Senior Regional Director of Development, Major Gifts

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Harvard University's Central Administration (CADM) is a 5,000+ employee organization that supports the university's overall excellence by understanding and serving the needs of its schools, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and surrounding communities. Through dynamic and collaborative partnerships, CADM provides high‑quality and efficient services to the schools to help them achieve their goals.

Alumni Affairs and Development is a dedicated team supporting Harvard’s advancement activity through front‑line fundraising, alumni and volunteer engagement, technology, prospect management and research, business process, events, communications, and many other areas.

Our goal is to create an environment of respect that leverages the many talents, perspectives, and experiences of our employees; to deliver the strongest possible results by incorporating diverse perspectives into our daily work; and to make AA&D a great place to work for everyone. We strive to live our values of respect, inclusion, trust, collaboration, continuous improvement and innovation, and open communication and effective information sharing in our daily interactions and our work.

AA&D is comprised of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Development, Communications, Events & Donor Relations, University Development and Advancement Solutions, the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), and AA&D Administration.

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 towards 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. Communicate meeting strategies through written briefings and pre‑visit briefings 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, and be expected to…