Director of Major Gifts

At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential. We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non‑profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high‑quality public schools to thrive in their community.

We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential.

As an organization in our 20th year, Rocketship Public Schools has a proven educational model, a compelling case for support, and a highly successful fundraising engine. Thanks to strong, established relationships with foundations and institutional partners, we currently raise roughly $10M annually. However, our biggest untapped opportunity is individual giving.

We are ready to unlock that potential. Joining a highly successful national development team, the Director of Major Gifts will report directly to the Vice President of Development while working closely with our Co-Founder & CEO, Regional Executive Directors, and network leaders to establish our major gifts program and scale it across our national network. Your primary focus will be finding, qualifying, and closing high-net-worth individuals across California and beyond who do not know us yet.

This is a role for a builder. While we have a tremendous foundation of institutional support, your mandate is individual growth. If your greatest fundraising successes have come from discovering new champions and forging new connections from the ground up—rather than managing established portfolios—this is the role for you.

This is a premier opportunity for an ambitious, data-informed, and values-driven frontline fundraiser to build a high-performing donor portfolio, leverage executive leadership effectively, and shape a culture of individual philanthropy across a nationally recognized charter network. You will design and execute sophisticated moves management strategies to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward high-net-worth individuals and community partners capable of making investments of $25,000+.

• Identify, research, qualify, and engage new major gift prospects using wealth screening, philanthropic databases, referrals, local networks, and community engagement.
• Build a robust pipeline of prospective donors across California, with opportunities to expand nationally.

• Manage an active portfolio of up to 100 major gift donors and high-capacity prospects ($25,000+).
• Develop and execute individualized moves management strategies across qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Lead the development of compelling, highly personalized proposals, solicitation materials, impact reports, and stewardship communications.

• Partner with the CEO, Regional Executive Directors, and other senior leaders to execute strategies for high-value donors, including meeting prep, solicitation strategy, and follow-up.
• Develop annual regional major gifts plans and activity calendars aligned to revenue goals.
• Document and scale effective major gifts strategies to build capacity across the broader Rocketship network.

• Design and execute donor events of varying size, including an annual California-based event and the upcoming 20-year anniversary, to…