Mt. Ashland Ski Area Looking for Philanthropy & Partnerships Director at Ashland, Oregon Full Time

Title:     Philanthropy & Partnerships Director                                                        

Pay Level: $68,000-78,000, starting range

Reporting Level:  General Manager

Work Location: Mt. Ashland Ski Area, Ashland, and meetings as needed in southern Oregon and northern California

Estimated Start Date: 3/1/2023

Department: Development

Travel: Up to 10-20% to donor locations, for major events, and to Mt Ashland partner and regional location

About the Role:

Mt. Ashland Ski Area is looking for a partnerships and fundraising innovator in the outdoors, recreation, and youth space to join our management team as Mt. Ashland’s Philanthropy and Partnerships Director.  Reporting to Mt. Ashland’s General Manager, you’ll join the management team that supports the Mt. Ashland staff team and community to achieve our vision and deliver the promise of our mission.  This role takes on two major areas of work for Mt. Ashland across partnerships and philanthropic giving.

Key areas of responsibility include

• Lead the development function for Mt. Ashland, and serve as the staff advisor for the Development Committee.  Collaborate with the General Manager, Development Committee, and Mt. Ashland Association board on all development activities.
   
• Plan, organize, manage, and proactively implement all fundraising programs to address funding priorities, including annual fund and capital campaigns.
   
• Collaborate internally on special projects and provide leadership on cross-functional teams.

• Philanthropic Giving: A great fit for this role has served in fundraising for a nonprofit, movement, or campaign.  Our focus is on making fundraising relationship-based and not transactional.  Think: less gala dinner and more building strong personal networks with philanthropic donors.  Projects do include some events, as well as delivering an annual giving campaign with multiple appeals.
   
• Partnerships: This position nurtures strategic relationships with partner organizations who enable impact and drive financial sustainability.  These relationships span corporate sponsorship programs, corporate social responsibility volunteering engagements, strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations, supporting our local partners, and relationships with customers and other supporters.
   
• Collaboration: As a smaller nonprofit, Mt. Ashland’s team relies on collaboration to ensure programmatic and financial success.  Although this position has two large tentpoles of focus, additional assignments should be expected that relate to philanthropy and partnerships- building relationships with all relevant constituency groups, and driving revenue of all forms.  During ski and summer operations, this position may be involved in temporary on-mountain tasks to assist the overall team.  This role has frequent collaboration with the marketing function of the operation, and serves as a back-up to the marketing coordinator.

Key Results in Year 1:

Mt. Ashland’s overall budget is expected to be approximately $2.9 million per year through 2027.  The Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager will support partnerships and annual giving that generate approximately $290,000 by mid-2024 growing to $325,000 target by 2027, ensuring Mt. Ashland remains a financially sustainable and high-impact organization for those we serve.

This position will also be responsible for facilitating capital campaigns that fund the capacity-building needs of Mt. Ashland.  These campaigns should not only provide the financial capital for improvements, but cultivate new relationships that support the annual campaigns.  Capital campaigns will generally have a multi-million dollar goal and include government and private grants, foundation and private gifts, and leveraging matching opportunities to achieve success.

Leadership and Management

• Provide strategic direction so that Mt. Ashland can become the go-to organization for outdoor recreation and youth programming, ensuring data has a tangible impact in support of the development goals.
• Foster an environment that supports new ideas and innovative approaches to giving.
• Collaborate with other Mt. Ashland program departments to identify needs, draft compelling narratives, and effectively manage donor and prospect relationships.
• Work closely with Mt. Ashland’s General Manager and the Development Committee in cultivating and managing high-value donor relationships.
• Develop easy to visualize reports and dashboards for Mt. Ashland’s Board and leadership team.
• Pilot new tactical approaches in Year 1 and develop a longer-term strategy for Years 2 and beyond.

Individual Giving

• Develop and implement an innovative approach for individual giving that goes beyond Mt. Ashland’s annual campaigns, which may include major gifts, planned gifts, peer-to-peer approaches, etc. as we devote more significant resources to these areas.
• Oversee the implementation of the individual giving strategy to ensure effective management of the donor lifecycle from identification through stewardship.
• Develop and maintain donor database / single “360 degree” view of our donors by integrating donor data from sales and interactions; keeping us organized and improving regular touchpoints and thank-yous.
• Grow individual giving 8% year over year (from approximately $116,000 in 2022).
• Build and facilitate a comprehensive campaign to support significant capital improvements and additions.

Corporate and Foundation Giving

• Oversee the implementation of the corporate and foundation engagement strategy to identify new prospects and steward multifaceted partnerships that yield funding sources, sustainable pipelines of volunteers, in-kind donations, and other needs.
• Together with the team, iterate on Mt. Ashland’s corporate partnerships strategy to grow corporate giving by 8% year over year.
• Expand Mt. Ashland’s relationships with charitable and family foundations to deliver outstanding value to our donors.
• Manage a portfolio of major gift and corporate prospects and donors, develop individualized plans for each, and personally participate in grant writing and soliciting gifts.

Building Strategic Partnerships

• Support and grow Mt. Ashland’s strategic partnerships with several dozen organizations with whom Mt. Ashland partners to provide youth programming, events, activities, and other services.  This spans sectors including corporate employee appreciation nights, private ski sessions, weddings, and special events.
• Through shared value partnerships, contribute to Mt. Ashland’s goals around serving 105,000 skiers per winter by 2025 and dramatically increasing summer and non-ski winter visits.

Essential Experience:

• 5+ Years of experience serving in philanthropic giving in a small to mid-size nonprofit, and evidenced levels of engagement with corporates and other nonprofits.
• Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent knowledge and skills.
• Experience identifying opportunities and turning ideas into impact-focused, shared value partnerships (including getting hands dirty to implement unique and non-traditional partnerships).
• Has made asks or developed proposals resulting in gifts of greater than $25,000 and been responsible for generating significant dollars to a nonprofit’s budget.
• Has managed volunteers and prioritizes supporting and nurturing the people in a team.
• Likes to close: Has experience creating and pitching ideas to key decision makers, including those with clout.  Must be empathetic: listening and helping donors meet their giving needs by connecting with Mt. Ashland’s mission
• Has the ability to develop systems, practices, and operations that reflect best practices in fundraising, philanthropy, and relationship management.

Preferred Criteria:

• Has experience in at least two of four of these thematic areas in the partnerships and philanthropy landscape: recreation, youth programs, physical fitness, outdoor appreciation.  Candidates should have connections with people and foundations in philanthropy who are passionate about these causes.
• Has experience engaging board members in fundraising activities and stewarding board member relatinships.
• Candidates naturally take big goals and break them down into achievable wins.  Big numbers are not scary, they excite this person, and they have demonstrable success in this regard. 

Desirable Experience:

• Prior experience with ski or outdoor industry
• Prior experience in organizations with youth programs at the core of their work
• Experience building relationships with a diverse group of constituents
• Experience working with donor databases
• Experience in grant writing and creation of case statements

Compensation and Benefits

All Mt. Ashland salaries are set according to a framework in comparison to industry-standards.  The starting salary range for this position is $68,000 – $78,000 per year.  Mt. Ashland offers a supportive work culture at a landmark of southern Oregon, health care options, and annual leave for all full-time employees, in addition to paid holidays.  This position is eligible for a complimentary season pass, and discounted dependent passes, as well as other employee benefits.  Winter work schedules generally coincide with ski operations, and summer work schedules often follow the 4-10 format.