Executive Director of Development, Principal Gifts - Search Firm

California State University System • Long Beach, CA

39d

About The Position

The Executive Director of Principal Gifts plays a key leadership role in driving the university's principal gifts strategy, with a primary focus on securing philanthropic commitments of $1 million or more. This position personally manages a portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects, leading efforts in the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of transformational gifts that advance the university's mission and strategic priorities. In partnership with senior university leadership, development colleagues, faculty, and staff, the role also works to build and manage a robust pipeline of principal gift prospects while aligning donor interests with institutional priorities to maximize philanthropic support and long-term impact.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and 5 years of demonstrated successful major gift fundraising experience including donor identification, cultivation, and solicitation required.
• Ability to communicate with an ethnically and culturally diverse campus community.
• Ability to follow all university policies, procedures, and guidelines including but not limited to safety, civility, information security, and non-discrimination policies and procedures.
• Ability to contribute to a positive university experience for each and every student and assist in achieving the university's commitment to a "vision of excellence."
• Valid California driver's license required.
• Employees who are required to operate motorized vehicles and/or use their personal vehicle more than once a month on university business are required to take a mandatory Defensive Driving course and enroll in the DMV Employee Pull Notice (EPN) Program.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in higher education preferred.
• The ideal candidate possesses a strong understanding of the solicitation process and best practices within a higher education advancement setting. They are skilled in identifying and cultivating a pipeline of prospective donors, aligning philanthropic priorities with university initiatives, and crafting tailored engagement strategies. With excellent planning, organizational, and problem-solving abilities, they communicate effectively both verbally and in writing. This individual demonstrates proven leadership in supervising staff, managing projects, and fostering collaboration. They work independently with minimal oversight, showing initiative and self-direction in coordinating and completing tasks efficiently.

Responsibilities

• Identify, cultivate, and solicit philanthropic gifts of $1,000,000 and greater from individuals, corporations, and foundations to support students, faculty, programs, and departments within the university.
• Manage a personal portfolio of principal gift prospects, ensuring active cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies tailored to high-capacity donors.
• Provide direction to the units' assigned Development staff.
• Collaborate with URD leadership (VP and AVP of Development), deans, and university administrators to identify institutional philanthropic priorities and develop successful strategies to secure transformational gifts.
• Prepare high-level proposals, gift agreements, stewardship plans, and related materials to support cultivation and solicitation efforts.

Benefits

• This is a management level position with an attractive benefits package, which includes a vacation accrual rate of 16 hours per month, and excellent choice of medical, dental, and vision insurance, long term disability coverage, life insurance, educational fee waiver, and retirement benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Industry: Educational Services
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees