Assistant Director, Major Gifts

About the Opportunity

SUMMARY

Northeastern seeks an experienced and entrepreneurial Assistant Director, Major Gifts who can advance the individual giving program at the College of Science (COS). The College of Science has broad-ranging programs in physical sciences, life sciences and mathematics.

Reporting to the Director of Development, COS and working in close collaboration with the Office of the Dean, various Assistant and Associate Deans, faculty, and Advancement staff across the university, the Assistant Director is responsible for identifying and building relationships with alumni, parents and friends through 120 face to face meetings per year, developing personalized strategies for their cultivation, and soliciting gifts at both the leadership gift and major gift level. The Assistant Director will also collaborate with the Annual Giving to develop a comprehensive strategy for donors and prospects to support the COS Dean’s Fund and other programs.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Portfolio Development

• Manage a portfolio of approximately 125 major and leadership gift prospects that will include alumni, parents and friends of COS.
• Build relationships with prospects and move them through the donor engagement process of qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship by creating and executing personalized cultivation strategies and solicitation plans to secure leadership, major, and planned gifts for COS.
• Collaborate with the Director of Development and Dean at COS to develop comprehensive solicitation strategies that meet the needs of the College, its programs and priorities.
• Identify new prospects through discovery work.
• Secure a minimum of 120 face-to-face prospect meetings annually, either in-person or virtually and travel as needed to qualify new prospects and to build relationships with existing prospects and donors.
• Actively solicit gifts at $10K to $100K+ gift level.
• Utilize Advancement data management system (Salesforce) to log activity, create call reports and progress reports, and maintain data integrity of prospect portfolio.  
  

Stewardship Support and Community Engagement

• Collaborate with the Director of Development and COS Dean to develop compelling cases for support and written proposals for solicitations.
• Work with Donor Relations to properly steward donors.
• Manage internal programs, such as Giving Day, to help maximize fundraising for COS.
• Collaborate with COS marketing team to help engage the alumni and parent communities.
  

Special Projects and Other Duties

• Collaborate with the Director of Development, COS, Annual Giving, and COS faculty and staff to integrate leadership gift and annual fund solicitation.
• Collaborate with peers across the university to develop relationships as necessary to support the work of COS.
• Leverage planned events as a means of engaging prospects.
• Work closely with the Director of Development to test/launch affinity programs and special fundraising initiatives .
• Collaborate on other projects as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 3-5 years of progressive development experience with a proven track record of successfully closing leadership gifts and multi-year pledges, preferably in higher education. Those with a similar record of professional service and who exhibit the knowledge of and skills for professional development work will receive careful consideration.
• The successful candidate should be highly strategic, entrepreneurial, and collaborative in approach, demonstrate strong written and oral communication skills, and interpersonal skills necessary for building relationships with various university constituents, both internal and external.

The Assistant Director will be expected to travel, including occasional nights and weekends, for the College of Science in support of its programs and priorities.

The College of Science maintains a strong culture of collaboration amongst our faculty and staff: successful candidates will demonstrate a respect for the work of their colleagues and a focus on achieving our shared goals in a highly collaborative manner.

Position Type

Advancement

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

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:

110S

Expected Hiring Range:

$76,335.00 - $107,823.75

With 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.