Director of Major Gifts

Job Title: Director of Major Gifts

Department: Institutional Advancement

Reports To: Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Status: Full-Time

Job Summary

The Director of Major Gifts plays a crucial role in building relationships on behalf of Lane College, identifying the philanthropic priorities of individual donors, and aligning them with the College’s needs to increase current use, endowed, and planned gifts. This role involves frequent contact with major donors/prospects and occasional contact with members of the Board.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and implement major gift programs and strategies to ensure fulfillment of funding goals, including building and maintaining a major gift portfolio.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward high net worth donors and planned giving prospects for major gifts (25K and above).
• Plans strategies from cultivation activity to gift closure and implements that strategy in coordination with appropriate persons, reports progress toward achievement.
• Solicit gifts ranging from major commitments to the Annual Fund, to specially targeted endowment gifts, to bequests and deferred gifts.
• Provide stewardship over existing and future individual major gifts and planned giving donors.
• Maintains current knowledge of funding needs within the scope of responsibility; identifies prospective donors for those needs.
• Utilize Raiser’s Edge to track and manage donor/prospect portfolio and monitor individual results toward fundraising goal; adhere to timely reporting of results to ensure accuracy of the fundraising pipeline and year-end projection forecasts.
• Assist with the strategic planning and preparation of funding proposals, fundraising materials, and other presentations.
• Coordinate campaign activities in support of campus leadership.
• Develop donor communication tools for cultivation, recognition, stewardship, and solicitation.
• Articulate funding priorities during speaking engagements before larger audiences.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required, Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum of five years of relevant fundraising experience with a proven track record of securing six- and seven-figure gifts.
• Excellent communication skills, highly motivated, organized, sound judgment, and integrity.
• Experience in public speaking and program presentations.
• A working knowledge of NXT and Raiser’s Edge or another fundraising database.
• Experience in college or university major gift fundraising highly desirable
• Familiarity with major gifts and planned giving best practices, including an understanding of basic financial planning and tax implications for philanthropy.
• Ability and willingness to work outside of standard business hours, including some weekends and evenings, and to travel on occasion.