Assistant Director, Major Gifts

Northeastern University•Boston, MA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Northeastern seeks an experienced and entrepreneurial Assistant Director, Major Gifts to advance the individual giving program at the College of Science (COS). This role involves identifying and building relationships with alumni, parents, and friends, developing cultivation strategies, and soliciting gifts at the leadership and major gift levels. The Assistant Director will also collaborate with Annual Giving to support the COS Dean’s Fund and other programs.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required.
3-5 years of progressive development experience.
Proven track record of successfully closing leadership gifts and multi-year pledges, preferably in higher education.
Highly strategic, entrepreneurial, and collaborative approach.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Strong interpersonal skills necessary for building relationships with various university constituents, both internal and external.
Ability to travel, including occasional nights and weekends.
Respect for the work of colleagues and focus on achieving shared goals in a collaborative manner.

Nice To Haves

Those with a similar record of professional service and who exhibit the knowledge of and skills for professional development work will receive careful consideration.

Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of approximately 125 major and leadership gift prospects.
Build relationships with prospects and move them through the donor engagement process.
Create and execute personalized cultivation strategies and solicitation plans.
Identify new prospects through discovery work.
Secure a minimum of 120 face-to-face prospect meetings annually (in-person or virtual).
Travel as needed to qualify new prospects and build relationships.
Actively solicit gifts at the $10K to $100K+ gift level.
Utilize Salesforce to log activity, create call reports, and maintain data integrity.
Develop compelling cases for support and written proposals for solicitations.
Work with Donor Relations to properly steward donors.
Manage internal programs, such as Giving Day, to help maximize fundraising.
Collaborate with COS marketing team to engage alumni and parent communities.
Integrate leadership gift and annual fund solicitation.
Collaborate with peers across the university to develop relationships.
Leverage planned events as a means of engaging prospects.
Test/launch affinity programs and special fundraising initiatives.
Collaborate on other projects as assigned.