Associate Director, Major Gifts

Location:

New York, New York

Department:
Alumni Relations & Development

Salary/Grade: EXS/10

Target hiring range for this position will be between $95,000 - $100,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data

Job Summary:

The Associate Director of Major Gifts will be responsible for identifying, cultivating, and soliciting major gift support from a prospect pool of alumni, friends, and family members in the New York tri-state area. This frontline fundraiser will develop and manage a fluid portfolio of prospects through qualification visits, cultivation efforts and customized solicitations that align with prospect interests and financial capacity.

This position collaborates with colleagues across Alumni Relations and Development and the greater University, including deans, faculty, program directors, and other University volunteers to plan and execute compelling prospect meetings and solicitations of donors. The role will be based in Northwestern University's New York Regional Office and will report to the Executive Director of Development, New York.

The candidate must be a self-starter who is highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to prioritize multiple tasks. This is an ideal position for someone who is proactive, motivated, able to incorporate feedback, and demonstrates resilience in uncovering prospects to become loyal donors.

Our office operates in a hybrid model and offers the option of working three days in the office and two days remote. There will be occasional work outside of standard business hours for donor engagement events.

This role includes structured professional development through Plus Delta's Discipline of Frontline Fundraising program, providing high-quality training to strengthen fundamental skills in donor cultivation, solicitation, portfolio management, and strategic relationship building. Additional ARD resources further connect Northwestern policies and processes with the best practices introduced in Plus Delta's curriculum.

Specific Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning

• Gathers data, assesses leads, and develops strategies designed to realize the current and lifetime giving potential of individual prospects.
• Maintains consistent and appropriate contact.
• Facilitates or makes direct solicitations.
• Ensures effective stewardship.

Collaboration

• Involves moderate- to-high-level collaboration with both internal department partners and moderate level of collaboration with broader University partners to identify & integrate resources to accomplish strategic goals & objectives.

Prospects & Gifts

• Develops, plans, and implements strategies and approaches to identify, personally solicit, and steadily close major gifts of six-figures or more.
• Collaborates with New York Major Gift and Donor Engagement teams and other areas of alumni relations and development, including Schools & Programs and Planned Gifts, to coordinate donor strategies.
• Builds a portfolio through discovery and qualification with a target of 40 prospects at a time. Manages portfolio by strategically moving them through the major gift pipeline.
• Secures visits with prospects and effectively articulates University fundraising priorities to gauge donor interest and capacity.
• Collects and synthesizes information from a wide array of sources to prepare compelling donor proposals that strategically align with donor interests and their full philanthropic capacity.
• Oversees and completes associated stewardship activities, maintains up-to-date best practices, and evaluates closed projects.
• Gathers, records, and retrieves information about prospects and donors utilizing University's donor and alumni database, internet, meetings with development staff, faculty, etc.
• Prepares contact reports on meetings and interactions with alumni.

Events

• Supports strategy for regional donor engagement events.
• Staff alumni and donor engagement events to advance prospect pool and giving.

Administration

• Proactive, productive team contributor with a positive attitude and commitment to an inclusive workplace. Offers recommendations to…