Leadership Gift Officer

Leadership Gift Officer

Cornell University welcomes candidates for the position of Leadership Gift Officer in our Alumni Affairs and Development division, based in Ithaca, NY. This role presents an exceptional opportunity to contribute to the university's advancement efforts.

Position Summary

The Leadership Gifts Officer is an important member of the Annual and Leadership Giving Team. Reporting to the Director of Leadership Gifts, this role is responsible for raising Annual Fund dollars through donor retention, upgrading, and pipeline development. The LGO will carry a portfolio of prospects and donors with loyal giving histories and/or the potential to support the Annual Fund at a higher level.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of 160–180 prospects with giving capacity of $25K–$249K.
• Conduct a minimum of 200 meetings annually, with at least 150 dedicated to Annual Fund solicitations.
• Regularly solicits and closes annual gifts or multi-year commitments totaling $25K to $249K.
• Maintain accurate contact reports, strategy updates, and donor intelligence into CRM by month-end deadlines.
• Partner with major gift services staff to support acknowledgments, briefings, and presidential correspondence.

About Alumni Affairs and Development

At Cornell Alumni Affairs and Development, we connect alumni, parents, and friends with opportunities to make a meaningful difference at Cornell and beyond. Our success is built on the strength of relationships, a commitment to excellence, and a culture of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, and continuous learning. As one of higher education's leading fundraising and engagement organizations, we recently completed a record-setting campaign that engaged more than 221K alumni and raised $6.7 billion.

Joining our team means growing your career alongside supportive, mission-driven, and high-performing colleagues while helping shape Cornell's future.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 3 to 5 years relevant experience or equivalent combination.
• Demonstrated success in relationship-based work, preferably including solicitation, closing, or negotiations in a metric-driven environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft multi-tier asks and adapt messaging to diverse audiences.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to synthesize information to assess donor capacity, inclination, and appropriate next steps.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• Ability to maintain a valid driver's license, travel domestically and abroad, and work evenings and weekends as needed.

Work Location

This position is located in Ithaca, New York and is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement. Employees typically perform this role remotely 3 days per week and on-campus 2 days per week. The university reserves the right to modify, suspend, revoke or terminate the hybrid work arrangement at any time.

Rewards and Benefits

• Cornell receives national recognition as an award-winning workplace for our health, wellbeing, and sustainability.
• Our benefits programs include comprehensive health care options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands.
• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays:
  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1. To offer greater flexibility for observing faiths and traditions we also offer two additional floating holidays.
• Cornell's impressive educational benefits include tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program, tuition aid for external education, and Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

University

Job Title:

Gifts Officer II

Job Family:
Alumni Affairs Development

Level: F

Pay Rate Type:
Salary

Pay Range: $81,806.00 - $95,072.00

Remote Option Availability:
Hybrid

Company:
Endowed

Contact Name:
Rachel Colunio

Contact Email: rg50