Overview
Direct Supervisor: Managing Director, Campaign and Leadership Gifts
Department: Brooklyn College Foundation
Job Summary
The Major and Planned Gifts Officer is responsible for managing a portfolio of 175-200 major and planned gift prospects, and for managing the planned giving program at Brooklyn College. The officer will be expected to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward major and planned gift donors and prospects, and must be able to enthusiastically and accurately represent Brooklyn College to a variety of constituents including board members, major donors, prospects and other friends of the College.
The officer works collaboratively with other Institutional Advancement and Brooklyn College staff members, and in support of board members, to cultivate and solicit donors for college-wide priorities. The officer monitors all prospect contacts to ensure positive and purposeful prospect and donor relations, and recommends and assists with programming involving the President, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Managing Director, Campaign and Major Gifts, senior Brooklyn College staff members and board members.
The officer will be a key figure in Brooklyn College’s capital campaign, working closely with campaign leadership and Brooklyn College senior staff to raise campaign gifts and help to achieve a successful campaign.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Develop appropriate cultivation and solicitation strategies for donors and prospects, moving potential donors in an appropriate and timely fashion toward solicitation and closure.
- Participate in all aspects of the gift cycle, working independently in initiating contacts with potential donors.
- Solicit gifts and support the solicitations of others, as appropriate.
- Oversee, and actively manage planned giving program.
- Maintain stewardship contacts with donors; maintain sensitivity to needs of the donors
- Make decisions about cultivation time committed vs. expected gift; determine who needs to be involved in relationships with prospective donors.
- Work with appropriate members of college and Institutional Advancement staff in developing donor proposals, acknowledgments and stewardship materials.
- Increase the visibility of and activity in the college’s planned giving program. Oversee the growth and stewardship of the college’s Legacy Society, including developing of a series of private cultivation events to further engage this group of donors.
- Create and oversee of a Planned Giving Advisory Committee of relevant industry professionals.
- Prepare Planned Giving budget
- Perform other duties as assigned
Qualifications and Experience
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree required
Experience:
- Five to seven years successful experience in major or planned gift fundraising preferably in higher education. Knowledge of Planned Gift and estate planning vehicles.
Skills:
- Excellent writing, organizational, interpersonal and research skills.
- The intelligence, maturity and sound judgment necessary for interacting with major donor prospects, trustees, faculty and staff.
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple complex tasks simultaneously.
- Strong project management skills and a demonstrated ability to set and complete priority projects under deadline.
- Ability to understand the needs and interests of leadership and major gift donors in order to develop relationships between them and Brooklyn College
- Interest in all aspects of education and a dedication to promoting the college’s fundraising priorities through developing excellent relationships with faculty, senior academic leaders, trustees, volunteers, and the Institutional Advancement department
- Successful experience in developing cultivation and solicitation strategies and soliciting gifts.
- Proficiency in PGCalc, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Raiser’s Edge or similar database system.
- Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends and travel as needed.
Other:
- Travel and the ability to work occasional evenings and weekend are required.