Major Gifts Officer

The Major Gifts Officer will report to the Director of Advancement and will partner with the Advancement Team to deepen the school's donor relationships. A steward of Colorado Academy’s mission and values, the Major Gifts Officer is a front-line fundraising professional responsible for securing funds for the School by strategically managing a portfolio of prospects and donors with a giving potential of five figures or more. The Officer creates and maintains relationships, connecting donor interests to CA’s priorities and includes identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding major and planned gift prospects and donors. Retaining and upgrading existing donors through strategic engagement and stewardship is expected. The Major Gifts Officer is detail and goal oriented, with demonstrated skill in relationship building, project support, information management, and verbal and written communication. The Officer will work closely with the Director of Advancement to increase annual revenue, identify new sources for support, and drive the major and planned giving strategy.

This position requires a high level of social interaction with the ability to nurture relationships, manage multiple projects and deadlines, and travel or attend evening events as needed on behalf of the school. An advocate for the school, the Major Gifts Officer will be asked to represent the institution among its senior volunteer leadership and key and influential donors and prospects.

This is a full-time, exempt position. 

Primary Responsibilities

• 85%--Manage portfolio of qualified major and planned gift donors and prospects and develop philanthropic proposals in support of CA’s strategic priorities; design donor strategies, along with appropriate materials, to renew and upgrade donor gifts and deepen relationships.
• 15%--Regularly and accurately update donor records in accordance with moves management process and data integrity policies.

Key Responsibilities

1. Manage a portfolio of donors and prospects capable of five- and six-figure gifts for general operating, endowment, capital and legacy support resulting in increased annual revenue year-over-year.  
2. Implement programs/activities to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors targeted at the $25,000 level or higher. 
3. Engage donors/prospects through meetings, events, and written communications. Conduct face-to-face meetings with donors weekly to provide impact updates, CA campus tours, and make funding requests. Collaborate with colleagues to deepen donor relationships and on the development and implementation of cultivation and stewardship activities.  
4. Identify potential planned giving prospects within the assigned donor portfolio and partner with the Director of Advancement to solicit those prospects.  
5. Partner with Associate Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations for individual stewardship and to implement a comprehensive major giving stewardship plan, including strategies to retain major donors and cultivate new prospects. Create strategies for re-engagement of lapsed donors and for stewardship and engagement of current supporters.
6. Meet monthly and quarterly benchmarks and goals based on activity with prospects/donors and dollars raised. Maintain donor meeting reports and current information regarding donor correspondence, meetings, and other activities in the CRM database (RE NXT). 
7. Conduct portfolio review regularly, and partner with cross-departmental colleagues to engage supporters and maximize relationships. 
8. Collaborate with the Director of Advancement on new revenue opportunities and on major and planned gift strategy. Assist in other fundraising projects as assigned. 
9. Represent CA in the community and actively participate in networking and professional development opportunities, such as CPGR. 
10. Collaborate with cross-divisional colleagues and Advancement team to stay apprised of school initiatives and priorities for cultivation and stewardship of major and planned gift donors.
11. Work with Advancement Associate on reporting and portfolio management in the CRM (RE NXT)
12. Collaborate with the Director of The CA Fund to build and cultivate a pipeline of major gift supporters.
13. Assist with Advancement event strategies, including the identification of key stakeholder involvement. 
14. Performs other tasks as assigned and/or required.

Minimum Qualifications of Position

• Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in sales and/or fundraising is necessary. 
• Bachelor’s degree in English, Marketing, Communications, or a related field is required. 
• Prior experience working on Endowment and Capital Campaigns, preferably for an educational institution. 
• Strong knowledge of estate and charitable gift planning, and track record of securing blended gifts.
• Strong portfolio management skills with a demonstrated experience in identifying and qualifying major and planned gift donors.
• Must have a successful track record of closing five-figure and six-figure plus gifts.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively about engaging donors, and to develop plans of action and follow through. 
• Proven success inspiring and motivating people, and managing positive working relationships with boards, volunteers, and staff to meet organizational goals.
• Demonstrated ability to provide exceptional customer service to donors and community stakeholders. Must possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to develop and maintain cooperative, professional, and successful working relationships with persons at all levels.
• A sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of fundraising principles and practices, with a particular emphasis on major gift acquisition, and a demonstrated high level of professionalism, collegiality, self-motivation, and success in fundraising. 
• Must possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills; great attention to detail; the ability to process and maintain confidential information; and develop strong relationships with both internal and external constituencies to promote a positive collaborative spirit across the organization's network. 
• Experience with donor management software experience is required (i.e., Salesforce, Raiser’s Edge, etc.).
• Demonstrated experience with prospect research and identifying and qualifying major and planned gift donors. 
• Highly proficient and demonstrated knowledge and experience with Office 365 (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and other Microsoft apps.
• Must be able to work both independently and as a collaborative and productive team member.
• Must possess exceptional time management, decision making and organizational skills.
• A mix of demonstrated skills, abilities and knowledge may be considered in place of educational requirements. 
• Must be willing and available to work evenings and weekends to support Advancement and school-wide events. 

Preferred Qualifications of Position

• Experience with crafting gift proposals resulting in five and six-figure gifts from individuals. 
• Advocate for education, K-12 Independent school education and community centric fundraising.