Senior Development Officer, Major Gifts
About The Position
The Division of University Advancement (DUA) at the University of Toronto aims to sustain and enhance the University’s academic mission, leadership, and worldwide impact by engaging alumni and private sector constituents. Through the current ‘Defy Gravity’ campaign, the team supports U of T’s commitment to inclusive excellence and helps bring together diverse minds to create a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world. The DUA focuses on growing fundraising efforts, increasing alumni engagement, integrating Alumni Relations and Development, and fostering diversity and inclusiveness. The Major Gifts team specifically drives fundraising success at the $50K-$5M+ level for university programs and priorities, supporting partner divisions and special initiatives, with a focus on regional fundraising in North America and Europe. This role requires a collaborative approach within a complex fundraising environment. The Senior Development Officer, Major Gifts will build and manage a portfolio of prospects, developing strategies to engage individuals capable of making significant gifts ($50K+). This includes creating customized campaign strategies, individualized approaches to donors, managing projects with volunteers or divisional staff, and ensuring proper post-gift stewardship. The successful candidate will be a seasoned frontline fundraiser, organized, and capable of managing prospect management and projects under pressure. This collaborative role involves building partnerships with colleagues, faculty, administrative leaders, staff, volunteers, and external constituencies.
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree or acceptable combination of equivalent experience.
- Minimum five years' experience with a proven track record of success or equivalent professional experience in outside sales.
- Experience developing and managing prospect relationships across the full donor cycle, from identification through stewardship.
- Experience managing a caseload of active gift prospects and implementing strategies for solicitation of these prospects.
- Demonstrated experience in consistently meeting deadlines/deliverables and standards for quality work.
- Entrepreneurial approach to problem solving and demonstrated success in exceeding goals and expectations.
- Ability to initiate, cultivate, and strengthen relationships with prospects.
- Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with a diverse student body, faculty, staff, volunteers, alumni and high-level donors to build relationships.
- Ability to persuasively communicate a compelling case for philanthropic support.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex concepts and inspire stakeholder confidence.
- A demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, volunteers and key stakeholders.
Nice To Haves
- Achievement oriented
- Articulate
- Entrepreneurial
- Goal oriented
- Persuasive
- Thoughtful
Responsibilities
- Cultivating and soliciting current and prospective major gift donors through tailored stewardship programs
- Assessing needs and contributing to the development and implementation of plans for prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation and recognition
- Developing tailored fundraising initiatives that support strategic initiatives
- Identifying, evaluating and recommending the necessary steps to bring the prospect closer to making a major financial commitment to the University
- Developing and implementing plans to support donor management and stewardship strategies and/or activities
- Writing briefing notes, solicitation plans and call reports to track donor interaction
- Writing project-specific proposals related to fundraising campaigns
Benefits
- Annual step progression salary
- Health insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
