NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Location: USA-based, remote, ideally Eastern seaboard

Type: Full-time

Reports to: Chief Development Officer

About myAgro

myAgro is an award-winning non-profit social enterprise based in West Africa. We have developed a mobile savings model that allows farmers to invest their own funds in high-quality seed, fertilizer, and agricultural training to increase their harvest and income by 50-100%. Our North Star is to help 1 million farmers by 2026 lift themselves out of poverty. We recently received a prestigious Audacious Prize to accelerate myAgro’s reach in the next 5 years.

The Development department is comprised of three complementary functional areas: foundations, institutional strategic partnerships, and principal giving. The main objective of the department is to raise funds to reach our north star of working with 1M farmers by 2026. The new role of Director of Development, Principal Giving will lead the organization’s work with ultra-high net worth individuals, engaging, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding significant, multi-year commitments from ultra-high net worth individual supporters of myAgro, often in partnership with the CEO and Board leadership.

Join a winning team that is changing the lives of hardworking farmers across West Africa.

About the Role:

The Director will renew and upgrade gifts of $1,000,000 or more, as well as build a strong pipeline of principal gift donor prospects and identify new, creative multidimensional partnerships. S/he will have a portfolio and will craft and execute strategies to cultivate, solicit, and steward donors and prospects with the capacity to give principal gifts in partnership with the CEO, Managing Director of Strategy, Chief Development Officer and other leadership.

The Director, Principal Giving serves a critical role in helping to develop and implement strategies that are informed by ambitious revenue targets and devise, monitor, and analyze results of initiatives and metrics to guide future endeavors. S/he will be expected to understand the needs and performance of donors and prospects, communicate, and collaborate superbly with colleagues, business partners and supporters, think strategically, make recommendations, offer creative solutions and manage systems to continually grow and improve myAgro’s donor relationships, and prospecting with ultra-high net worth individuals and families.

Major Responsibilities

Provide dynamic and effective thought leadership for efforts towards increased financial revenue and other modes of private sector engagement that support impactful delivery of myAgro’s mandate and mission.
Foster an environment that supports new ideas and innovative approaches to best-in-class donor relationship management.
Partner with the Chief Development Officer to develop a coherent and ambitious strategic plan for principal giving, including setting annual goals and key outcomes, and to develop and implement standards, tools, and procedures towards donor engagement and fundraising.
Collaborate with the Chief Development Officer and senior leadership to develop an overarching vision for high-net worth individual donor support at myAgro, articulating that vision to key constituencies in order to encourage and foster effective and innovative partnership engagement across the institution.
Manage a portfolio of 20-40 ultra-high net worth individuals by moving the relationship with each through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Design tactics and creative, long-term engagement strategies to deepen donor commitment and increase giving.
Collaborate with colleagues across myAgro to align donor and organizational priorities in a way that maximizes income for myAgro and creates multi-faceted, deep engagement with the organization.
Undertake special projects as requested.
Candidate requirements

8+ years of progressive fundraising experience and demonstrated expertise in private sector, major gifts, or principal gifts fundraising; or sales, including direct solicitation of donors or clients and a familiarity with having a front-line portfolio of donors.
Bachelor’s degree.
Exceptional communication skills, including writing, listening, verbal presentation and speaking.
Ability to develop creative and nuanced donor strategy often executed in partnership with program staff or senior leadership.
Ability to analyze and interpret financial data.
Ability to navigate CRM systems; experience with The Raiser’s Edge NXT preferred.
Commitment to fundraising for international development.
Preferred Experience & Skills

Proven track record of closing multiple 7 and 8+ figure gifts from a dynamic portfolio of donors and prospects, including qualifying prospects and upgrading donors.
Proven track record of developing blended and multi-year funding opportunities.
Responsive to change in a fast paced work environment while keeping donor priorities at the center of strategy and relationship building.
Ability to diplomatically and sensitively collaborate across teams internally, regardless of distance, and garner support for and execute initiatives effectively.
Ability to identify, create, and execute processes necessary to support effective donor relationships.
Experience working in social enterprise, or with a revenue model that combines earned revenue with philanthropic revenue.
Experience working with staff largely from the private sector and/or in a social enterprise.
Our Benefits:
Health insurance (including dental, vision and health coverage)
Approximately 4 weeks of paid time off each year
Retirement plan contributions
Professional development and laptop stipends
The opportunity to make a difference for farmers everyday!
Application Process and Deadline
To apply, submit an application on our website. Include a cover letter and a resume (CV). You should also complete the Plum survey. You can find a link to the Plum survey on the application form for the role. Please submit your application and documents in English. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted by our team.

There is no fixed deadline as we hire on a rolling basis. If someone else is selected while you are interviewing, we will let you know and consider your application for future positions. The interview process includes the application form, the Plum assessment, short virtual interviews and typically a short written assignment or a visit to the field or one of our offices.

myAgro provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, marital/parental status, national origin, age, disability, political opinion, social status, veteran status, and genetics. myAgro complies with all applicable federal, provincial and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.