Director of Individual Giving

Director of Individual Giving

Seeding Labs is an award-winning, Boston-based nonprofit building a more equitable world where scientists everywhere are equipped to lead the way to a brighter and healthier future. Our mission is to provide resources for science – the most powerful tool for human progress – to leaders in developing countries.

Seeding Labs’ flagship program, Instrumental Access, provides university science departments in developing countries with access to high quality scientific equipment and supplies so that students can engage in hands-on training and staff can engage in research that powers innovation. To date, we have delivered Instrumental Access equipment worth more than $48 million USD to 105 institutions in 40 developing countries. Instrumental Access equipment has been used by at least 238,000 students and been made available to nearly 3,000 researchers.

We’re a small but mighty organization. We’ve leveraged relationships with >200 corporations in the life sciences sector to gain access to resources for the scientists that we support. For the past several years, we have operated with an annual budget of approximately $1-1.3M, with an additional $1-2M in in-kind donations of laboratory equipment. Our main sources of funding include corporate partners and university beneficiaries. We engage individual donors based across the US through our annual year-end appeal.

In 2022, we completed a new strategic plan to expand our equipment program and establish new programs to better connect and share knowledge across the global scientific community. To achieve this, we are growing our base of individual supporters, focusing on high-net-worth individuals in the Greater Boston area with a passion for the life sciences, higher education, and international development. We are bringing on an energetic fundraising professional like you to lead this effort!

The Director of Individual Giving will design and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy, focused on major and high-impact donors. You’ll assume responsibility for our existing portfolio of individual donors while overseeing a targeted expansion of fundraising operations in the Greater Boston area. You’ll develop the program for engaging individuals in supporting our mission, from prospect identification to donor stewardship.

This is a new position, reporting directly to the CEO. You will partner with the CEO in cultivating and stewarding individuals and with the members of the Board of Directors for prospect introductions. You can also expect support from other team members for prospect research, collateral development, proposal development and writing, and gift processing. As a leader for our individual giving strategy, you will occasionally support other team members with our annual appeal, grant applications, and corporate relations.

You might be the right person for this position if:

• You are organized and comfortable working with CRMs (we use Salesforce) to maintain detailed donor records as well as pull and analyze data
• You have excellent listening skills and relationship-building abilities
• You are experienced in moves management and making asks from $1k to $100K
• You are comfortable working remotely and using a variety of technical tools
• You are effective in “managing up” and working collaboratively with peers
• You have experience working in a small, under-resourced organization with no natural constituency
• You need little guidance and are a self-learner
• You have experience working with diverse individuals of various cultural backgrounds
• You recognize that this work requires the occasional early morning, night, or weekend commitment, and you can travel to meetings reliably across the Greater Boston area
• You have a passion and natural curiosity about scientific research and its broader impacts
• You want to work in a place where you can make a significant impact with the potential to change millions of lives across the globe

What can you expect from Seeding Labs?

• A culture that values and respects each person and their needs at work and outside of work
• An incredible team of people who are highly passionate about our work and motivated to help you succeed
• A learning environment – we use data, try new things, and learn from the experience
• A commitment to ethical conduct, a recognition of the power dynamics inherent in our work, and an aim to do no harm to the individuals and communities we serve
• Highly flexible work hours. We strive to operate with goals that can be accomplished within an average work week of 40 hours
• Well-maintained donor records
• Strong relationships with incredibly talented and inspiring beneficiaries, a compelling case for support
• An engaged and supportive board of directors

Compensation and other important details:

• Classification: This is an exempt position
• Location: Greater Boston area
• Salary: $80K-$100K/annual, dependent on experience
• Benefits include:

o   Health plan coverage starts on date of hire; 80% employer-contributed health plan or a modest health plan stipend; 80% employer-contributed dental and vision plans; healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts; employer-covered life and disability insurance

o   401K

o   Pre-tax public transportation pass

o   20 holidays and 14 days PTO

o   Funds for professional development

• Start date: As soon as able.

We especially welcome candidates who will bring diverse cultural and international experiences and perspectives to our organization.

Candidates for this position should have a driver’s license and their own transportation to attend donor meetings and events within the Greater Boston area.

We are an equal opportunity employer. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis.