Senior Consultant, Fundraising

Abundant Philanthropy; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Abundant Philanthropy seeks a Senior Consultant, Fundraising to lead complex fundraising initiatives for nonprofit clients. You will drive capital campaigns, major gifts, and donor strategies while guiding executives and boards through high-stakes engagements.

You will collaborate with teams across data, events, grant writing, communications, and design to deliver exceptional client outcomes and sustainable philanthropic growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Nonprofit Management, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• Seven-plus years of senior-level fundraising or consulting experience in a nonprofit environment (10-12 years preferred).
• Proven track record leading and supporting capital campaigns, including feasibility studies and multi-phase campaign execution.
• Demonstrated success securing major, transformational, and multi-year gifts.
• Strong project management, communication, and problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently.
• Proficiency with tools such as Asana, Salesforce, Blackbaud, Google Workspace, and Quickbooks or similar.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert guidance, strategy, and hands-on leadership for capital campaigns at all phases.
• Partner with nonprofit executive and board leadership to set goals, timelines and benchmarks.
• Develop and manage campaign roadmaps with immediate and long-term fundraising goals.
• Advise on campaign structure including cabinets, volunteer leadership, and engagement.
• Create and monitor campaign tracking systems to ensure progress toward goals.
• Lead moves management across individual, corporate and foundation donors.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Capital campaigns

Moves management

Client advisory

Strategic fundraising planning

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Nonprofit Management or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Asana

Salesforce

Blackbaud

Google Workspace

Quickbooks or similar

Job description

The Senior Consultant, Fundraising provides expert fundraising leadership and hands-on support for Abundant Philanthropy’s nonprofit clients. In this role, you will lead complex development initiatives, most notably capital campaigns, major and transformational giving strategies and large-scale fundraising efforts, while ensuring exceptional client experiences and outcomes.

Working closely with nonprofit executives, board leadership and internal Abundant Philanthropy teams, the Senior Consultant, Fundraising translates vision into actionable fundraising strategies that drive revenue, build capacity, and strengthen long-term philanthropic sustainability.

This role fills a critical gap for clients by owning the strategic, relational, and execution-focused elements of principal and major gift fundraising, while coaching and supporting nonprofit leaders through high-stakes fundraising efforts. The ideal candidate is a trusted advisor who brings deep capital campaign expertise, strong donor strategy skills, a proven track record for successful moves management work that leads to securing transformative principal and major gifts, and the ability to lead complex projects independently in a consulting environment.

To support you in this work, you will have colleagues with expertise in data and research, event management, grant writing, communications, graphic design, and operations management.

Focus on what you are good at leading nonprofits through transformative fundraising experiences.

Key Responsibilities

Capital Campaign Strategy & Management

• Provide expert guidance, strategy, and hands-on leadership for capital campaigns at all phases, including feasibility studies, pre-campaign planning, quiet phase and public phase execution.
• Partner with nonprofit executive and board leadership to assess campaign readiness and establish clear fundraising goals, timelines and success benchmarks.
• Develop and manage comprehensive campaign roadmaps, including immediate and long-term fundraising goals, timelines and progress through key campaign milestones.
• Advise on campaign structure, including campaign cabinets, volunteer leadership roles and engagement strategies that maximize effectiveness and shared accountability.
• Create and monitor campaign tracking systems to ensure continual progress toward fundraising goals.
• Troubleshoot unexpected challenges, refine campaign strategy as needed and guide clients toward meeting or exceeding campaign goals.

Moves Management & Major Gift Fundraising

• Provide strategic leadership and execution support for moves management across individual, corporate and foundation donors.
• Manage and guide donor portfolios through all phases of cultivation, solicitation, stewardship and long-term engagement.
• Craft and execute personalized donor strategies that align donor interests, motivations and philanthropic goals with client priorities.
• Support the development of compelling gift proposals and solicitation strategies tailored to donor intent.
• Demonstrate a strong track record of securing major, multi-year, planned, and transformational five, six and seven-figure philanthropic gifts.
• Provide guidance on thoughtful donor engagement and stewardship practices that encourage ongoing and increased philanthropic support.

Building & Leading a Nonprofit Fund Development Function

• Partner with nonprofit leadership to design and execute comprehensive fundraising strategies aligned with mission, vision, values and revenue goals.
• Provide strategic oversight and guidance across all facets of fund development, including annual giving, major giving, grants and institutional giving, corporate sponsorships and event-based fundraising.
• Advise clients on building, managing, and strengthening development teams, including goal-setting, performance tracking, systems, and best practices.
• Work alongside nonprofit CEOs/Executive Directors on high-level donor strategy, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship efforts.
• Partner with marketing and communications functions to ensure alignment between fundraising strategy, messaging and donor communications.

Coaching, Training & Mentoring

• Coach, train, and mentor nonprofit staff at all levels to build fundraising skills, confidence and effectiveness.
• Provide coaching and strategic insight to nonprofit boards, both collectively and individually, to strengthen understanding of development best practices and board engagement.
• Model fundraising best practices conceptually and in practice to ensure clarity, confidence and successful execution.
• Support the development of a culture of philanthropy that encourages active participation in fund development across the organization.

Executive Partnership, Client Leadership & Project Management

• Serve as a senior, project-based partner to the President/CEO, supporting priority fundraising initiatives and acting as an extension of executive leadership in client engagements.
• Lead client relationships for assigned engagements, serving as a trusted advisor and primary point of contact for nonprofit leadership.
• Manage project timelines, deliverables, and execution across multiple engagements, working independently with accuracy, urgency and accountability.
• Collaborate closely with Abundant Philanthropy’s research, data, events, communications, graphic design, and operations management teams to ensure coordinated, high-quality delivery.

Partnerships & Business Development Support

• Leverage and expand professional networks and partnerships that support client success and contribute to new opportunities for Abundant Philanthropy.
• Represent Abundant Philanthropy with credibility and professionalism in donor, funder and nonprofit leadership settings.
• Support business development function supporting new client recruitment, on-board, and client management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Nonprofit Management, or a related field (Master’s preferred)
• Seven-plus years of senior-level fundraising or consulting experience in a nonprofit environment (10-12 years preferred)
• Proven track record leading and supporting capital campaigns, including feasibility studies and multi-phase campaign execution
• Demonstrated success securing major, transformational, and multi-year philanthropic gifts
• Strong project management, communication, and problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently
• Proficiency with tools such as Asana, Salesforce, Blackbaud, Google Workspace, and Quickbooks or similar

Preferred Attributes

• Deep understanding of the nonprofit and philanthropic landscape
• Experience building, leading or advising nonprofit development teams
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution in a values-based, client-centered organization
• Comfort operating in a project-based, consulting-style role with multiple client engagements
• Experience serving as a strategic advisor to nonprofit CEOs, Executive Directors, and boards