Director, Major Gifts - Advancement

Director Of Major Gifts

The Director of Major Gifts is a key frontline fundraising role responsible for cultivating, soliciting, and securing major gifts to advance the mission of Punahou School. In addition to managing a high-capacity portfolio, the Director serves as a strategic partner to the Senior Director, driving the execution of comprehensive fundraising initiatives that ensure the school's excellence today and in perpetuity. The Development team, one of five core branches within the Advancement Office, is a high-performing group of nine professionals.

Together, they secure support from individuals, private foundations, and corporate partners. The team is dedicated to educating the global Punahou community on institutional priorities and endowment growth, fostering a culture of philanthropy that supports both immediate projects and long-term sustainability.

Primary duties include, but are not limited to:

• Manages a portfolio of approximately 100 high capacity major gift prospects, ensuring consistent movement through the donor pipeline, from qualification to solicitation.
• Cultivates, solicits, and secures outright and pledged gifts with a primary focus on gifts at the major gifts level ($50K+).
• Develops and executes cultivation and solicitation strategies for each prospective major donor, ensuring regular and systematic engagement. Prepares contact reports, strategies, and necessary follow-up materials, including gift proposals, fund agreements, campus visits, etc.
• Collaborates with the Senior Director of Development to establish, track, and achieve ambitious annual fundraising goals for the priorities of Punahou School.
• Utilizes data analytics and predictive modeling (including Raiser's Edge NXT and Fundraiser's Performance Management (FPM)) to identify prospects within the alumni and parent communities, building a robust donor pipeline.
• Supports Senior Director of Development in preparation for comprehensive campaigns by assisting with donor interviews, drafting cases for support, and crafting campaign messaging and materials.
• In collaboration with the data and gifts team, oversees the system for tracking all active proposals and opportunities to ensure accuracy in the database.
• Collaborates with colleagues across the Development and Advancement teams, as well as institutional stakeholders school-wide, to drive the collective achievement of departmental objectives and Punahou's strategic goals.
• Designs and executes a comprehensive leadership giving training program for key constituencies, including Class Reunion Gift Committees and the Parent Leadership Giving Council. Co-staffs these committees and serves as a strategic advisor to volunteers, empowering them to effectively fundraise on behalf of the School.

Position Details:

• Work Year:
  Year round
• Work Hours:
  
  7:30 am – 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday, After work hours, weekends, holidays for special events as needed

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree, advanced degree preferred.
• Five (5) years of fundraising experience, including at least three (3) years of progressive development responsibility with a proven track record of cultivating, soliciting, and securing major gifts ($25K+), ideally within a complex, multi-divisional educational institution.
• Strong written and oral communication skills; excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to work successfully with colleagues, donors, faculty, administrators, and volunteers.
• Strong affinity for the institution and ability to champion the school, its educational mission, and its programs among its various constituents.
• Competent, ethical professional judgment and accountability for annual programmatic and budget success goals.
• High degree of comfort working throughout the U.S. and internationally with cultural sensitivity and an optimistic approach to work, supported by a strong work ethic, attention to detail, an outgoing nature, and a warm personal style.
• High level of self-awareness, and a friendly, empathetic and collaborative work style for a complex environment comprised of multiple and diverse constituencies.
• Maturity, perspective, and credibility necessary to positively influence key constituent groups.
• Philosophy supportive of an integrated college model approach in Advancement inclusive of development, alumni relations, and communications functions.
• Creativity required to introduce new ideas and incremental change balanced by a respect for the traditions of the school.
• Intellectual curiosity and capacity to understand the full breadth of teaching and programs, the ability to translate that understanding to the alumni, and superior written and oral communication skills.
• Database management skills; skill in the use of personal computers and related software applications; experience with multimedia presentations.
• Knowledge of donor management systems and experience with donor management software programs.
• Ability to plan, organize, and facilitate a range of special events.
• Demonstrated integrity,…