Job Highlights
The Philanthropy Officer, Acquisitions focuses on identifying and qualifying new prospective donors, building relationships and connections to HGO with the prospects, and soliciting their financial support of Houston Grand Opera. This position prioritizes growing the number of Patron-level donors, including National and Young Patrons, who contribute $2,500+ annually. Alongside the acquisitions team, the Philanthropy Officer manages all team prospect identification efforts, including oversight of a suspect screening process, delegating thank you calls, evaluating donor database suspect portfolios, and managing prospects identified by the philanthropy team, current donors, and other departments.
Join Us!
We are looking for talented, passionate, dedicated people who are eager to make contributions to our community and our mission.
Concerned you do not meet every single requirement listed? Apply! We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job if they don’t think they meet 100% of the requirements. At HGO, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. So, if you’re excited about this position but your experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to apply! You may be just the right candidate for this position or another role at HGO.
About the Houston Grand Opera
The mission of HGO is to enrich our diverse community through the art of opera. We do so by creating, curating, exploring, and producing outstanding experiences centered around the human voice. HGO has received a Tony Award, two Grammy Awards, and three Emmy Awards – we are the only opera company in the world to win all three honors.
Our strategic focus is two-fold: creating profoundly enriching experiences for our diverse audiences and clearly defining and positively promoting the HGO brand.
We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment for all company members. We believe every team member enriches our diversity by exposing a broad range of ways to understand and engage our community and discover, design, and deliver enriching experiences.
Compensation and Benefits
We offer robust benefits to full-time employees, including:
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Comprehensive and affordable health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; a high-deductible healthcare plan with an employer-funded health savings account; a flexible savings account; an employee assistance program; and employer-paid life, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance
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Generous paid time off including vacation, wellness, parental leave, and scheduled and flexible holidays
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403b retirement plan with employer match
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Flexible work schedule
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Professional development fund and opportunities
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Discounted parking in the Theater District garage and nearby lots plus easy access to Metro transportation
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Free tickets to our mainstage and community productions and events
Key Responsibilities
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Secure face-to-face visits with HGO subscribers and single-ticket buyers to ascertain their relationship with the company and obtain biographic and demographic details to identify those with greater interest and capacity for deeper HGO involvement and to build and execute a cultivation plan with the goal of soliciting financial support.
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Manage a portfolio of 80-150 suspects. Fully qualify, cultivate, and solicit these households to bring them into the HGO donor pipeline at the Patron level.
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Work with current HGO Patrons, Trustees, and Board members to identify and leverage their relationships to potential new donors.
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Assign and make daily thank-you calls to new-to-file donors to determine their impetus for giving and to screen their potential for greater levels of support.
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Provide oversight of HGOs' weekly suspect screening process to identify new donor prospects.
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Maintain detailed and up-to-date records of all donor activity in Tessitura.
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Assist the acquisition team in evaluating all suspect and renewal portfolios in Tessitura annually to acquire new donor prospects.
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Assist the Philanthropy team in staffing special events and performances as needed.
Qualifications
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Bachelor’s degree preferably in Marketing, Business, Hotel Administration, or equivalent experience
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4+ years of prior relevant experience working on highly performing account management, development, or operations teams
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Experience working in a CRM database, especially Tessitura is a plus
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Proficiency working in Qualtrics or other customer listening tools is a plus
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Must be able to work some nights and weekends for scheduled performances and events
Other Skills and Abilities
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A bachelor's degree and one to two years of professional experience in fundraising or sales is required.
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Proven success in face-to-face solicitations and relationship building.
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Knowledge of principles of fundraising and sales techniques.
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Experience with Microsoft Office and relevant fundraising software, preferably Tessitura.
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Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication and listening skills.
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Ability to manage confidential information.
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Evening and weekend work hours are required.
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A sincere belief in the mission of Houston Grand Opera and familiarity with opera is a plus, but active curiosity and willingness to learn about the organization and art form may be sufficient.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those we consider important for an employee to successfully perform essential functions of this job: extended periods of sitting and performing tasks such as typing and using a computer mouse, with strong visual and auditory focus, occasional lifting (not exceeding 25 pounds), reaching for items, proficiency in keyboarding, effective communication skills, and fine motor abilities, being mobile within the office for activities like attending meetings. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
Equal Opportunity
Houston Grand Opera is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at HGO are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws or regulations. HGO will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. HGO encourages applicants of all ages.
