Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving

Thayer Academy seeks an experienced, strategic, and relationship-oriented Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving to lead and grow its major gifts and planned giving programs. Reporting to the Chief Advancement & Engagement Officer, the Director will play a key role in Thayer’s upcoming $60 million comprehensive campaign and 150th anniversary.

With an eye on deepening donor engagement, the Director will develop and execute strategies that will help all frontline fundraisers identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors and prospects in a manner that inspires transformational giving. Additionally, the Director will manage their own portfolio of 80 to 100 prospects capable of making donations above $25,000, focusing on building meaningful relationships and securing upwards of $ 1 million annually in cash and commitments.

The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated and collaborative development professional with a demonstrated record of success securing major and planned gifts, exceptional relationship-building skills, strong strategic judgment, and a deep appreciation for the mission of independent school education.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a talented, fun, and hardworking team and a mission-driven community at a time of momentum and growth, as Thayer moves forward with an ambitious strategic plan, finalizes plans for its next comprehensive campaign, and prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

• In partnership with the Chief Advancement and Engagement Officer, frontline fundraisers and volunteers to develop and execute comprehensive strategies to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift prospects and donors.
• Manage a portfolio of ~100 major gift prospects, maintaining consistent and meaningful personal contact and developing individualized moves-management strategies, prioritizing in-person visits both on and off campus.
• Build strong, authentic relationships with alumni, parents and past parents, grandparents, faculty/staff, friends, and other members of the Thayer community to understand their philanthropic interests and align those interests with the Academy’s priorities.
• Develop and present compelling proposals for major gifts, including multi-year, endowed, capital, programmatic, and unrestricted opportunities.
• Work closely with frontline fundraisers to ensure that prospects are appropriately assigned, qualified, cultivated, solicited, and stewarded. Regularly reviewing portfolio performance and prospect activity to ensure that the major gifts pipeline remains healthy, active, and appropriately focused.
• Identify opportunities to increase donor engagement and giving through upgrades, special opportunities, challenge gifts, matching gifts, and comprehensive multi-year commitments.
• Engage and support volunteers in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major and planned gift prospects.
• Collaborate with the Advancement Services team to ensure that prospect information, contact reports, moves, and next steps are accurately and consistently recorded in the Raiser’s Edge database.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Chief Advancement & Engagement Officer.
• Willingness and ability to travel and work occasional evenings and weekends.

• Working closely with Thayer’s existing Director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving, who is moving to part-time this fall, lead and expand Thayer Academy’s planned giving program, developing strategies to increase awareness, participation, and future commitments, including a comprehensive communications and…