Senior Director of Major Gifts and Legacy Giving

Bronson Healthcare

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director of Major Gifts & Legacy Giving is a senior fundraising executive responsible for leading Bronson Health Foundation’s major gifts, planned giving, legacy giving, and grateful patient philanthropy programs. This role provides strategic leadership, operational oversight, and frontline fundraising expertise designed to significantly expand philanthropic revenue, strengthen donor relationships, and build sustainable long-term fundraising pipelines across the health system. Reporting directly to the Vice President & Chief Development Officer, the Senior Director serves as a key member of the Foundation’s senior leadership team and plays a central role in advancing campaign readiness and organizational fundraising capacity. This position is responsible for developing and executing integrated strategies that align major gifts, legacy giving, and grateful patient engagement to support the Foundation’s growth objectives and long-term mission impact. A critical expectation of this role is to substantially increase major gift production and pipeline development, growing annual major gift activity from approximately 50 gifts annually to 150 gifts annually within two years while increasing overall philanthropic revenue and strengthening readiness for the silent phase of a future comprehensive campaign. The Senior Director balances strategic leadership and team development with active management of a personal portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects, serving as a model for relationship-based fundraising excellence and disciplined donor engagement practices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
Minimum of 15 years of progressive fundraising, advancement, or philanthropic leadership experience with significant expertise in major gifts fundraising.
Proven success managing high-capacity donor portfolios and securing transformational philanthropic commitments.
Demonstrated experience leading, developing, and mentoring frontline fundraising teams.
Strong understanding of planned giving principles, legacy engagement strategies, and donor-centered fundraising practices.
Exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, communication, and relationship-building skills.
Ability to collaborate effectively with executives, physicians, board members, and cross-functional stakeholders in a complex organizational environment.

Nice To Haves

Healthcare philanthropy or large, mission-driven institutional fundraising environment.
Experience supporting comprehensive campaign planning and silent phase campaign readiness.
Experience integrating grateful patient fundraising with major gifts and planned giving strategies.
Familiarity with fundraising analytics, pipeline management, and donor engagement systems.

Responsibilities

Lead the strategic direction and execution of major gifts, planned giving (legacy giving), and grateful patient fundraising initiatives.
Partner closely with the Vice President & Chief Development Officer to align fundraising priorities with organizational strategy, campaign objectives, and institutional growth initiatives.
Develop integrated donor engagement strategies that move prospects through cultivation toward major, blended, and legacy gift commitments.
Identify opportunities to strengthen philanthropic engagement across clinical programs, service lines, and strategic initiatives.
Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a team of major gift officers and planned giving professionals.
Establish clear performance expectations, portfolio management standards, accountability measures, and fundraising metrics.
Foster a culture of disciplined relationship management, collaboration, donor-centered engagement, and measurable results.
Support professional development and fundraising excellence across the team.
Maintain and actively manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors.
Lead cultivation, solicitation, negotiation, and stewardship strategies for significant philanthropic commitments.
Secure six- and seven-figure gifts in collaboration with executives, physicians, clinical leaders, and board members.
Develop personalized engagement strategies that strengthen long-term donor relationships and philanthropic investment.
Expand and strengthen a comprehensive planned giving and legacy philanthropy program aligned with long-term institutional goals.
Integrate legacy giving conversations and deferred gift opportunities into major donor strategies.
Collaborate with professional advisors and internal stakeholders to advance blended and deferred gift opportunities.
Promote long-term donor stewardship and legacy society engagement strategies.
Lead the development and growth of a systemwide grateful patient fundraising program in partnership with clinical leadership, physicians, and compliance stakeholders.
Establish processes for donor identification, referrals, engagement, stewardship, and physician partnership.
Ensure grateful patient fundraising practices reflect best practices, regulatory requirements, and exceptional donor sensitivity.
Partner with executives, physicians, board members, and senior leaders to support donor strategy development and philanthropic engagement.
Prepare leadership for donor meetings, cultivation activities, and solicitation opportunities through strategic briefings and coordinated engagement plans.
Serve as a trusted advisor on complex donor relationships, philanthropic strategy, and fundraising opportunities.
Utilize fundraising data, analytics, and pipeline metrics to drive forecasting, donor movement, and strategic decision-making.
Ensure accurate CRM documentation, reporting, and compliance practices.
Monitor and report progress related to revenue performance, pipeline development, donor engagement, and campaign readiness.
Support long-term campaign planning and infrastructure development.