Philanthropy Advisor

Job Description

Compensation: Our salaries are competitive with think tanks, private foundations and the World Bank and benchmarked for the cost of living in Oakland, where GiveWell is based. For remote employees, we make adjustments based on the federal geographic location adjustment database to compensate fairly.

Location: Oakland, California (preferred); remote work largely within US timezones is possible.

Timeline: We’re reviewing applications on a rolling basis.

Visas: We can sponsor work visas and will resume doing so when the option returns. Currently, international remote work is possible.

About the role

As Philanthropy Advisor, you will have a direct impact on the amount of funds GiveWell can direct to people living in extreme poverty. This is a great opportunity to join a high-impact nonprofit and make a real difference with your career.

Reporting to and partnering with the Director of Development, you will be responsible for building long-term relationships with GiveWell supporters. You will manage a portfolio of 100-150 individuals giving in the 5- to 6-figure range and seek to retain and upgrade their annual giving. Specifically, you will:

• Create individual goals for each donor in your portfolio based on their giving history and forward interests and capacity;
• Create an annual outreach plan for each donor in your portfolio that includes monthly touch points and giving targets;
• Arrange and complete 120+ in-person meetings per year to build and deepen donor relationships, with the ultimate goal of soliciting and closing significant gifts that support GiveWell and its recommended charities;
• Work collaboratively across the outreach and research teams to fully understand GiveWell’s research and funding opportunities, and craft compelling funding proposals for donors;
• Track all donor activity in your portfolio and create monthly reports to reflect donor status and likely annual income; and
• Vet a separate pool of prospective major donors in order to recommend promising candidates to elevate into a philanthropy advisor portfolio.

About you

Ideally, you have all of the following characteristics. Many excellent candidates will have some (but not all) of the characteristics below, and we encourage you to apply even if you do not have all of the below.

To be successful, we expect that you:

• Have 2 or more years of experience in front-line fundraising, business development, or enterprise sales (or related field), and have a strong track record in closing gifts/deals.
• Have excellent verbal and written communications skills. You can convert complex ideas and funding opportunities into stories that are clear and engaging, and compel donors to take action.
• Maintain a high level of tact, diplomacy, and confidentiality.

Other highly desirable skills, experience, or characteristics:

• You are passionate about helping the global poor. GiveWell is currently focused on programs that help people in low- and low-to-middle-income countries. You should be passionate about maximizing the resources we can direct to help the people in these countries.
• You value honesty and transparency. GiveWell has a strong work culture committed to honesty and transparency about our shortcomings and strengths, as well as those of our recommended charities.
• You are excited to work in a growing team. GiveWell’s outreach team is small and we expect team members to be nimble and responsive to new opportunities.
• You have the ability to travel both domestically and internationally 2-3 times throughout the year.

To apply

Apply here: https://www.givewell.org/about/jobs/philanthropy-advisor-application. We only accept applications through our website.

You may also send additional material, such as a letter of recommendation, to support your application; this is not required. Please send those materials to jobs@givewell.org.

We plan to respond to all submissions. Please contact jobs@givewell.org with any questions.

Additional information

Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. Here’s a secret: there’s no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. GiveWell is looking for exceptional people who want to help create a place where everyone can thrive. So however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this role would make you excited to wake up everyday.

GiveWell accommodates flexible and remote working. We support and encourage flexible working, including flexible hours, regular work-from-home days, part-time work patterns, and periodic remote-work stints. The majority of our staff, including senior management, work flexibly in one way or another. Our preference is for staff to work from Oakland, but working remotely (including internationally) is also possible. As a general rule, requests to work remotely outside the U.S. will be allowed at GiveWell’s sole discretion and only for locations within US time zones. Exceptions to this general rule may be made, but only in exceptional circumstances.

As part of our dedication to the diversity of our staff, GiveWell is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity without regard for race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, protected veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. People of color, people with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at jobs@givewell.org.

About the Organization

GiveWell's goal is to identify the giving opportunities which can most cost-effectively improve health and human wellbeing around the world.

Our top charities accomplish a huge amount of good. They deliver basic commodities (for example, anti-malarial nets or deworming pills) and cash to the global poor. At our recommendation, donors directed $140.9 million to these charities in 2018. We roughly estimate that these funds prevented 30,000 deaths, dewormed 38 million children and gave cash to 11,500 poor households.1 We also made an additional $16 million in incubation grants to support work that may lead to new top charities in the future or better information on current top charities.

GiveWell is expanding our team so we can broaden the scope of our research and look for charities that might have even more impact per dollar donated than our current top charities. More in this blog post. Highly effective people in operations will be integral to that expansion, and thereby to the success of our mission and the level of positive impact GiveWell can enable.

By joining GiveWell, you will have the opportunity to directly influence our success in scaling our operations, identifying highly impactful charities, and directing millions of dollars in funding to some of the poorest people in the world.