Leadership Gift Officer

Bennington College•Bennington, VT

4d•Remote

About The Position

Bennington College is seeking a Leadership Gift Officer for its Institutional Advancement team. The officer expands philanthropic support from alumni, parents, and friends across the western United States by qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding constituents. Reporting to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement, the officer manages a portfolio of approximately 125–150 prospects and donors, focusing on annual leadership gifts of $10,000–$100,000 and multi-year pledges as appropriate. This is a remote position for someone residing in the West Coast, Mountain West, or Pacific Northwest. The role involves frequent in-person travel throughout the region, with particular focus on the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the Pacific Northwest. It also requires periodic travel, including overnight stays, to Bennington, Vermont, and other destinations, and occasional evening and weekend work. The Leadership Gift Officer develops donor strategies, builds relationships, conducts solicitations, maintains portfolio and constituent records, and works with colleagues across Institutional Advancement and the College to meet fundraising goals and strengthen donor engagement. Employees are expected to work respectfully and effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, supporting a community that promotes student and employee success. The annual salary starts at $82,000. Employment offers are contingent on successful completion and acceptable results of a background check.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in frontline fundraising, sales, account management, relationship management, business development, or a related field.
Valid/current driver’s license and ability to travel independently.
Ability to establish and sustain meaningful relationships with a wide range of individuals.
Comfort and effectiveness initiating conversations about philanthropy and making direct person-to-person solicitations.
Strong organizational and portfolio-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple relationships, priorities, and deadlines independently.
Ability to set priorities, take initiative, follow through consistently, and work toward measurable goals.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
Strong listening skills and ability to understand constituent interests and translate them into meaningful engagement and philanthropic opportunities.
Experience using CRM or donor-management databases.
Comfort using data, research, and technology to inform portfolio strategy and fundraising activity.
Ability to work independently in a remote environment and collaboratively as part of a distributed team.
Ability to interact professionally with donors and colleagues and exercise sound judgment and discretion when handling confidential information.
Ability to work respectfully and effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Willingness and ability to travel regularly throughout the Western United States and periodically to Bennington, Vermont, and other locations as needed.

Nice To Haves

Experience in higher education advancement or nonprofit fundraising.
Familiarity with fundraising and moves-management systems.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement individualized qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for assigned constituents.
Personally solicit leadership annual gifts, focusing on renewing and increasing gifts in the $10,000–$100,000 range and securing multi-year commitments when appropriate.
Conduct approximately 8–12 meaningful in-person or virtual donor and prospect visits each month.
Build a consistent pipeline of prospective donors through qualification, discovery, engagement, and solicitation.
Identify individuals with major and planned gift potential and partner with senior development colleagues on next-step strategies and transitions.
Meet or exceed annual goals for fundraising revenue, donor visits, qualifications, solicitations, renewals, upgrades, and other key performance indicators.
Use prospect research, data analysis, and portfolio-management tools to evaluate, prioritize, and manage assigned relationships.
Maintain accurate and timely records of donor interactions, strategies, proposals, contact reports, demographic updates, and moves-management activity in the College’s constituent database.
Build sustained relationships with alumni, parents, friends, trustees, and other constituents to deepen their connection to Bennington College and its priorities and impact.
Represent Bennington College in the Western United States.
Listen to donor interests and motivations and connect them with appropriate opportunities to support the College.
Develop knowledge of the College’s mission, academic programs, student experience, institutional priorities, and philanthropic opportunities to communicate its story effectively.
Prepare personalized donor correspondence, proposals, gift documentation, briefing materials, and other communications.
Steward donors in partnership with Donor Relations and other Institutional Advancement colleagues.
Identify opportunities to engage constituents through College events, regional gatherings, campus programs, volunteer opportunities, and other points of connection.
Work with Institutional Advancement leadership to support annual fundraising goals and the long-term development of leadership and major gift pipelines.
Collaborate across Major Gifts, Annual Giving, Alumni and Constituent Engagement, Donor Relations, Special Events, Advancement Services, and Institutional and Academic Grants on coordinated donor strategies.
Partner with College leadership, trustees, faculty, staff, and volunteers to advance constituent relationships and philanthropic opportunities.
Identify emerging donor interests, philanthropic trends, and engagement opportunities that may support institutional priorities.
Share donor insights with colleagues to support coordinated relationship management and a consistent constituent experience.
Contribute to a collaborative, flexible, and goal-oriented Advancement team culture.
Support planning and execution of targeted cultivation, stewardship, and engagement opportunities in the Western United States and other assigned areas.
Attend and staff select College and Advancement events involving donors, prospects, alumni, parents, and other constituents.
Represent Bennington College professionally at regional events and gatherings.