Major Gift Officer

This position at Culver represents a vital member of our 41 member Advancement team and will thrive in a goal-oriented and team-focused environment. This Major Gifts Officer is responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding alumni for major gift commitments, defined as starting at $100,000. The position calls for a proven track record of personal solicitation experience, strong written and verbal skills, the ability to plan strategic moves with prospect management and a strong appreciation for the mission, traditions and history of Culver Academies. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

•    Extensive travel is required to conduct 125 personal visits each year with major gift donors and prospects for the purposes of prospect identification, cultivation, stewardship and solicitation. Of these visits, 25% will be for new prospect identification. 
•    With the Director of Development, set aspirational major giving goals for new commitments based on professional experience and Culver tenure.
•    Make a minimum of 25 solicitations of $10,000 or more in support of the Culver Fund, Culver’s top Annual Giving priority. 
•    Effectively manage approximately 150 assigned prospects through personal visits,  correspondence, electronic and telephonic communication.
•    Utilize strong strategic planning skills to develop, implement and track cultivation and solicitation plans for individual prospects.
•    Assist the Chief Advancement Officer and Director of Development in providing support, when required, for the Head of Schools and other campus partners in the cultivation and solicitation of major and planned gifts.
•    In cooperation with Alumni Engagement, serve a key role within your travel territory to support activities and Culver Club events which will eventually lead alumni, parents and friends to support the mission of Culver Academies.
•    Possess a detailed understanding of Culver’s fundraising priorities and have the ability to articulate these in both written and verbal terms.
•    Have a general understanding of commonly used planned gift instruments.
•    Display in word and action the highest possible ethical standards.
•    Continuous growth mindset as evident by setting and following through on annual professional development goals.

Please note, this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.   

REQUIREMENTS:

•    Education and Experience: Bachelor's degree required. Minimum of five years of demonstrated fundraising success at a secondary or higher education level, with a track record of closing major gifts; possess knowledge of solicitation strategies, techniques and highly developed interpersonal skills. Successful experience in sales or business will also be considered.  General knowledge of secondary school fundraising, including Annual Giving, Planned Giving, Capital Campaigns, Foundation solicitations, Communications, and Special Events. 
•    Communications: This position requires writing and editing effectively and communicating the written and spoken word with tact, diplomacy, and authority when necessary.
•    Organizational skills: This position requires discipline, an ability to meet deadlines, and the ability to work under the pressure of many priorities. Additionally, must be able to multitask between various job responsibilities.  
•    Interpersonal skills: This position requires the ability to meet people with ease and the ability to work effectively within every level of the organization. 
•    This position entails having access to highly confidential information. Must be discreet and able to maintain confidentiality.
•    This position requires intermediate computer skills. This position requires the ability to learn and use Raisers Edge and Veracross. The employee understands operating systems, word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, and databases. Understand how to use flash drives and memory cards, knows how to insert hyperlinks and tables on word processing applications, insert links and videos into a presentation, modify their signature block, is able to recognize spam, recognize file formats when using email, conduct complex sorting, applying filters, and using different views on spreadsheets and databases.