Senior Director of Development, Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center

Duties & Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Executive Director of Development for VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Senior Director of Development serves as a senior fundraising strategist and frontline leader responsible for advancing major and principal gift philanthropy in support of Massey's mission. This role provides strategic leadership for grateful patient fundraising initiatives, manages a portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects, partners closely with institutional leadership, faculty physicians, and researchers, and supervises frontline fundraising staff and volunteer engagement efforts.

This position works closely with leadership and development colleagues across the Medical College of Virginia Foundation, Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, VCU Health, and VCU Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) to advance fundraising priorities aligned with VCU and VCU Health’s tripartite mission of research, education, and clinical care.

• Manage a portfolio of approximately 80-100 major and principal gift prospects and donors.

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward prospects capable of making five-, six-, and seven-figure philanthropic commitments.

• Develop and execute sophisticated cultivation and solicitation strategies that lead to philanthropic investments and long-term donor engagement.

• Prepare compelling written proposals, gift agreements, and donor communications aligned with institutional priorities.

• Maintain accurate prospect strategy and engagement records to support donor pipeline development and long-term relationship management.

• Serve as a strategic partner to clinical and research faculty to advance grateful patient philanthropy and strengthen physician engagement in fundraising efforts.

• Collaborate with physicians, researchers, and institutional leaders to align donor interests with funding priorities across research, education, patient care, and community engagement initiatives.

• Advise faculty and administrators on fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and philanthropic best practices, as necessary.

• Lead, mentor, and develop assigned frontline fundraising staff by fostering accountability, collaboration, strategic pipeline management, and a culture of high performance.

• Establish clear performance expectations and monitor progress toward fundraising and engagement goals.

• Support cross-functional collaboration and knowledge-sharing among development colleagues and institutional partners.

• Partner with volunteer leaders and the Massey Advisory Board Philanthropy Committee to strengthen philanthropic engagement, expand networks, and advance friend-raising initiatives.

• Support board and volunteer leadership activities, including strategic agenda development, donor engagement opportunities, and stewardship initiatives.

• Work collaboratively with leadership across Massey, VCU Health, the Medical College of Virginia Foundation, and VCU Development and Alumni Relations to meet or exceed fundraising goals.

• Partner with DAR’s prospect development team to identify and prioritize high-capacity donor prospects.

• Collaborate with planned giving colleagues to identify and secure blended and deferred gift opportunities.

• Develop and monitor fundraising metrics, pipeline activity, and performance outcomes to support accountability and strategic decision making.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

• Seven or more years of progressively responsible fundraising experience including demonstrated success closing $1M+ gifts.

• Experien…