Director of Major Gifts and Governance

William James College • Newton, MA

9d

About The Position

William James College is seeking an accomplished, entrepreneurial fundraising professional to serve as Director of Major Gifts and Governance. Reporting to the Vice President of Advancement, the Director will serve as a close strategic partner to the Vice President and College President, playing a leadership role in growing the College’s major gifts program, advancing key philanthropic priorities, and strengthening engagement with the Board of Trustees and other volunteer leaders. The Director joins WJC at an important moment of philanthropic opportunity as the College embarks on a major campaign and works toward growing annual philanthropic support from approximately $3 million to $5 million over the next two years. The Director will help drive this growth by building campaign momentum, expanding the major gifts pipeline, engaging trustees and other volunteer leaders, and developing new opportunities for philanthropic investment in the College. The Director will manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors and develop and execute individualized strategies for identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Working closely with the President, Vice President of Advancement, trustees, senior leaders, faculty, and other institutional partners, the Director will translate the College’s priorities into compelling philanthropic opportunities and build relationships that result in significant philanthropic commitments, including major, multi-year, campaign, and planned gifts. The Director will also serve as a key Advancement partner in the College’s governance work, supporting meaningful trustee engagement, strengthening connections between Board members and institutional priorities, and identifying opportunities for trustees to serve as philanthropic leaders, ambassadors, connectors, and advocates for WJC. This role requires more than strong portfolio management. As a senior member of a four-person Advancement team, the Director will work collaboratively across functions while maintaining clear ownership of major gifts and governance. WJC is seeking a fundraiser who is energized by building: someone who creates opportunities, develops relationships, generates momentum, and moves ideas from strategy to action. The successful candidate will be a driver who is creative, resourceful, persistent, and nimble, with the judgment to recognize opportunities and the initiative to pursue them.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree preferred.
• Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience in development and fundraising, including significant experience in major gifts and a demonstrated ability to expand donor networks, develop new philanthropic relationships, strengthen prospect pipelines, and grow fundraising programs.
• Proven track record of personally cultivating, soliciting, and securing significant major gifts and developing successful strategies for prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Demonstrated success in an entrepreneurial or growth-oriented fundraising environment, with the ability to take initiative, create opportunities, build momentum, and move ideas and relationships from concept to execution.
• Experience with a comprehensive, capital, or major fundraising campaign strongly preferred, including experience working with campaign leaders and volunteers.
• Demonstrated experience working effectively with boards, trustees, senior institutional leaders, and high-level volunteers, with an understanding of governance, volunteer engagement, and the role trustees can play in advancing institutional and philanthropic priorities.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the judgment, professionalism, and discretion necessary to build trusted relationships with donors, trustees, senior leaders, faculty, volunteers, and other key constituents.
• Strategic, creative, nimble, and highly proactive, with demonstrated ability to identify opportunities, solve problems, manage multiple priorities, and drive work forward with consistent follow-through.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex institutional priorities into clear and compelling cases for philanthropic support.
• Ability to work collaboratively across an organization, engage colleagues as partners in fundraising, and build productive relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage a significant portfolio of relationships and priorities simultaneously.
• Experience with donor databases and prospect management systems; Raiser’s Edge experience preferred.
• Knowledge of planned giving strategies and vehicles preferred.
• Ability to travel as needed and participate in occasional evening and weekend events and meetings.
• Valid driver’s license.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree preferred.
• Experience with a comprehensive, capital, or major fundraising campaign strongly preferred.
• Raiser’s Edge experience preferred.
• Knowledge of planned giving strategies and vehicles preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build and actively manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors, developing individualized strategies for identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Maintain an active schedule of meaningful donor and prospect engagement, with clear annual goals for visits, solicitations, proposals, philanthropic commitments, and dollars raised.
• Personally cultivate and solicit significant major, multi-year, campaign, and planned gifts in support of College priorities.
• Proactively identify and create new opportunities for donor engagement and philanthropic investment, looking beyond the existing portfolio to expand WJC’s network and pipeline of prospective supporters.
• Partner closely with the College President and Vice President of Advancement on the strategy, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of the College’s highest-level donors and prospects.
• Drive major gift activity from strategy through execution, maintaining momentum and consistently advancing relationships toward meaningful philanthropic commitments.
• Develop compelling proposals, briefings, talking points, and other materials that connect donor interests with institutional priorities and make a persuasive case for philanthropic support.
• Strengthen the major gifts pipeline through thoughtful prospect identification and qualification and the strategic movement of donors toward deeper engagement and increased giving.
• Develop meaningful and individualized stewardship strategies for major donors, including opportunities to engage with College leadership, faculty, students, programs, and the impact of their philanthropy.
• Identify opportunities for planned giving and work with donors and their advisors, as appropriate, to develop philanthropic commitments that support both donor interests and the College’s long-term priorities.
• Serve as a key member of the Advancement team responsible for planning and executing the College’s major campaign.
• Help build and sustain campaign momentum by identifying and advancing leadership prospects, developing cultivation and solicitation strategies, and ensuring consistent follow-through on campaign opportunities.
• Partner with the College President, Vice President of Advancement, trustees, campaign leaders, and other volunteers to cultivate and solicit prospective campaign donors.
• Help engage and support campaign volunteers, providing them with the information, strategy, materials, and guidance necessary to be effective ambassadors and fundraising partners.
• Identify opportunities to broaden the College’s philanthropic network through campaign activity, events, introductions, and relationships with donors, alumni, friends, corporations, foundations, and community leaders.
• Contribute to campaign strategy, prospect review, goal setting, donor recognition, stewardship, and other activities necessary to achieve campaign objectives.
• Serve as a key Advancement liaison to the Board of Trustees and appropriate Board committees, working closely with the President, Vice President of Advancement, and College leadership.
• Build strong relationships with trustees and develop a deep understanding of their interests, networks, and potential roles in advancing the College.
• Support and strengthen trustee engagement in the philanthropic life of WJC, including personal giving, donor cultivation, introductions, solicitation, stewardship, campaign leadership, and participation in Advancement activities.
• Develop strategies that enable trustees to serve effectively as ambassadors and connectors for the College and help expand WJC’s network of philanthropic and community relationships.
• Support the identification, cultivation, recruitment, and engagement of prospective trustees and other volunteer leaders in partnership with College leadership.
• Prepare Board and committee materials, briefings, reports, presentations, and other communications related to Advancement and philanthropy.
• Help ensure strong coordination among governance activities, institutional priorities, campaign strategy, and the work of Advancement.
• Develop a deep understanding of WJC’s academic programs, community partnerships, strategic priorities, and funding needs and articulate a compelling case for philanthropic support.
• Build strong working relationships with faculty, program leaders, senior administrators, and other colleagues to identify philanthropic opportunities and bring promising ideas from concept to fundable opportunities.
• Bring an entrepreneurial approach to Advancement by identifying opportunities, testing new strategies, solving problems creatively, and adapting quickly as institutional and philanthropic opportunities emerge.
• Work collaboratively across the WJC team, including with colleagues responsible for grants, operations, donor relations, communications, and events, to ensure a coordinated approach to donors and institutional priorities.
• Participate in the strategy, development, and execution of donor cultivation, stewardship, campaign, and special events.
• Maintain accurate and timely prospect information, contact reports, strategies, and next steps in the College’s donor database and use data and prospect information to inform fundraising strategy.
• Contribute actively to Advancement planning, goal setting, prospect strategy, and departmental priorities as a senior member of the Advancement team.
• Take ownership of projects and opportunities, anticipate next steps, and drive work forward with a high degree of independence, accountability, and follow-through.
• Perform other duties as assigned that are consistent with the responsibilities and objectives of the position and the mission of the College.

Benefits

• Your work here may also qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program—helping you invest in your future while making a meaningful impact.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior