Donor Engagement Officer

Currently in its largest comprehensive campaign to date, designed to transform its Brown Campus, St. John’s is seeking a seasoned, highly collaborative fundraiser to join the major gifts team. Reporting to the Director of Advancement, the new Officer will be responsible for a rolling portfolio of approximately 80 prospects and donors with a focus on prospect qualification, endowment giving, and planned giving.

The ideal candidate will be an exceptional relationship builder with excellent communication skills who understands and embraces St. John’s mission. They will work to establish a culture of teamwork, trust, collegiality, and accountability within the Advancement team.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university
• Demonstrated success in fundraising as an employee for a not-for-profit institution, with preference given to experience in educational or healthcare-related fields
• Planned giving experience
• Must be proactive and able to work independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to effectively and efficiently organize and prioritize workload to meet constantly changing demands
• Must demonstrate keen attention to detail and strong organizational skills
• Must demonstrate leadership qualities and be a team player
• Willingness and ability to learn to use the CRM tool and other aspects of the database as needed

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Familiarize oneself with the history and culture of St. John’s School and its fundraising priorities
• Manage a personal major gifts portfolio of approximately 80 prospective campaign donors as assigned 
• Candidate accountable for determining target ask amounts for individual prospects based on engagement, capacity, and giving history
• Work with the major gifts team to identify and compile a portfolio of endowment and planned giving prospects
• Oversee and participate in stewardship efforts of existing endowment donors and members of the School’s planned giving society
• Work with the Advancement Associate to plan the annual endowment breakfast
• Attend weekly campaign strategy meetings with the major gifts team
• Attend Campaign Cabinet meetings and liaise with volunteers to coordinate solicitation strategies
• Complete timely call reports for qualified donor visits
• Attend key donor/prospect stewardship events throughout the year
• Identify opportunities to highlight and steward major donors throughout

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; ability to communicate with advancement staff, faculty, administrators, and donors; ability to present complex information clearly and compellingly in writing and in person; ability to document meetings, write briefings, proposals, and stewardship reports.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:

• Ability to work with mathematical concepts, make statistical inferences, and review data for trend analysis.
• Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

REASONING ABILITY:

• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.