The ARG team operates in a matrixed business environment and oversees programs that play an integral role in catalyzing and securing major gifts, principal gifts, and planned gifts. As a result, the Director is expected to coordinate and encourage collaboration across all business units within External Relations (ER) with an emphasis on Major Gifts, Principal Gifts, and Gift Planning.

This role requires a high level of organization, professionalism, excellent communication skills, and sophisticated and comprehensive development and management experience. This position requires the ability to integrate ER and Development goals and activities into the work of the ARG team.

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

• Reporting to the Senior Director, the Director of Annual and Reunion Giving is the chief strategist for class and reunion fundraising activities, including the cultivation and solicitation of leadership donors. As head of a relatively large department, s/he leads a professional fundraising staff of at least eight full-time officers.
• Manage Class Giving team responsible for reunion campaigns and all annual class-based activity, including volunteer management and cultivation and solicitation of five-and six figure prospects.
• Foster a positive culture of trust and collaboration with a strong commitment to staff development through active management and mentorship
• Assess, design, and implement strategies to enhance existing successful programs and create new activities that further fundraising goals, with a particular focus on increasing fundraising for the HBS Fund and the Investors Society (leadership annual giving society)
• Monitor new prospect identification, solicitations, and volunteer committee activities generated by ARG team.
• Support class officers’ identification of a pipeline of future Major Gifts prospects identified through reunion and annual campaign activity
• Implement effective tools and systems for recruiting, training, and managing a large-scale reunion fundraising program
• Develop and advise on fundraising strategies for direct marketing and appeals in collaboration with Alumni Marketing and Communications colleagues
• Coordinate with Managing Director of Development Information Strategies to maximize effectiveness of technological resources in support of ARG fundraising activities
• Work with direct reports to translate Development’s strategic plans into actionable and measurable annual goals for ARG department
• Demonstrate a deep and abiding commitment to the mission of Harvard Business School.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree and 10+ years of experience as a values-based fundraiser with demonstrated ability to manage, organize, and motivate in a complex environment

Additional Qualifications:

• 3+ years of management experience is preferred, with a proven ability to motivate, engage, and work with staff, donors, and volunteers.
• The ideal candidate will be a strong, collaborative, energetic individual with development experience. S/he will also be an experienced manager with a proven track record of developing high-performing teams, comfortable in appropriately coaching frontline staff and volunteers alike. S/he will have a clear history of identifying areas of opportunity and creating and implementing strategies that result in increased efficiency and effectiveness. The ideal candidate will thrive in an accountability-driven environment and leverage data and metrics to measure success. S/he will be a champion of continuous improvement.
• This position requires a sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of Annual and Major Gifts principles and practices, extremely high levels of professionalism, collegiality, self-motivation, and organization.
• Demonstrated fundraising experience within a complex organization Must have the ability to respect the best of Harvard Business School’s traditions while helping to introduce innovative concepts and initiatives to meet a changing landscape.
• Possess a strong commitment to continuous improvement and demonstrated ability to facilitate and inspire organizational improvement
• Political acumen and diplomacy in working across an organization with many stakeholders for maximum effectiveness
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively and as part of a team Ability to articulate a compelling case for giving in a complex internal and external fundraising environment
• Strong organizational and analytic skills
• The work and well-being of HBS are strengthened profoundly by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and much more.