Senior Major Gifts Officer

About the role

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions, with a mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through scientific research, education, and exhibition. The Advancement department is seeking a full-time Senior Major Gifts Officer to secure five- and six-figure gifts from individual donors and prospects to support the broad scope of the institution’s work in science and education. The Senior Major Gifts Officer identifies, qualifies, cultivates, solicits, and stewards their own portfolio of donors and prospects, implementing targeted strategies they develop, resulting in gift closures at maximum levels of support. The Senior Major Gifts Officer also supervises two Gift Officers, managing their own large portfolios of 250-300 mid-level gift donors and prospects, with the goal of building the major gifts pipeline.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage a portfolio of 125-150 major gift donors and prospects to deepen their engagement and relationships with the Museum and increase their giving, aligned with the Museum’s fundraising priorities.
• Create customized short-, intermediate-, and long-term strategies for the existing donor/prospect portfolio.
• Conceptualize and implement strategies to engage new prospects, including identifying and researching prospective donors where appropriate.
• Proactively maintain awareness of the Museum’s needs within areas of responsibility and identify prospective donors for those needs.
• Craft effective proposals, reports, acknowledgments, and other related communications, in partnership with the Donor Relations and Donor Communications teams.
• Plan, manage, and host various cultivation and stewardship activities, including one-on-one and volunteer council meetings, tours, and other small gatherings.
• Coordinate and collaborate with Museum colleagues, including Museum leadership, fellow Advancement staff, scientists, educators, and exhibition specialists.
• Maintain current and accurate records in the Raiser’s Edge database.
• Manage and motivate two Gift Officers, providing guidance and coaching to ensure individual targets are met. Partner with them to develop customized portfolio strategies to deepen ties to the Museum and grow year-over-year revenue, focusing primarily on unrestricted support and restricted support that is directly responsive to the Museum’s needs/priorities.
• Foster a results-oriented “out-the-door” fundraising approach that effectively moves prospects through the development cycle, identifies new prospects, and re-engages lapsed prospects to advance and grow fundraising opportunity and results.
• Support the Gifts Officers’ career growth paths and professional development opportunities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, business, finance, marketing, science, museum studies, liberal arts, or another related field that supports the ability to accomplish the above job duties.
• Seven years of professional experience, with at least four in a donor-facing role in a nonprofit development context.
• Demonstrated success in soliciting and closing gifts at the major gift level (five- and six-figure gifts).
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite, internet applications, and fundraising databases.