Overview

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia – one of the most popular websites in the world, serving nearly half a billion users every month – and its sister sites. It is the only non-profit in the top 50 companies, supported by a community of millions of individual donors.

In 2016, we launched the Wikimedia Endowment in order to provide support to the Wikimedia projects in perpetuity. To date, we have grown the Endowment through a mix of individual contributions, corporate giving, matching gifts, and planned giving. This role will serve as a primary support to the Endowment team as they build a more robust, concerted effort to grow planned giving as a vehicle to fund the Endowment and grow the Wikipedia Legacy Society.

The Planned Giving Specialist will report to and work with the Endowment Director. Succeeding in this environment will require taking a hands-on approach to connecting with a broad array of donors at scale, using traditional development methods, while exploring ways to heighten and expand outreach and participation in the Wikipedia Legacy Society.

The Planned Giving Specialist can be based in Wikimedia Foundation’s headquarters in San Francisco or work remotely.  We are an international organization serving an internationally distributed audience. A strong international perspective with personal experience in cross-cultural communication is extremely important in this position.

Position Responsibilities

  • Cultivate and solicit a defined portfolio of planned giving prospects, engaging the Endowment Director, Senior Development Director and other Foundation staff, as needed;
  • Help coordinate outreach efforts to increase awareness and visibility of the Wikipedia Legacy Society among current and prospective donors in the United States and internationally;
  • Maintain donor records and donor recognition requests for planned giving prospects/donors in donor database, in conjunction with the Department’s data stewardship team;
  • Aid the Endowment team in stewarding and developing strong, long-term relationships with targeted individual donors (both new and existing);
  • Working with the Endowment Director, Senior Development Director and Events staff, help scope donor recognition and special events for those interested in joining the Wikipedia Legacy Society;
  • Ability to travel;
  • Aid in crafting donor-facing materials and regular updates for both Legacy Society members and staff about the program’s progress, in addition to complying with each donor’s reporting requirements.

Basic Requirements

Candidates should have the following type of experience and qualifications:

  • Donor-facing experience; an understanding of planned giving; a comfort with major donors and a respect for and understanding of their goals and objectives;
  • Experience with data entry and maintenance is a plus!
  • Broad-based knowledge of various development campaign activities including: planned giving, event planning and management, direct solicitations, and leveraging fundraising databases;
  • A track record as an exceptional communicator, in writing as well as verbally; adept at writing solicitation letters, donor correspondence, and other kinds of material for publication; experience preparing and making effective presentations to diverse groups large and small;
  • A college degree.

Personal characteristics:

The successful candidate should be:

  • A compassionate communicator, both in writing and speaking, and particularly able to recognize the alignment of a donor’s interests with the value of Wikimedia Foundation programs, communities, services and events;
  • A good listener and strategist; comfortable receiving input from many sources, and able to act on information to develop increased support;
  • Detail-oriented, able to maintain systems, track progress, and follow-up in a timely fashion;
  • A person who has an ability to tolerate a high degree of ambiguity, and to negotiate with people having sharply defined opinions while maintaining positive, respectful relationships.

The Wikimedia Foundation is… 

…the nonprofit organization that hosts and operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge, and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge, free of interference. We host the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocate for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive. The Wikimedia Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that relies on donations. We receive financial support from millions of individuals around the world, with an average donation of about $15. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts. The Wikimedia Foundation is a United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.

The Wikimedia Foundation is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.

U.S. Benefits & Perks*

  • Fully paid medical, dental and vision coverage for employees and their eligible families (yes, fully paid premiums!)
  • The Wellness Program provides reimbursement for mind, body and soul activities such as fitness memberships, baby sitting, continuing education and much more
  • The 401(k) retirement plan offers matched contributions at 4% of annual salary
  • Flexible and generous time off – vacation, sick and volunteer days, plus 19 paid holidays – including the last week of the year.
  • Family friendly! 100% paid new parent leave for seven weeks plus an additional five weeks for pregnancy, flexible options to phase back in after leave, fully equipped lactation room.
  • For those emergency moments – long and short term disability, life insurance (2x salary) and an employee assistance program
  • Pre-tax savings plans for health care, child care, elder care, public transportation and parking expenses
  • Telecommuting and flexible work schedules available
  • Appropriate fuel for thinking and coding (aka, a pantry full of treats) and monthly massages to help staff relax
  • Great colleagues – diverse staff and contractors speaking dozens of languages from around the world, fantastic intellectual discourse, mission-driven and intensely passionate people