Associate, Individual Giving

Job Description Position: Associate, Individual Giving Department: Development Reports to: Director, Individual Giving Position Managed: N/A Location: Bronx Zoo Scope: Bronx Zoo Position Type: Full Time About Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) WCS stands for wildlife and wild places. As the world's premier wildlife conservation organization, WCS has a long track record of achieving innovative, impactful results at scale. We run field programs spanning 60 countries and the entire ocean. We build on a unique foundation: Our reach is global; we discover through best-in-class science; we protect through work on the ground with local and indigenous people; we inspire through our world-class zoos, aquarium, and education programs; and we leverage our resources through partnerships and powerful policy influence. Our more than 4,000 diverse, passionately committed team members in New York City and around the world work collectively to achieve our conservation mission. Job Summary: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is looking for an Associate to join the Individual Giving fundraising team. As an integral member of the Individual Giving team at WCS, you will provide critical support to gift officers in their efforts to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward existing donors and prospects for gifts to WCS. This position reports to the Director, Individual Giving and supports the New York (NY) based Major Gifts team. The ideal candidate will be a team-oriented individual with a mind for process, excellent attention to detail, and strong writing and communication skills. We are looking for a proactive individual with an interest in WCS's global mission who is excited to dive into a fast-paced development environment and begin adding value immediately. Major Responsibilities: The individual's main responsibilities will be in supporting the NY based Major Gifts team by executing the processes that ensure successful cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of WCS donors. Responsibilities include: * Support 3-4 Major Gifts relationship managers' portfolios. With direction from each relationship manager, track, monitor, and prompt actions related to prospecting, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. This includes data entry, preparing status reports, tracking all opportunities, flagging upcoming actions, and coordinating moves management. * Schedule Major Gifts team-wide meetings with the Donor Communications team and proactively manage the calendar of deliverables for the entire Major Gifts team to ensure efficiency in content creation. * Work with the Operations team to process gifts and acknowledgement letters. Assume primary responsibility for drafting donation "thank you letters" from fundraisers and senior staff. * Serve as point of contact for general donor calls and questions for the Major Gifts team, including providing information about WCS to donors and recommending next steps to NY Director. * Serve as point of contact for all internal (Global Resources and WCS) inquiries for the Major Gifts team, including liaising with the Research team to request information/materials and the Donor Engagement team on invitation list reviews. * Stay updated on database procedures and attend all required training sessions. * Assist and support fundraising events, donor meetings, and zoo tours. This includes preparing briefings and biographies pre-event and coordinating comprehensive follow-up strategies post-event. At times, this may include greeting donors for tours and leading tours. For this responsibility, a Driver's License is required. * Reconcile departmental budget, track spending, and submit expense and reimbursement requests. * Support departmental mailings (Annual Report, Calendars). * Perform other administrative duties as needed.