Senior Director - Major Gifts Family Philanthropy

Senior Director - Major Gifts Family Philanthropy

About the Opportunity

The Senior Director, Major Gifts for Family Philanthropy Program, reports to the Assistant Vice President of Development and partners with senior advancement leadership and program and college content experts to lead all fundraising efforts for current and past parents and families by mobilizing principal and major gift officers across the global university system. They will collaborate with and guide advancement colleagues to significantly increase major and principal gift commitments from families of both students and alumni. They will lead the growth and strategic direction of the Family Fellows program, a leadership giving society within the Family Philanthropy team.

Empowered by a data-driven mindset and sophisticated prospect management systems, the Senior Director will partner with college-based and program-specific gift officers as well as those charged with fundraising for the library and athletics to achieve ambitious fundraising goals. They will manage a team of five and will work closely with the Assistant Vice President and the Advancement Resources teams to develop strategies to identify new major and principal gift prospects, develop metrics for gift officers to achieve their fundraising goals and to significantly increase philanthropic revenue from parents and families of both current students and alumni. The Senior Director will oversee and provide strategic direction for volunteer engagement and donor recognition programs including the Family Fellows Program.

The Senior Director will manage a portfolio of 80 high net worth parents and family members and will actively solicit prospects at the $100K $5M gift level. They will meet or exceed a goal of 80 personal contacts (virtual and in-person visits) per year, utilizing virtual meeting technology and travel to visit identified parent prospects, and meet or exceed annual fundraising and strategic goals of the Family Philanthropy Program.

The Senior Director will build and enhance constituents’ relationships with Northeastern, involving them strategically in special programs and events, and connecting them to other university leaders and supporters. They will use database donor software (Ascend) to track action on each prospect in a timely, accurate, and complete fashion while maintaining appropriate records, reports, and analyses as required. They will oversee the design and production of regularly produced reports on progress toward annual goals for use by Senior Team members.

Key Responsibilities

Manage and lead a forward facing family philanthropy program to facilitate and increase parent and family engagement by way of principal and major gift activity.

Establish annual fundraising goals for Family Philanthropy Program, as well as individual metrics and goals for fundraisers on the Family Philanthropy team.

Identify, qualify, and visit assigned pool of approximately 80 parents and families to assess their interest in the university and their capacity to make gifts. Develop and manage relationships with these individuals.

Discover, cultivate, and solicit parent and family prospects. Utilize in-person and virtual meeting technologies and travel as needed to qualify new parent prospects and to build relationships with existing parent prospects and donors. Actively solicit at $100k-$5M gift level.

Utilize Advancement data management system (Ascend) to log activity, create call reports and progress reports, and maintain data integrity of parent prospect portfolio.

Meet / exceed standard performance expectations (i.e. 80 personal contacts per year) as defined by supervisor.

Collaborate with and guide college and program-based colleagues to significantly increase major and principal gift commitments from families of both students and alumni.

Oversee and provide strategic direction for parent engagement and stewardship programs

Family Fellows Program

Oversee the development and growth of the Family Fellows program : building out a variety of engagement opportunities and ways to increase the visibility of the program to encourage participation from parents. Help with the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of major gifts-rated, non-alumni parents and families who have capacity to give $100K . Work with the college and program content experts as well as family philanthropy team members to be on the forefront of introducing philanthropy to these prospects at Northeastern. Set and meet or exceed fundraising and donor acquisition goals. Oversee annual stewardship program.

Stay informed with all programming that supports and promotes giving among parents and families including special events, lectures, meetings, etc. Work with Advancement staff, particularly with the departments of Donor Relations, Communications, and Events, to execute these initiatives.

Management

Participate in the hiring, orientation, and training of direct reports. Provide guidance, feedback, coaching, and mentorship to direct reports and lead by professional example to promote their professional and personal development.

A focus of this role includes daily management and professional development of the team members who report directly to this position, including annual goal setting and performance evaluation.

Provide indirect management to additional team members as applicable.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s Degree preferred
• The university is seeking a highly entrepreneurial, energetic, and collaborative individual who has 7-9 years of progressive Development experience, preferably in higher education
• Three- to five-years supervisory / management experience required
• Proven track record in soliciting and closing major and principal gifts
• Demonstrated ability to strategically lead a comprehensive program and hold fundraisers accountable for meeting ambitious fundraising goals.
• Data- and metric-driven mindset.
• Experience building out or working closely with a giving society program
• Tested ability to work closely with all constituencies
• Strong interpersonal skills necessary for building relationships with external (donors, prospects, trustees) and internal (deans, faculty, staff, colleagues) constituents
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to travel as needed to fulfill the requirements of this role.
• Must possess high degree of independent initiative and innovation, negotiation, interpersonal and networking skills, and ability to build trust with keen communication skills.

Position Type

Advancement

Additional 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.

About Us

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experiential lifelong learning. Our approach of integrating real-world experience with education, research, and innovation empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create worldwide impact.

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Salary : $100,000