in responsibility and expertise with changing needs of the workplace. Mentoring is highly valued in the development department, and this position will have the opportunity both to learn from SELC’s talented senior fund-raisers and institutional managers, and to work closely with our more junior development staffers to help them develop their fund raising skills. There is potential for future management opportunities.

SELC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is continually seeking to diversity our staff. We strongly encourage applications from persons of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Qualifications

We are looking for a bright, energetic, and engaging professional with a college degree and a minimum of five or more years of successful one-on-one fund raising. Excellent writing, speaking, and time management skills are required. The successful candidate will be:

• highly organized and strategic
• able to balance multiple priorities and deadlines
• skilled at planning and implementing cultivation and solicitation strategies involving teams of staff and volunteers
• experienced in planning targeted cultivation events
• a collaborative team player who gains satisfaction both from personal achievements as well as the overall success of the collective development effort.

Familiarity with the philanthropic community in the Southeast is a plus.

The leadership gift officer will be committed to the conservation mission of the Southern Environmental Law Center. He/she must be able to understand the many complex facets of SELC’s work, how they fit together, and what the organization is trying to accomplish—and to communicate this to outside audiences in a simple, powerful, inspiring manner. He/she should thrive in a fast-paced office environment with high expectations and standards of excellence.

To Apply

Please send your letter of interest and resume to:

Ms. Marie Hawthorne
Director of Development and Marketing
Southern Environmental Law Center
201 W. Main St., Suite 14
Charlottesville, VA 22902-5065

Salary for this position is competitive and commensurate with experience.