Director of Major Gifts and Governance

Director Of Major Gifts And Governance

William James College is seeking an accomplished, entrepreneurial fundraising professional to serve as Director of Major Gifts and Governance. Reporting to the Vice President of Advancement, the Director will serve as a close strategic partner to the Vice President and College President, playing a leadership role in growing the College's major gifts program, advancing key philanthropic priorities, and strengthening engagement with the Board of Trustees and other volunteer leaders.

The Director joins WJC at an important moment of philanthropic opportunity as the College embarks on a major campaign and works toward growing annual philanthropic support from approximately $3 million to $5 million over the next two years. The Director will help drive this growth by building campaign momentum, expanding the major gifts pipeline, engaging trustees and other volunteer leaders, and developing new opportunities for philanthropic investment in the College.

The Director will manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors and develop and execute individualized strategies for identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Working closely with the President, Vice President of Advancement, trustees, senior leaders, faculty, and other institutional partners, the Director will translate the College's priorities into compelling philanthropic opportunities and build relationships that result in significant philanthropic commitments, including major, multi-year, campaign, and planned gifts.

The Director will also serve as a key Advancement partner in the College's governance work, supporting meaningful trustee engagement, strengthening connections between Board members and institutional priorities, and identifying opportunities for trustees to serve as philanthropic leaders, ambassadors, connectors, and advocates for WJC.

This role requires more than strong portfolio management. As a senior member of a four-person Advancement team, the Director will work collaboratively across functions while maintaining clear ownership of major gifts and governance. WJC is seeking a fundraiser who is energized by building: someone who creates opportunities, develops relationships, generates momentum, and moves ideas from strategy to action. The successful candidate will be a driver who is creative, resourceful, persistent, and nimble, with the judgment to recognize opportunities and the initiative to pursue them.

Essential Functions

Major Gifts and Donor Engagement

• Build and actively manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors, developing individualized strategies for identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Maintain an active schedule of meaningful donor and prospect engagement, with clear annual goals for visits, solicitations, proposals, philanthropic commitments, and dollars raised.
• Personally cultivate and solicit significant major, multi-year, campaign, and planned gifts in support of College priorities.
• Proactively identify and create new opportunities for donor engagement and philanthropic investment, looking beyond the existing portfolio to expand WJC's network and pipeline of prospective supporters.
• Partner closely with the College President and Vice President of Advancement on the strategy, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of the College's highest-level donors and prospects.
• Drive major gift activity from strategy through execution, maintaining momentum and consistently advancing relationships toward meaningful philanthropic commitments.
• Develop compelling proposals, briefings, talking points, and other materials that connect donor interests with institutional priorities and make a persuasive case for philanthropic support.
• Strengthen the major gifts pipeline through thoughtful prospect identification and qualification and the strategic movement of donors toward deeper engagement and increased giving.
• Develop meaningful and individualized stewardship strategies for major donors, including opportunities to engage with College leadership, faculty, students, programs, and the impact of their philanthropy.
• Ide…