Director, Individual Giving, Major Gifts | Team

Director, Individual Giving, Major Gifts | Advancement Team

Good Reason Houston is seeking a strategic and highly motivated Director, Individual Giving, Major Gifts to serve as a key frontline fundraiser on our growing Advancement team. This role is essential to advancing our philanthropic strategy, with a focus on driving revenue, expanding our individual giving portfolio, and deepening engagement across major gift donors. Reporting directly to the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO), this individual will play a critical role in building and managing a portfolio of major donors and prospects with the capacity to make significant philanthropic investments in support of our mission: ensuring that every child, in every Houston public school, is prepared for the world they will step into.

This position requires both the art and science of fundraising; combining data-informed strategy with genuine curiosity, active listening, and consistent communication to build lasting trust with high-capacity donors. The Director will serve as a partner and thought leader to the CAO and work cross-functionally with internal and external stakeholders to drive forward our most important fundraising priorities. In this role, you’ll build and grow a dynamic portfolio of individual donors, focusing on cultivating meaningful relationships that lead to major philanthropic investments.

You’ll design personalized engagement and stewardship strategies that connect donors to Good Reason Houston’s mission, programs, and impact. You’ll lead efforts to increase donor participation through one-on-one outreach, custom giving opportunities, and storytelling that inspires long-term commitment.

• Relationship Building:
  Serve as the primary relationship manager for donors and prospects, building trust and long-term investment through thoughtful questions, active listening, and consistent follow-through.
• Internal
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Partner with the CEO, CAO, and board members to engage donors through meetings, events, and briefings.
• Experience Design:
  Lead the design and execution of personalized donor experiences that deepen engagement and drive giving.
• Gift Closure:
  Personally solicit and close five- and six-figure gifts, managing the process from proposal to acknowledgment.
• Donor Insights:
  Uncover donor motivations and interests through intentional conversations that align individual passions with Good Reason Houston’s mission and impact.

• Donor Pipeline:
  Build and maintain a portfolio of approximately 75 qualified prospects with the capacity to give $100,000 or more.
• Moves Management:
  Implement strategic moves to advance relationships and prepare donors for successful solicitation.
• Prospect Identification:
  Continuously identify and qualify new prospects through research, referrals, and data analysis.
• Goal Setting:
  Set and manage to an annual fundraising goal of $3–4 million, in alignment with organizational revenue needs.
• Forecasting:
  Monitor and report progress against fundraising targets, adjusting strategy as needed to ensure success.

• CRM & Records:
  Maintain accurate donor data and interactions in Raiser’s Edge NXT; ensure timely gift entry, acknowledgments, and donor follow-up.
• Finance
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Partner with the Finance team to ensure accurate tracking of corporate gifts, pledges, and reporting requirements.
• Stewardship Coordination:
  Track deadlines and deliverables for grant reporting and donor recognition; oversee special projects (e.g., holiday mailings, post-event follow-up).
• Reporting & Metrics:
  Monitor key performance indicators and fundraising goals to ensure alignment with annual and multi-year revenue strategies.

• Strategic Planning:
  Partner with the CEO and CAO to develop and implement individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans for donors and prospects, ensuring alignment with Good Reason Houston’s mission and strategic initiatives.
• Prospect Segmentation:
  Analyze donor data to segment the portfolio by capacity, affinity, and engagement level; develop differentiated strategies for each segment to…