Located in northwestern Michigan, Interlochen Center for the Arts offers a summer arts camp and an arts secondary school as well as arts education programs for adults of all ages. Interlochen also hosts hundreds of concerts and events and is home to two award-winning public radio stations.  Interlochen raises over $10 million per year from more than 7000 alumni, parents, and friends, and is in the leadership phase of what will be a $100M comprehensive campaign.  For information, visit Interlochen online at www.interlochen.org.

Interlochen Center for the Arts MISSION…

To engage and inspire people worldwide through excellence in educational, artistic and cultural programs, enhancing the quality of life through the universal language of the arts.

The Charitable Gift Officer (CGO) is responsible for managing Interlochen’s relationship with 120-150 prospective donors capable of making major gifts ($100,000 or more) to the institution.  The CGO reports to the Associate Vice President for Individual Giving and is part of a team of five front-line fundraisers for Interlochen. The ideal candidate will have experience in qualifying,  cultivating, and facilitating the solicitation and stewardship of large gifts from individuals.  Demonstrated affinity for the arts is preferable.

Major job duties and responsibilities include the following:

• Direct and engage in prospect management for major ($100,000+) and planned gift donor prospects through travel and other relationship building activities, including: development of short-term and long-term strategy, personal contact, cultivation, solicitation and other stewardship activities such as acknowledgement letters, donor reports on endowed funds, and donor specific strategies.  

• Manage a portfolio of 120 potential major and planned gift prospects; design cultivation and solicitation strategies and ensure follow-up activities and stewardship. Facilitate relationships between administrative staff, trustees, and faculty with prospects and current donors.  Travel, both domestically and internationally, to meet with planned and major gift prospects and donors.  Provide assistance with major gift prospects assigned to other development staff as requested.

• Manage President’s and Vice President’s interactions with key donors/volunteers, including events, personal visits, solicitation and acknowledgment letters.

• Identify major gift prospects through working with advancement staff, volunteers, and other administrators and faculty.

• Ensure all strategies, prospect stage information, and planned and completed initiatives are recorded in the database. This includes all actions and contact reports, along with any related follow-up activities.

• Maintain an active, current body of knowledge about Interlochen, its mission, programs, activities, fundraising needs and priorities.

• Foster and maintain productive relationships with programs and colleagues within Advancement and across the Interlochen campus.

Attributes to include the following:

• The core attributes of this position are to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward prospects and donors who have the affinity and capacity to make major gifts to the institution. These gifts can either be in the form of outright cash or an estate provision.

• Each Charitable Gift Officer has a geographical region and a portfolio of prospects/donors he/she “manages.”

• The Charitable Gift Officer needs to have essential decision-making skills to assess with whom they need to spend time and how much time is needed to realize gifts.

• Each Gift Officer needs to chart both travel and time to accomplish annual goals while staying within the allotted travel budget.

• Position will include work within office hours Monday through Friday, although with  travel demands there can be modest flexibility. Some evenings and weekends are expected during the summer and/or during business trips.

• Bachelor’s degree required and at least 5 years of fundraising experience; Comprehensive knowledge of development programs and major gift development, including prospect tracking systems and proper documentation standards. Demonstrated successful experience and effectiveness in large gift fundraising.  

• Work independently with little or no supervision and to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.  Proven ability to analyze, plan and meet deadlines.

• Manage confidential materials and information in a professional manner, demonstrate outstanding initiative, judgment, integrity, and superb listening skills.

• Commitment to the values of Interlochen; Demonstrated interest in and/or affinity for the arts is preferred.

• Excellent writing and speaking skills and effective training and presentation ability.

• Team orientation, maturity, personal flexibility, and sense of humor.

• Willingness to travel extensively, demonstrated ability to plan travel, efficiently secure and schedule appointments, and use visits to advance relationships.  

• International experience and ability to function effectively in other cultures (“cultural fluency”) is preferred.