Senior Regional Director of Development, Major Gifts

Job Summary

The Senior Regional Director, a full‑time, exempt position on the FAS Major Gifts team will be charged with developing and executing sophisticated cultivation and solicitation strategies leading to the realization of six and seven‑figure major gifts from an assigned portfolio of approximately 85‑100 alumni and parent prospect households in the West Coast Region.

• Manage a targeted portfolio of approximately 85‑100 households in the West Coast Region.
• Responsible for meeting or exceeding assigned goals, including, but not limited to, proactive strategies to qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward College, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni, parents, and friends, with a keen eye toward blended solicitations involving flexible current‑use support, gift‑planning vehicles, and the potential for complicated asset involvement.
• Acquire a deep understanding of assigned prospects’ philanthropic interests, capacity, and inclination through face‑to‑face and virtual meetings.
• Utilize knowledge of prospects’ interests to develop and execute robust, multi‑step prospect strategies which strategically leverage academic leadership, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community leading to successful solicitation and closure of six‑ and seven‑figure gifts.
• Foster relationships between prospective donors and academic leadership, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community to deepen a prospect’s engagement with Harvard.
• Travel frequently with senior academic and administrative leaders. Responsible for securing anchor visits for all leaders and for constructing meetings to effectively leverage each senior leader’s time to advance prospect strategies. Responsible for communicating meeting strategies through written briefings and pre‑visit briefing meetings or calls.
• Work closely with senior fundraising leaders within FAS Development, the University Development Office, and other Harvard Schools to coordinate strategies for prospects with multi‑school affiliations and/or interests. Embrace collaboration with these partners to deepen each prospect’s relationship with the university to maximize giving potential through broad interests.
• Serve as a leader, resource, and mentor for other fundraisers in the organization by leveraging their fundraising experience, as well as their knowledge of FAS content acquired through their prospect work to inform prospect strategies. Will be expected to contribute productively to prospect strategy reviews and trainings.
• Responsible for timely entry of contact reports and the accurate upkeep of prospect stage and solicitation records in the alumni database.
• The incumbent may be asked to take on programmatic responsibilities such as focusing on discrete fundraising initiatives or priorities. Programmatic responsibilities may shift portfolio composition.
• This position will require routine travel within the West Coast Region. Ability to travel approximately 35% of working days.
• Other responsibilities as needed or required.

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in university fundraising or relevant transferable experience required.
• You will be expected to work certain events/campus activities, such as reunions each Spring, and participate in department retreats that are taking place on campus in Cambridge, MA.

• Knowledge of complex academic institutions and experience staffing academic leaders in development work strongly preferred.
• Highly sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of fundraising best practices.
• Proven track record of closing six and seven figure gifts and/or relevant transferable experience strongly preferred.
• Strong active listening skills, including an ability to ask sensitive questions with tact. Demonstrated ability to uncover interests, motivations, and objections from prospective donors, clients, or others strongly preferred. Excellent communication skills, including the ability to write persuasively and to quickly develop strong relationships with internal and external…