GiveWell is a research organization that identifies and funds cost-effective giving opportunities, focusing on global health and well-being. We’ve grown from raising $1.5 million annually in 2010 to over $600 million in 2022.
We’ve achieved these fundraising results by building deep, trusted relationships with our donors over time. Our lean team of seven front-line fundraisers pairs industry best practices with a dedication to transparency in order to provide honest advisory services to our highest-value donors, prioritizing long-term trust over quick financial wins. We’d like to hire someone to take our front-line fundraising team to the next level. We are looking for an exceptional leader to report to and partner with our Director of Development to build and grow a world-class team of fundraisers and take GiveWell’s impact to new heights.
This opportunity is unique:
- We’re a crowdsourced foundation moving hundreds of millions of dollars each year. We’ve found exceptional product-market fit and have a history of major donors committing between six and nine figures annually. We have no endowment; we raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year based on the strength of our research product and the relationships we’ve built with donors over the years. Our donors are interested in the rigor and complexity of our research, and we mostly raise money for other organizations, which makes this work look and feel different than most nonprofit fundraising.
- Moving more money is an organizational priority. Our primary goal is to move as much money as possible to the most cost-effective giving opportunities that we can find. We can only do that with a strong fundraising strategy that deepens our relationships with key donors all around the world. We are committed to ensuring the fundraising team has the resources it needs to succeed.
- Unique donor pyramid. Our donor base ranges from billionaires giving tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars each year to a “long tail” of individuals giving <$100. You’ll be responsible for appropriately staffing outreach for the full portfolio of donors, with specific focus on donors giving over $10,000.
- Impact pathway. GiveWell’s work saves and improves lives around the world. This role can be the difference between reaching and not reaching our ambitious fundraising goals, which, according to our research estimates, translate to around 20,000 additional lives saved.
- We have a strong brand that donors want to engage with. We have built a trusted research product that many people write about and engage with. Donors have a high level of trust in us, and many are eager for deeper engagement and relationships.
- High pay, high expectations, high performance. We’re a small team because we’re able to attract the best. We maintain a high-performing, collegial culture and pay accordingly.
Core responsibilities
- Managing the fundraising team. Your primary responsibility will be hiring, growing, and leading the team of front-line fundraisers, acting like the manager of a high-performing sales team. You’ll coach them through challenging issues, direct them on how to allocate their time, and inspire them to bring their best to their job every day.
- Developing our donor engagement strategy. You’ll work with the Director of Development to develop and execute a strategy for engaging with all types of donors, from the largest and most invested to the smallest “mass” donors.
- Owning relationships with major donors. You and your team will own relationships with major donors, some of whom are giving millions of dollars via GiveWell each year.
- Owning engagement with our donors. You will oversee the team in charge of the program for donors giving between $10,000 and $1 million. The goal is to maintain donor retention while spotting the opportunities for donors who can grow their giving capacity over time.
- Partner with other outreach team leads. You’ll work collaboratively with the leaders of the communications and development operations teams.
- Special projects as needed. For example, we’re thinking about whether we should offer any bespoke research services. We’ll ask you to take point on developing a point of view on this and similar decisions.
- Anything else that helps us achieve our mission. We hope you’ll come with ideas.
Who might be a good fit
You might be a good fit for this work if you:
- Have experience fundraising from ultra-high-net-worth individuals (or equivalent relationship management experience in other settings, such as B2B sales or business development). You understand the challenges and opportunities specific to this group of donors, and how to work with them most effectively.
- Are an experienced manager with a talent for developing and motivating high performers.
- Have a solid understanding of GiveWell’s work. You feel able to represent GiveWell positively and persuasively to donors with a wide range of backgrounds and levels of familiarity with our work.
- Are sufficiently comfortable with economic principles and quantitative reasoning to translate technical content for a non-technical donor audience (with support from other staff—you don’t need to be an expert on our research yourself).
- Have great interpersonal skills and the ability to interface effectively with people in all program areas at GiveWell and externally.
- Have experience developing team strategy and identifying and executing opportunities to grow revenue streams.
The ideal candidate for this position will possess many of the skills and experiences described above. However, there is no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we would strongly encourage you to apply. We hope you’ll also tell us which elements of the role you’re most and least excited about.
Role details and benefits
- Compensation:
- Tier 1 (NYC or the San Francisco Bay Area): $229,000
- Tier 2 (all other U.S. locations): $208,000
- International: Determined on a case-by-case basis.
- Location: GiveWell’s staff work primarily remotely within the U.S. and abroad.
- Offices: You are welcome but not required to work from our offices in Oakland, California, or Brooklyn, NYC.
- International work: We are happy to employ staff internationally on a case-by-case basis. Given the managerial nature of this role, a successful candidate will need to work hours that have a certain minimum overlap with American working hours and the schedules of key coworkers.
- Flexibility: We support and encourage flexible working, including flexible hours, working remotely, and working from the office when you choose. The majority of our staff, including senior management, work flexibly in one way or another.
- Visa Sponsorship: We will attempt to sponsor work visas for hired staff members who wish to move to the US. However, please be aware that processing times are country specific and are much longer than usual right now. We are also unable to control visa eligibility and cannot guarantee visa approval.
- Benefits: Our benefits include:
- Fully funded health, dental, vision, and life insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the US for you and any dependents)
- Four weeks of paid time off per year
- Four months of fully paid parental leave
- Ergonomic home workstations or coworking space memberships
- 403(b) retirement plan
- You can see our full list of benefits here
- Start date: We’d like a candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer.
To apply
Apply here. We only accept applications through our website. We also encourage you to review our FAQ document.
About GiveWell
GiveWell is motivated by the simple question: How can we do as much good as possible?
Our staff researches and makes grants to support the most cost-effective global health programs that save and improve lives. We focus on global health and poverty alleviation in the lowest-income parts of the world because that is where we've found we can have the greatest impact.
Since 2007, we’ve directed over $2 billion to cost-effective programs and interventions. In 2022, we directed over $400 million. GiveWell is one of the world’s largest private funders of global development efforts, and we estimate that the funding we've directed has saved more than 200,000 lives.
Recent grants have supported programs that:
- Are evidence-backed, cost-effective, transparent, and in need of more funding. Many of our largest grants have supported malaria chemoprevention, antimalarial nets, vaccine incentivization, vitamin A supplementation, and deworming medication.
- Seek to scope and scale promising interventions that don't have clear existing implementers. We are supporting the Clinton Health Access Initiative's Incubator and Evidence Action's Accelerator to identify potentially cost-effective interventions and create programs that we would be excited to support in the future. For example, we recently funded a program to provide diarrhea treatment to children in Nigeria that we co-designed with CHAI through the Incubator program.
- Test our assumptions through further research, including studies on the effect of water chlorination on mortality, the impact of a tree-planting program on farmers' income, and the effects of combining the RTS,S malaria vaccine and perennial malaria chemoprevention.
Additional information
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at jobs@givewell.org.
As part of our dedication to the diversity of our staff, GiveWell is committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and to making employment decisions based on merit and value. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing Equal Employment Opportunities, as well as all laws related to terms and conditions of employment. We desire to maintain a work environment free of harassment or discrimination due to sex, race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, citizenship, physical or mental disability, marital status, familial status, ethnicity, ancestry, status as a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, age, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.
We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Note: Confidence can sometimes hold you back from applying for a job, so we want to assure you that there's no such thing as a "perfect" candidate. We’re looking for exceptional people who are deeply motivated by maximizing global well-being. Regardless of your identity and background, we hope you’ll apply if this role would make you excited to come to work every day.