AVP, Leadership Giving – Major Gifts Leader (Remote)

Breakthrough T1D; Texas; Remote; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

403(b) retirement plan

Flexible spending & commuter benefits

Employee assistance program (EAP)

Life and disability insurance

Performance-based bonuses

Generous paid time off

Job summary

Breakthrough T1D is seeking an Associate Vice President, Leadership Giving to drive regional revenue growth and lead a team of 3–5 gift officers. You will own all principal gift strategy decisions for your region and manage a personal portfolio of ~50 high-capacity accounts ($1M–$5M+), guiding strategy with VP support on $5M+ opportunities.

You will embed in $1M+ strategy conversations, mentor staff, and ensure data-driven planning.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of progressive fundraising experience with at least 5 years in major gift fundraising; demonstrated success closing gifts of $1M+.
• Minimum 3 years directly managing a major gift fundraising team, with a record of building team performance and developing staff.
• Proven ability to balance frontline donor engagement with operational management, KPI accountability, and staff development.
• Experience developing and executing professional development plans and succession pipelines for major gift teams.
• Strong project management and strategic problem-solving skills; ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated experience with complex, multi-asset gift strategies (outright, planned, blended, corporate, foundation).
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills; ability to present to and engage with sophisticated philanthropists and volunteer leaders.
• Willingness to travel approximately 30–40% of the time, including occasional evenings and weekends.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and manage a team of 3–5 Leadership Gift Officers, with clear individual revenue targets, activity metrics, and development plans for each team member.
• Accountable for the team's collective annual revenue goal of $15M–$25M+, in addition to a personal portfolio revenue goal of $3M–$5M.
• Conduct structured monthly 1:1 portfolio strategy sessions with each team member and lead quarterly team-wide strategy review meetings to maximize qualification of new donors, portfolio coverage and revenue.
• Hold clear, documented performance expectations for every team member; address performance concerns promptly and directly.
• Own all $1M+ strategy decisions for team members: review, refine, and co-lead strategy on every principal gift account across the team.
• Ensure involvement in strategy development and approval of key solicitations of each team member.
• Proactively review each team member's portfolio for high-capacity accounts that should be escalated; rather than relying solely on self-reporting.
• Manage a personal portfolio of ~50 accounts, weighted toward $1M–$5M+ gift capacity; lead personal solicitations in this range with VP support on $5M+ opportunities.
• Facilitate regular prospect strategy and portfolio health meetings; use CRM data and analytics to identify pipeline gaps, stalled relationships, and emerging opportunities.
• Implement and monitor KPIs, activity metrics, and pipeline benchmarks across the team; use data to drive strategic adjustments and individual coaching.
• Partner with Prospect Research to ensure briefing materials, capacity assessments, and research support are consistently deployed across the team.
• Collaborate with Territory Executives, Divisional AVPs, volunteer leaders, and chapter staff to identify, cultivate, and steward leadership and principal giving prospects.
• Partner across Philanthropic Engagement to develop multi-channel donor strategies integrating corporate, institutional, planned, and leadership giving capacity.
• Serve as a Leadership Giving partner to chapters during staff vacancies, to support team members as appropriate and as need to ensure continuity of relationships and fundraising during transitions.
• Develop and implement individualized professional development plans for each team member, building toward clear career advancement milestones.
• Formally assign mentoring relationships between relevant colleagues; facilitate those relationships and monitor outcomes.
• Model the escalation and collaboration culture the team is expected to practice: be visible in seeking VP partnership on transformational gift strategies.
• Build a team environment where proactive transparency — surfacing problems, escalating opportunities, seeking support — is celebrated rather than penalized.
• Recognize, celebrate and prepare team members who demonstrate consistent achievement for advancement, ensuring appropriate career pathway planning is documented and in place for all team members.
• Ensure consistent application of the Leadership Giving Playbook and best practices across the team.
• Monitor and maintain team CRM health; hold team members accountable to data accuracy and timeliness.
• Partner with the National Director, Strategic Operations on program infrastructure, reporting, and operational alignment.
• Support the VP in LG portfolio review presentations, budget development and data-informed strategy development. Present such information in key leadership meetings as assigned.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Team management

Strategic planning

Communication

Project management

Donor engagement

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

CFRE preferred

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Breakthrough T1D is seeking an Associate Vice President, Leadership Giving to drive regional revenue growth and lead a team of 3–5 gift officers. You will own all principal gift strategy decisions for your region and manage a personal portfolio of ~50 high-capacity accounts ($1M–$5M+), guiding strategy with VP support on $5M+ opportunities.

You will embed in $1M+ strategy conversations, mentor staff, and ensure data-driven planning.