Major Gift Officer - Hybrid

The Major Gift Officer will manage a portfolio of donors and prospects rated $250,000 to $1,000,000 or more, including alumnae, parents, and friends of the College. The Major Gift Officer will be responsible for developing personalized strategies for engagement and solicitation that maximize each individual’s philanthropic capacity and support for the College’s funding priorities, as well as broad-based engagement, qualification, and cultivation strategies for pool segments as a whole. The Major Gift Officer will collaborate across the department to move prospects and donors through the pipeline and solicit gifts, working closely with frontline colleagues in The Wellesley Fund, Gift Planning, and the Principal Gifts team. In addition to managing an assigned portfolio of prospects, the Major Gift Officer will be responsible for a special assignment to a particular Friends, affinity group, or strategic priority, serving as the captain, both building support for and serving as liaison with campus partners and bringing back to the Department information and updates.

Primary Position Responsibilities

• Cultivate and solicit Wellesley alumnae, parents, and friends with the capacity to make gifts of $250,000 or more to support College priorities, employing appropriate strategies and tactics in prospect and portfolio management that meet donor interaction and dollar goals including traveling to meet with prospects and donors.

• Collaborate with other frontline colleagues in the department to identify prospects for the principal gifts team, The Wellesley Fund, and Gift Planning, as well as those who might be principal gift prospects.

• Create and execute strategies and plans for an assigned portfolio of alumnae, parents, and friends of the College, traveling nationally and internationally across multiple geographic regions.

• Participate in events on campus, as well as other national and international events as scheduled throughout the year at which alumnae, parents, and friends are present, such as Family & Friends Weekend, Commencement, and Reunion.

• Work with Donor Relations and Development Marketing to identify and create cultivation and stewardship collateral as needed.

Basic Qualifications

• 5-7 years of front-line fundraising or comparable experience, including conducting solicitations and closing gifts, as well as having familiarity with reunion giving and/or alumni/ae development experience, preferably in an academic setting

• Experience developing, closing, and stewarding prospects rated $250,000 or more and donors making gifts of 6 figures or more

• Experience working with a wide-spectrum of volunteers and donors in an outward facing capacity

Skills and Abilities

• A commitment to the mission of Wellesley College—to provide an excellent liberal arts education to women who will make a difference in the world—and a desire to embrace Wellesley’s distinct traditions, values, and vision

• Experience developing, closing, and stewarding prospects of high-net-worth

• Experience working with a wide spectrum of volunteers and donors in an outward facing capacity

• Excellent project management skills

• An ability to complete complex tasks and multiple projects simultaneously, working both independently and as a member of a team

• Superior written and oral communication skills, including presentation skills appropriate for engaging prospects and members of the campus community

• Strategic thinking and analytical skills, including an ability to draw informed conclusions from data

• An ability to adapt to changing circumstances

• Comfort with ambiguity and an ability to pivot

• An innovative and creative temperament

• Excellent interpersonal skills, an ability to work collaboratively, and an orientation toward customer service

• A commitment to confidentiality, professionalism, and discretion

• The comfort with technology needed to communicate and share information confidently, as well as experience with a prospect database

Flexibility & Schedule We value a collaborative hybrid environment. You will join us on campus on Mondays and Wednesdays, plus a third day of the week that works best for your schedule. While standard hours are 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM Monday through Friday, this role is critical to our donor relations, so some flexibility for evening and weekend events will be necessary.