Major and Planned Giving Officer – New York

Position description

The Major Gifts team at Action Against Hunger seeks a Major and Planned Giving Officer to focus on two critical priorities: managing and growing our Legacy Society of planned gift donors, and building, owning, and managing a focused portfolio of 80-100 major donor prospects capable of giving $10,000 or more annually. This dual-focus role combines relationship-based major gift fundraising with strategic planning stewardship. The successful candidate will balance immediate revenue generation through major gifts with long-term legacy commitments that secure Action Against Hunger’s future impact. 

Purpose The Major and Planned Giving Officer reports to the Lead, Major Gifts Officer and works collaboratively with the Major Gifts team.

Engagement: This role emphasizes quality over quantity—developing deeper relationships with a targeted portfolio while building a sustainable pipeline of legacy commitments. 

Delivery: The ideal candidate understands that both immediate major gifts and long-term planned gifts are inspired by hope and solutions, not just crisis response. They excel at articulating how Action Against Hunger’s comprehensive approach—addressing both urgent needs and systemic change—creates lasting impact worthy of transformational giving. 

Key activities in your role will include

II. Essential Job Duties

Priority 1: Legacy Society Management & Planned Giving (30% of time)

Manage and grow the Legacy Society of committed planned gift donors, serving as their primary relationship steward 

Develop comprehensive cultivation strategies for legacy prospects, moving them from interest to commitment 

Collaborate with legal and financial professionals to facilitate documentation and execution of planned gifts 

Serve as primary contact for prospective Legacy Society members, providing expertise and guidance on estate planning options 

Create and implement planned giving marketing strategies in partnership with the Donor Marketing team 

Manage relationships with planned giving consultants and external professional advisors 

Track and steward existing planned gift commitments, ensuring donors feel valued and connected to impact 

Develop educational content and events that inspire legacy giving among major donor prospects 

Priority 2: Major Gifts Portfolio Development (60% of time)

Build, own, and manage a focused portfolio of 80-100 high-potential major gift prospects ($10,000+ capacity) through the complete donor lifecycle 

Execute strategic moves management for each prospect, advancing them through identification, qualification, cultivation, and solicitation, such as:  

Conducting donor discovery meetings to understand interests, passions, and values that align with Action Against Hunger’s mission 

Creating bespoke engagement plans for each major prospect, tailoring approaches to individual donor motivations 

Securing annual major gifts and multi-year commitments from portfolio prospects 

Providing ongoing stewardship and relationship management for donors post-gift to ensure retention, engagement, and upgrade potential 

Collaborate with country teams to develop compelling project proposals for restricted major gifts 

Travel approximately 8-10 days per quarter to build and strengthen donor relationships through face-to-face meetings 

Supporting Responsibilities (10% of time)

Support Major Gifts team initiatives including special events, board cultivation, and executive preparation 

Maintain accurate records in Salesforce, tracking portfolio progress and planned giving pipeline 

Assist with Annual Gala and other donor-facing events as needed 

Participate in team meetings and organizational initiatives 

3. Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with interruptions. 

To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents. 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

4. Working Conditions, Travel, and Environment

The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required. 

Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the missions if appropriate. Position requires approximately 8-10 travel days per quarter for donor relationship building. While visiting the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as infectious diseases. 

5. Gender Equality Commitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse

• Foster an environment that reinforces values of people of all genders equal access to information. 
• Provide a work environment where people of all genders must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance. 

III. Supervisory Responsibilities

Does not have direct supervisory responsibility over staff.

IV. Fiscal Responsibilities

• Responsibilities related to all job duties described above.
• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff. 
• Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation. 
• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. 
• Value and respect for all cultures. 

V. Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with many interruptions. Must be able to proofread own work accurately so that only minor corrections are needed on an infrequent basis. 

VII. Gender Equality Commitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse

• VI. Working Conditions, Travel and Environment
• Value and respect in all cultures. 
• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. 
• Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation. 
• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff. 
• Foster an environment that reinforces values of people of all genders equal access to information. 
• Provide a work environment where people of all genders must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance. 
• The duties of the job require regular job attendance of at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on weekends as required by contact with the missions, mission security, or other obligations. 
• Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the missions if appropriate. While visiting the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as infectious diseases. 
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 
• To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents. 

Do you meet the profile required criteria?

VIII. Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree 
• Current, unrestricted driver’s license 
• Comfort with domestic and international travel, including the ability and willingness to make full use of commercial flights, mass transit, and drive a rental vehicle for multiple visits / events per day during travel 

IX. Required Skills & Experience

• 3-5 years’ experience in donor portfolio management, sales, or client relationship management 
• Demonstrated success in qualifying prospects and closing gifts 
• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills 
• Experience with CRM systems (Salesforce preferred) 

Preferred:

• Non-profit experience, especially in humanitarian, development, or food security sectors 
• Understanding of international development and hunger relief work 
• Planned giving certification or specialized training 
• Track record of building and managing legacy giving programs 
• Prospect research training or proven ability 

Application instructions

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