About the Opportunity
Job SummaryThe Director of Major Gifts, Khoury College, is the content specialist responsible for building and executing Khoury College’s fundraising strategy. Reporting to the Executive Director, Interdisciplinary Advancement, this role works with faculty at the College and Advancement staff across the university to discover, identify, and build relationships with prospective donors, developing strategies for their cultivation and soliciting gifts. The Director plans, organizes, and carries out Khoury’s major gifts fundraising program for alumni, parents, and friends of the College; manages a portfolio of 120+ prospective donors; and solicits gifts in the $100K–$1M+ range. The position identifies key regions nationally for cultivating and soliciting donors and collaborates with Advancement colleagues across multiple functions. This position is Boston-based and is not available for remote work.
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
Major Gifts Fundraising Leadership
- Lead the major gifts fundraising effort and serve as the college’s content expert for Advancement
- Cultivate, solicit, and build relationships with alumni, parents, and friends
- Strategize with faculty and colleagues on next steps for prospects across the college and disciplines
- Solicit gifts in the $100K–$1M+ range
- Advise faculty, fundraising colleagues, and administrators on alumni and parent areas of interest
- Partner with Advancement teams, including corporate and foundation relations, leadership giving, international and regional giving, gift planning, and family philanthropy, to develop interdisciplinary donor strategies
- Travel as needed to build relationships with volunteers, prospects, and donors
Prospect Portfolio and Pipeline Management
- Discover new prospects and build a pipeline to support major gift fundraising
- Develop and manage a portfolio of approximately 120+ prospects
- Establish region-based plans for cultivating and soliciting alumni and parents in targeted areas nationally
- Engage faculty strategically with prospects and maintain ongoing correspondence
- Keep leadership and stakeholders informed of funding opportunities and trends
- Travel to strategically identified regions to support prospect identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship
- Achieve annual fundraising and activity metrics set by the Executive Director
Prospect Portfolio Maintenance and Reporting
- Maintain a high-quality development process for active alumni, parent, and friend prospects and donors
- Create call reports and maintain database records using Development Office systems (Ascend)
- Ensure data integrity of the prospect portfolio
- Prepare monthly prospect progress reports for the Executive Director
- Partner with the Stewardship team to ensure donors are appropriately recognized and supported
Minimum Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree
- 6–8 years of professional experience, including at least 5 years of demonstrated success in soliciting and closing six- and seven-figure gifts in support of a nonprofit institution
- Demonstrated experience cultivating and soliciting alumni, parents, and friends, and maintaining positive donor relationships
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a university Advancement team
- Data- and metric-driven mindset
- Appreciation and understanding of the mission of Northeastern University
- Ability to travel overnight and work evenings and weekends as needed
Preferred
- Familiarity with the technology industry
- STEM or computer science-related educational background
Required Documents
- Resume
Position Type
AdvancementAdditional Information
Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.
Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Compensation Grade/Pay Type:
113SExpected Hiring Range:
$113,865.00 - $165,105.00With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- 6-8 years of professional experience
- At least 5 years demonstrated success soliciting and closing six- and seven-figure gifts
- Experience cultivating and soliciting alumni, parents, and friends and maintaining donor relationships
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a university Advancement team
- Data- and metric-driven mindset
- Ability to travel overnight and work evenings and weekends as needed
- Appreciation and understanding of the mission of Northeastern University
- Familiarity with the technology industry
- STEM or computer science-related educational background
Northeastern University Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Northeastern University and has not been reviewed or approved by Northeastern University.
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off is described as extensive, including 22–26 vacation days, 12 sick days, 13 holidays, and paid parental leave for birth/adoption. Additional paid leave is also outlined, including up to 26 weeks of paid medical leave and up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for eligible employees.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement support is positioned as a standout, with an employer contribution described as 10% when an employee contributes 5%, alongside immediate vesting once eligible. This is presented as unusually generous relative to typical employer retirement offerings.
-
Parental & Family Support — Family-oriented benefits are emphasized through tuition assistance for employees and dependents and access to backup childcare and family-care resources. Tuition remission/discount structures are highlighted as a major value driver, especially for employees with children and for long-tenured staff.
Northeastern University Insights
What We Do
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university with a distinctive, experience-driven approach to education and discovery. The university is a leader in experiential learning, powered by the world’s most far-reaching cooperative education program. We integrate classroom study with opportunities for professional work, research, service, and global learning in more than 100 countries. The same spirit of collaboration guides a use-inspired research enterprise focused on solving global challenges in health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern offers a comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools, and select graduate programs at campuses in Boston, Charlotte, N.C., San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Toronto. Campuses in Burlington, MA, and Nahant, MA, are home to research institutes for homeland security and coastal sustainability, respectively
