Assistant Director, Major Gifts Officer

Posted on 04/16/2021

Bridgewater State University

Bridgewater, MA

Position Summary:

The Office of Alumni & Development is dedicated to enriching and advancing the experience for all students and building a student-centered culture with a commitment to inclusion and innovation. We are committed to creating a community that fosters equity of experience and opportunity, and ensures that students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds feel safe, welcome, and included. When you join the team at Bridgewater State University, you can expect to be part of an inclusive, innovative, and equity-focused community that approaches higher education as a matter of social justice that requires broad collaboration among faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Major and Planned Giving, the incumbent of this position will work directly with a portfolio of selected donors and donor prospects to deepen and strengthen their philanthropic relationships with the University. The incumbent of this position will identify and qualify prospective major donors, involve them with the University through personalized cultivation, and develop and execute timely and appropriate gift proposals through face-to-face or virtual visits and other creative strategies. Responsibilities also include managing several strategic programs, such as reunion leadership giving, and outreach orchestrated with other campus colleagues, as a means to furthering relationships with donors and prospective donors.

This is an exempt, APA unit position and is subject to the terms of that union agreement.

Essential Duties:

  • Serve as a Major Gifts Officer for the University, with responsibility for a portfolio of approximately 100-150 donors and donor prospects with giving potential in the $10,000-$100,000+ gift range. Execute individualized cultivation/solicitation contacts with assigned prospect consistent with contact-goals set annually by the Executive Director for the BSU Foundation.
  • Implement the moves management system in qualifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding individual donors using a series of virtual and/or in-person visits, events and other engagement opportunities. Collaborate in divisional prospect management meetings and efforts to fully utilize moves management throughout all stages of the development cycle. Use a multicultural and inclusive approach to devise strategies and initiate activities to involve donors and prospects in meaningful ways in the life of the University.
  • Formulate and implement a comprehensive multicultural and inclusive reunion giving program to organize and coordinate fundraising efforts; sets participation and dollar goals, and works with Advancement Services to manage processes of screening and rating alumni. Provides ongoing support for chairs and committee members. Identifies, recruits, trains, briefs and motivates committee members.
  • Support the Associate Director of Major and Planned Giving to coordinate direct mail and e-mail; magazine and other university publications; planned giving web-pages. Work with the Associate Director of Major and Planned Giving to manage and grow the 1840 Society, the University’s stewardship program for planned giving donors.
  • Work with the Donor Relations Coordinator in expanding and executing an array of personalized stewardship programming that ensures the fulfillment of donor intention and highlights the impact of philanthropy on the educational opportunities and outcomes of individual recipients.
  • Work reciprocally with the Associate Director of Major and Planned Giving and Prospect Researcher to assume strategic relationship management responsibilities with assigned prospects. Advance proposal development and execution via regular prospect review meetings, consistent logging of relevant anecdotal and tactical information, and preparatory research in advance of all meetings.
  • Collaborate with interdivisional colleagues across campus to involve donors and prospects with the university. Serve as the divisional liaison to specific academic and student affairs units to further the goals of the Office of Alumni & Development in accordance with the University’s philanthropic priorities and strategic plan.
  • Develop a diverse volunteer resources in the major and planned gifts areas, working with select members of the BSU Foundation Board, various other alumni volunteer leaders and current major and planned gift donors.
  • Assist with a variety of the Office of Alumni & Development events and projects as assigned. Travel, primarily in New England but also nationally, is required, as well as the ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as needed.
  • Participate in University’s initiatives and programming around diversity, racial justice, equity and inclusion.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

We are looking for equity-minded applicants who demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds present in our community.

  • Bachelor’s degree required.
  • Three to five years of professional development experience, including experience working directly with major gift donors and personalized prospect management.
  • Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
  • Commitment to customer service excellence/support to enhance an environment of equity, diversity and inclusion.
  • Proven facility with computers in a Windows environment and with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge or an equivalent development-specific customer relationship management system a must. Proven baseline prospect research experience preferred.
  • Ability to communicate appropriately and professionally, both verbally and in writing, a diverse student body, faculty, staff, volunteers, alumni and high-level, including correspondence and proposal writing and public presentation.
  • Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with a diverse student body, faculty, staff, volunteers, alumni and high-level donors to build relationships.
  • Self-motivation and initiative; ability to carry through on projects with minimal supervision; willingness to work both independently and as part of a team.
  • Strong ethical and professional standards and the ability to motivate and inspire a commitment to the University’s mission in both staff and volunteers.

Preferred Qualifications:

Multi-year campaign fundraising and higher education experience preferred.

Work Environment:

  • Bridgewater State University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified applicants and employee with disabilities.
  • Office activities are performed in an environmentally controlled office setting subject to extended periods of sitting, keyboarding and interaction with computer equipment; Occasional bending, reaching, lifting, pushing and pulling up to 5 pounds.
  • Occasional travel may be required.

Special Conditions for Eligibility:

Please be aware that employment at Bridgewater State University is contingent upon completion of a successful background check.

Salary Range: $70,000-$80,000

Special Instructions to Applicants:

  • Please note the following information is required to complete your application for this position:
    • a minimum of one (1) employment history entry.
    • a minimum of three (3) professional reference entries.

Bridgewater State University (BSU) is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer which actively seeks to increase the diversity of its workforce. We are dedicated to providing educational, working and living environments that value the diverse backgrounds of all people.

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