Director, Nationwide Prospect Development and Portfolio Strategy

Mar 27

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
New York, NY

Anticipated Start Date: TBD

Description

As the Director of Nationwide Prospect Development & Portfolio Strategy, you will play a pivotal role in leading a strategic, insight-driven program that powers major gifts fundraising across the ACLU’s national and affiliate network.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Nationwide Leadership & Planned Gifts, you’ll oversee a team that identifies and advances high-capacity donors, strengthens prospect portfolios, and delivers the systems, data, and strategy that fundraisers need to build transformative relationships. From five-figure supporters to eight-figure prospects, your leadership will drive the engine behind our pipeline, supporting the people and tools that connect donor passion to mission impact.

In this highly collaborative role, you’ll guide a nationwide donor assignment process, shape strategic moves management, and embed data-driven practices that elevate giving potential and campaign readiness. You’ll work closely with colleagues across the country to improve the health and performance of fundraising portfolios, while developing scalable systems for research, reassignment, and prospect development. This is a unique opportunity to lead at the intersection of philanthropy, strategy, and equity, ensuring that the ACLU has the insight and infrastructure to grow support for civil liberties for years to come.

FUTURE ACLU’ERS WILL

Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

Responsibilities

YOUR DAY TO DAY

As Director, you'll set the vision and lead a high-impact team focused on driving major gifts success across the entire ACLU network—national and affiliate. Your team will power the strategy behind dozens of major gifts portfolios, working with prospects and donors whose giving potential spans from five to eight figures.

Here’s how you'll make an impact:

You'll guide the strategy, execution and vision of identifying, researching, and advancing top prospects—helping fundraisers across the country build meaningful relationships and grow support for the ACLU's mission.
Oversee a team that provides prospect research and philanthropic insights that inform strategies for our frontline fundraisers nationwide
Improve the quality and value of our donor data. Lead efforts to evaluate research tools, conduct wealth screenings, assess prospect pool potential, and refine giving capacity and affinity scores.
Develop and maintain systems for donor assignment and reassignment, pipeline growth, and portfolio benchmarking—ensuring fundraisers have the right prospects at the right time, with the right strategies.
Build trusted partnerships with portfolio managers at both the National office and across 50 state affiliates. Work closely with Development’s Nationwide Development Resources team and the Affiliate Support & Nationwide Initiatives department.
Lead and participate in strategy reviews for robust, high-stakes prospect lists supporting unrestricted and targeted campaigns across major, leadership, and planned giving.
Manage your unit’s budget and stay current on best practices in prospect research, data modeling, and donor analytics to ensure continuous innovation.
Protect donor data privacy and ensure all work aligns with ACLU guidelines and industry best practices, including those of APRA.

Requirements

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

Advanced knowledge of the tools, systems, and best practices that support successful major gift fundraising, especially in complex or federated nonprofit environments.
Experience assessing fundraising potential and informing campaign strategy through data, research, and feasibility analysis
Proficiency in using data to evaluate portfolio performance, conduct capacity analysis, and generate actionable insights for fundraisers
A track record of leading teams with empathy and accountability, developing talent, and fostering cross-functional collaboration
Strong communication skills, and the ability to build trust and alignment across diverse stakeholders and geographies
An interest in privacy rights

Salary Range and Employee Benefits

The annual salary for this position is $234,120 (Level C1), reflecting the salary of a position based in New York, NY. Salaries are subject to a regional pay adjustment if authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting.

At the ACLU, we offer a broad range of benefits, which include:

Time away to focus on the things that matter with a generous paid time-off policy
Focus on your well-being with comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment)
Plan for your retirement with 401k plan and employer match
We support employee growth and development through annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops

How to Apply for this Job

Apply Now

About the Organization

The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union – beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees. For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

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