The Gift Officer will work as a member of the Institutional Advancement team to help build a community of donors; build relationships with current and prospective donors; and implement a strategy to qualify, cultivate and solicit prospective donors; and steward existing donors.

The Gift Officer is responsible for cultivating meaningful relationships with potential and current major gift level donors and securing gifts in the $25,000+ higher range and work to increase the number of these donors to the University. The Gift Officer will manage a portfolio of donors and prospective donors and be responsible for facilitating all phases of the gift cycle, including initiating contact, cultivating and moving potential donors to solicitation and closure, making solicitations, writing proposals, and stewarding donors. The Gift Officer works collaboratively with key volunteers, University leadership, Development staff, Alumnae Relations staff, and other University representatives to identify, cultivate and solicit donors for University priorities. Gift Officers can be assigned to a region, a project area, or to a constituent group.

Work Location: Doheny Campus (Downtown Los Angeles). Hybrid work is available. 

Annual Salary Rate Range: $105,000.00

Monthly Salary Rate Range: $8,750.00

Hiring salary can be above the posted pay range if candidate’s qualifications are determined to be above the minimum requirements of the position description.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develops a strategic pipeline of major gift solicitations to secure a minimum of one million annually in philanthropic support for the university through the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major gift donors by conducting 120-150 donor visits per year
• Assess capacity, determine inclination, and identify donors’ passions for areas of support through face-to-face visits
• Arranges and/or staff campus visits, tours, cultivation events, and meetings for assigned prospects or for a project/regional area
• Responsible for leading major gifts efforts within the designated region, spanning California from north of Ventura/Santa Barbara to the Pacific Northwest. This includes cultivating and stewarding relationships with high-net-worth donors and key stakeholders, developing tailored engagement strategies, and securing major gifts to support university priorities. The role also involves coordinating donor events and regional initiatives to achieve fundraising targets and strengthen the donor pipeline in this region
• Prepares strategic and clear briefing materials that follow standard operating procedures
• Works with the Assistant Vice President to engage senior leadership, faculty, and staff judiciously with prospective donors
• Prepares both customized and standardized proposals, correspondence, and reports for prospective donors that are accurate and compelling
• Tracks fundraising progress, monitor pipeline, and manage LYBUNT, SYBUNT, and new prospect activity in your portfolio and region
• Becomes familiar with institutional fundraising priorities, understand the case for support for each, and explore opportunities for assigned alumni, parents, and friends to make an impact through their philanthropic support
• Develops and executes strategies for each major gift donor in your assigned portfolio to guide your pipeline activity and travel plans
• Utilizes alumni relations events/programming to enhance your philanthropic strategies for major gift donors in a particular region
• Develops a network within regions to drive engagement with an eye toward activity that will facilitate philanthropic cultivation
• Coordinates stewardship efforts for assigned prospects
• Works collaboratively within the greater Advancement team and cross-departmentally (Student Affairs, Admissions, The Center for the Advancement of Women, Equity, Diversity, and Justice, etc.)
• Records visits in RENXT within 24 hours of each donor visit
• Performs other development-related duties as assigned

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Extensive travel required within state with regional focus on California, from north of Ventura/Santa Barbara  to the Pacific Northwest
• Evening and weekend work, as necessary
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned

Requirements:

Knowledge:

• Understanding of higher education/non-profit fundraising and administration, including sophisticated fundraising techniques, donor relations and trends
• Expertise with the Microsoft Office suite (especially Teams, Outlook and Excel)
• Strong working knowledge of CRM required; Raiser’s Edge database system is preferred
• Knowledge of planned giving a plus

Abilities and Skills:

• Genuine affinity for the liberal arts and the mission of Mount Saint Mary’s University
• Strong capacity for engaging confidence and trust among prospects and donors
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Must be detail-oriented
• Entrepreneurial inclination and capacity for hard work within an intensely goal-oriented and collaborative environment
• Able to handle confidential materials with tact and discretion
• Able to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community
• Must be proactive, personable, a good team-player, well-organized, and service-oriented
• Able to think critically, creatively, and troubleshoot
• Able to organize, prioritize, and complete multiple, simultaneous projects and tasks to meet established deadlines
• Commitment to equity, diversity and justice
• Willingness to learn and understand MSMU’s priorities and the ability to advocate and articulate them to donors and prospects

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required

Experience: 

• Three to five years of face-to-face leadership annual giving or major gift solicitation, prospect management, and successful development experience, or the equivalent fundraising experience required or equivalent combination of experience and education
• Higher education fundraising experience preferred