New York Botanical Garden Careers

Title

Reports to

Associate Vice President for Individual

Giving

Chief Advancement Officer

Position Summary:

The Associate Vice President for Individual Giving (AVP for IG) at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is responsible for building, maintaining, and deepening NYBG’s relationships with individuals and family foundations giving above the general Member level ($1,500+) and outside the Board of Trustees. Reporting to the Chief Advance Officer, the AVP leads the Individual Giving team to scale this $10M+ annual portfolio of over 1,000 donor households, in support of NYBG’s ambitious strategic and capital goals.

The AVP is a credible and compelling advocate for NYBG’s work and mission, and a warm and welcoming host for NYBG’s friends and supporters. This hands-on leadership role combines strategic vision with significant frontline and behind-the-scenes execution. The AVP personally manages a large and important portfolio of major donors and prospects, while managing and mentoring a medium-sized, high capacity fundraising team and partnering closely with colleagues across the institution.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities:

Oversee NYBG’s Individual Giving program:

• Ensure the smooth operation and continued growth of NYBG’s four Individual Giving sub-programs:

• The Garden Patrons Program (including the Young Garden Circle);
• Major Gifts/President’s Circle;
• Planned Giving; and
• Individual donors who give through NYBG’s fundraising events.

• Meet or exceed quarterly and annual revenue targets for each Individual Giving sub-program; sustain continued growth year-over-year.
• Maintain current and accurate fundraising projections in Raiser’s Edge.
• Develop and execute new strategies to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward new and existing donors.
• Assign/reassign donors and prospects to gift officer portfolios as needed to deepen relationships and optimize fundraiser productivity.
• Manage expense budgets proactively and efficiently.

Lead the Individual Giving team:

• Manage, mentor, and support a medium-sized team of frontline fundraisers, remaining closely involved in their development and work outputs.
• Set clear expectations, review work for quality and tone, curate professional development opportunities, and provide ongoing coaching.
• Coach all team members toward exceeding their individual annual

fundraising goals, including targets for same-year revenue, total pledges/commitments, and meetings/activity.

• Ensure prompt and accurate recordkeeping in donor database (Raiser’s Edge NXT) and other systems as needed.
• Model and teach fundraising best practices.
• Foster a culture of excellence, collaboration, and genuine passion for NYBG’s mission and programs.

Directly manage key major gifts donors:

• Manage NYBG’s relationship with a dynamic and consequential portfolio of around 100 major donors and prospects, currently giving more than $2.5 million annually, cultivating them towards increased outright and/or planned gifts to NYBG.
• Record activity in donor database (Raiser's Edge NXT) and other systems as needed.
• Develop and adapt proposal and reporting collateral as needed to support major gifts solicitations and stewardship needs.

Collaborate with partners across NYBG to ensure fundraising success, including:

• Identify funding needs and gift opportunities.

• Produce impactful donor communications and events.
• Develop compelling case materials and collateral.
• Support the President and the Chief Advancement Officer in recruiting new trustees, Advisory Board members, and principal gifts donors.
• Support the President and the Chief Advancement Officer in sustaining and deepening leadership relationships with all donor constituencies.
• Contribute to institution-wide strategy and planning projects.

Other related duties as needed.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in nonprofit fundraising, preferably at a comparable cultural, environmental, and/or educational institution.
• Demonstrated experience closing six- and seven-figure gifts from individual philanthropists and family foundations. Experience with planned and blended gifts preferred.
• Demonstrated experience supervising frontline fundraisers and managing complex giving programs. Strong interpersonal skills and ability to partner effectively across departments and work styles.
• Exceptionally strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Significant experience working with a donor CRM (Raiser’s Edge or similar).
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and commitment to confidentiality.
• Willingness to work occasional evenings/weekends to staff donor visits and engagement events, more frequently during spring.
• Valid driver’s license required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing a high-level membership or patrons program at a
• comparable cultural institution.
• Significant experience with Raiser’s Edge NXT.
• Strong working knowledge of IRS regulations related to charitable gift vehicles and/or planned gifts.

Physical Demands & Work Environment:

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to, at

minimum, stand, walk, sit, work outdoors under a variety of weather conditions,

and occasionally work under moderate or loud work conditions.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Baseline Work Schedule:

Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. Hybrid work options are available for this

role. Additional hours, including occasional late nights, are required.

Salary is commensurate with experience within the range of $140,000-$150,000.

Please include a cover letter.