Philanthropy Officer

About Maine Community Foundation

The Maine Community Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in the United States, holding assets exceeding $895 million. The organization brings people and resources together to build a better Maine through strategic grantmaking, community leadership, and targeted investments. With a workforce of over 50 employees distributed across a main office in Ellsworth, a secondary office in Portland, and remote locations throughout Maine, the foundation maintains a statewide presence to effectively serve all Maine residents. The Maine Community Foundation works collaboratively with donors, nonprofits, and community partners to address the diverse needs of Maine people. The organization operates with a strong commitment to equity, integrating equitable principles into all aspects of its operations and expecting staff to apply equity frameworks in their daily work. As a community foundation, MaineCF serves as a vital connector between philanthropic resources and community needs, supporting educational initiatives, economic development, and quality of life improvements across the state.

About this Role

The Philanthropy Officer position supports MaineCF’s asset development goals by serving as a key member of the Philanthropy team. This role focuses on building and stewarding meaningful relationships with prospects, donors, and fund holders while coordinating essential communications and campaign activities that drive the foundation’s philanthropic mission forward. The successful candidate will manage external relationships and asset development initiatives, personally overseeing a portfolio of donors, prospects, and fund holders through all phases of engagement from cultivation through stewardship. This position involves identifying and qualifying new prospective donors and fund holders, representing MaineCF at community and networking events throughout Maine, and maintaining current knowledge of local and regional issues and nonprofit organizations. In addition to relationship management, the Philanthropy Officer will serve a critical project management function, coordinating communications for the Philanthropy team’s pipeline development activities. This includes managing year-end appeals, producing segmented communications, tracking outcomes, and following up with prospects and donors. The role requires strong proficiency with donor management systems and the ability to draft compelling, audience-appropriate communications for various constituents.

Responsibilities

• Help grow MaineCF’s scholarship funder pool by identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding scholarship donors and prospects in close coordination with the Scholarship Team
• Personally manage a portfolio of donors, prospects, and fund holders, including cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and follow-up activities designed to increase philanthropic support for MaineCF
• Help identify, qualify, cultivate, and solicit new prospective donors and fund holders
• Represent MaineCF at community, networking and partner events throughout the state
• Maintain a working knowledge of local and regional issues and initiatives and familiarity with local nonprofit organizations
• Project manage Philanthropy Team communications for pipeline development, including but not limited to year-end appeal planning, production, segmentation, tracking, and follow-up
• Draft donor and prospect communications
• Track donor and prospect activity, solicitation status, next steps, gifts, and outcomes in Salesforce CRM
• Be committed to the mission, vision, and values of MaineCF
• Be committed to service to donors, nonprofit organizations, and grantmaking volunteers
• Maintain open and effective communication with all departments within the Foundation and work as a member of the team in the performance of duties
• Work well with others
• Understand and work within Foundation policies and procedures
• Be reliable and trustworthy
• Be well organized
• Be punctual and use time efficiently
• Perform duties in a conscientious and cooperative manner
• Perform work in a timely fashion with a minimum of errors
• Maintain confidentiality for all information concerning MaineCF business, its employees, donors, and other appropriate information
• Be willing to share the organization’s commitment to equity and use equity to inform work with MaineCF

Requirements

• 3-5 years of relevant experience in fundraising, donor relations, nonprofit communications, or related work
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with a wide range of people
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to draft clear, compelling and audience-appropriate communications for donors, prospects, and fund holders
• Experience coordinating projects involving multiple stakeholders, contributors, and deadlines
• Experience coordinating donor, fundraising, or marketing communications campaigns, including planning, production timelines, audience segmentation, tracking, and follow-up
• Comfort initiating outreach and representing an organization externally
• Familiarity with philanthropy, nonprofits, or Maine communities (preferred, not required)
• Ability to work independently and within a team structure
• Must possess and demonstrate a high level of professionalism, diplomacy, and ability to maintain confidentiality
• Solid computer proficiency, particularly in all Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Experience using CRM/donor software to track outreach, engagement activities, communications and outcomes; Salesforce experience preferred
• Strong organizational skills with great attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends, particularly for events
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently within Maine
• Must live in Maine or establish Maine residency within three months of hire

Benefits

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance with 100% employer-paid premium for individual coverage
• Employer-paid short-term disability insurance
• Employer-paid long-term disability insurance
• Employer-paid term life insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with 6-9% company contribution vested immediately
• 21 paid days off per year (increases with tenure)
• 12 paid holidays per year
• Parental leave
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Wellness benefit
• Free parking