Major Gifts Officer

REPORTS TO: Director, Development

REMOTE WORK ELIGIBILITY: Full

Under the guidance of the Director, Development, the Major Gifts Officer will identify, cultivate, successfully solicit, and steward individuals, corporations, and family foundations capable of making gifts of $25,000 or more for endowment, operations, sponsorships, matching gifts, planned giving or other museum priorities (restricted or unrestricted).

• Serve as the primary relationship manager for the assigned portfolio of prospects, developing and implementing written donor and solicitation strategies that align with museum priorities and relationship records.
• Solicit gifts from individuals, corporations, and family foundations including the management of the cultivation and solicitation of 100 donors and donor prospects assigned to meet or exceed the minimum goal of $750,000 in cash each fiscal year.
• Support the fundraising efforts of the Director, Development and Chief Development Officer.
• Independently secure project or organizational information to develop cultivation strategies, special correspondence, and solicitation or proposal documents for prospective donors (individuals, corporations, or foundations).
• Prepare proposals and solicitation packages, including coordinating research reports (narrative or financial), gift agreements, presentations on naming opportunities, or other materials as needed.
• Ensure that appropriate recognition, fulfillment and stewardship obligations and expectations are met for gifts negotiated or solicited.
• Maintain contact data for donors and prospects in your portfolio in the donor management software.
• Provide strategic input towards development of long-term comprehensive fundraising plans for the museum.
• Complete team-driven metrics with current and prospective donors to sustain and nurture relationships as determined in regular consultation with the Director of Development.
• Act as a development liaison to museum auxiliary as assigned.
• Apply DIA values to interactions to support a culture of belonging among internal and external stakeholders.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree in related field required. Six (6) years of fundraising experience required. Experience in planned giving and major gifts is preferred. Additional years of experience may be substituted for degree requirement.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Ability to communicate with and manage relationships with external stakeholders. 

• Demonstrated ability to share complex information, ideas, and instructions clearly, effectively, and professionally to diverse audiences through talking or writing. 

• Demonstrated experience cultivating and stewarding donor relationships to build a culture of giving and securing gifts.   

• Demonstrated experience soliciting and securing high five and six-figure gifts. 

• Demonstrated organizational skills to plan, manage, prioritize, and complete multiple on-going projects to meet deadlines and goals. 

• Demonstrated history of relating and building meaningful relationships within a diverse population of current, potential donors, board members, and volunteers. 

• Sensitivity to donor relations management. 

• Experience with donor management software, Raiser’s Edge preferred. 

• Have a keen ability to sense a donor's mindset and level of comfort when discussing a potential gift. 

• Ability to travel regionally as needed.
• Ability to work occasional weekend and evening hours for special events. 

• Must be proficient in the latest version of Office 365.  

• Must have proficiency in using remote work technology such as scheduling with, connecting to, and using digital collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams.  

• Must be able to establish and maintain professional, productive, and courteous interactions that promote positive teamwork. This encompasses going beyond giving and receiving instructions and includes but is not limited to (a) performing work activities requiring interacting or speaking with others; and (b) responding appropriately to constructive feedback or suggestions for improvement from a supervisor. 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Upon receiving notice, reasonable accommodations may be made, if possible, to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to communicate and exchange accurate information using various methods including in-person, telephone, and email.