Director - Major Giving

World Vision; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

World Vision Australia is looking for a seasoned Major Giving leader to steer the major gifts strategy and drive significant, multi-year commitments. You will personally cultivate senior donor relationships while guiding a high-performing fundraising team, aligning programmes with donor opportunities and impact storytelling.

You will shape the Comprehensive Campaign, oversee governance and financial goals, and partner across the organisation to deliver compelling proposals and stewardship that

Qualifications

• Substantial accountability for material fundraising income.
• Experience leading major-donor portfolios and pipelines.
• Experience designing or governing a major fundraising campaign.
• Credibility engaging senior stakeholders (Boards/CEOs).
• Strong cases for support, donor propositions and stewardship.

Responsibilities

• Turn Relationship Fundraising strategy into a Major Giving plan with clear priorities and measurable outcomes.
• Cultivate and steward senior donor relationships with significant asks and multi-year commitments.
• Oversee the Comprehensive Campaign’s strategy, case, phased delivery and governance.
• Strengthen prospect qualification, moves management, forecasting and portfolio reviews.
• Collaborate with programme experts, research and communications to deliver proposals and donor experiences.
• Engage senior leaders and external partners in fundraising with clear relationship ownership.
• Lead and develop fundraisers, promoting ethical asking and shared stewardship standards.
• Manage budgets and resources to balance immediate income with pipeline growth.

Skills

Major gifts fundraising

Portfolio leadership

Relationship fundraising

Campaign strategy

Donor stewardship

Board/CEO engagement

Coaching fundraisers

Budgeting & forecasting

Education

Tertiary qualification

Job description

Make significant giving deliver lasting impact

Lead WVA’s Major Giving strategy, build trusted donor partnerships and shape a Comprehensive Campaign that advances priority programmes.

• Lead major giving strategy and secure significant, multi-year commitments.
• Shape the Comprehensive Campaign alongside senior leaders and stakeholders.
• Coach experienced fundraisers and strengthen high-touch donor stewardship.

About the opportunity

Reporting to the Senior Director, Relationship Fundraising, you will lead WVA’s Major Giving strategy and portfolio, connecting individuals with opportunities for significant, strategic and multi-year support. You will combine hands-on relationship fundraising with strategic leadership, taking accountability for net income, portfolio performance, qualified pipeline and long-term donor value. Working across the organisation, you will help translate programme priorities into compelling opportunities for support and consistently strong donor stewardship.

What you’ll do

• Turn Relationship Fundraising strategy into a focused Major Giving plan, with clear portfolio priorities, resources and measurable outcomes.
• Personally cultivate and steward selected senior donor relationships, leading significant asks and complex negotiations to secure major and multi-year commitments.
• Oversee the Comprehensive Campaign’s strategy, case for support, phased delivery, financial goals and governance, sponsoring and guiding the Comprehensive Campaign Director.
• Strengthen prospect qualification, moves management, forecasting and portfolio reviews, using donor insight and financial evidence to guide decisions.
• Partner with the Major Donor Stewardship Manager, programme experts, research and communications teams to deliver compelling proposals, impact evidence and tailored donor experiences.
• Engage senior leaders, Board members and external partners in fundraising while maintaining clear relationship ownership and contact plans.
• Lead, coach and develop experienced fundraisers, building ethical asking capability and shared standards for stewardship, retention, renewal and upgrade.
• Manage budgets and resources responsibly, balancing immediate income delivery with sustainable pipeline growth and long-term relationship value.

What you’ll bring

You are an established major-gifts fundraiser who combines trusted relationship building with disciplined portfolio leadership. You bring the confidence to engage senior stakeholders, the judgement to navigate complex donor relationships and the ability to help experienced fundraisers grow.

• Substantial, recent accountability for material fundraising income and a strong personal record of securing significant gifts and multi-year commitments.
• Demonstrated success leading major-donor portfolios, qualified pipelines, moves management and forecasting.
• Experience designing, leading or governing a comprehensive or major fundraising campaign, including phased planning, lead gifts and campaign stewardship.
• Credibility engaging Boards, CEOs, executives, campaign chairs, committees and senior external stakeholders in fundraising.
• A strong understanding of cases for support, donor propositions, gift acceptance, recognition, high-touch stewardship and donor communities.
• Experience leading and coaching relationship fundraisers, strengthening ethical asking and fostering a collaborative, inclusive team environment.
• A relevant tertiary qualification is desirable; CFRE qualification or FIA membership or knowledge is highly regarded.

Why this role?

This is an opportunity to shape a major giving portfolio and Comprehensive Campaign, work closely with senior leaders and programme experts, and build enduring donor partnerships. You will have scope to strengthen fundraising practice across an experienced team while balancing meaningful results today with sustainable support for the future.

The SelectionProcess

For your information, the interviews will start immediately, and the role may be filled before the closing date.

We embrace diversity, employing people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. We take our Safeguarding responsibilities seriously and we are committed to providing an environment that is safe for children. Our stringent recruitment procedures make sure the safest and most suitable people work with the children in our programs. All successful candidates will undergo all required pre-employment checks which is inclusive of a criminal record check.

We provide our staff and volunteers with ongoing supervision, support, and training in their work with vulnerable children and their families. World Vision Australia participates in the Inter-Agency Scheme for the Disclosure of Safeguarding-related Misconduct in Recruitment Process within the Humanitarian and Development Sector.

Who we are

World Vision is a Christian organisation that empowers everyday Australians to create meaningful change for children through relief, development and advocacy work. For more information on World Vision and the work we do, please visit our website: https://www.worldvision.com.au/about-us