Director, Major Gifts

Inside Philanthropy; New York (NY); Remote; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Equality Now is seeking a Director, Major Gifts to lead and grow a high-value donor portfolio, including gifts from individuals, family foundations, and UHNW networks. You will translate Equality Now’s development strategy into actionable fundraising plans, donor pathways, and donor engagement initiatives.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, you will oversee moves management, portfolio stewardship, events, and leadership of the major gifts team, collaborating with programs and

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in major gifts fundraising and donor cultivation.
• Experience building and leading high-touch donor engagement strategies.
• Strong ability to translate programmatic work into compelling donor proposals and cases for support.

Responsibilities

• Lead operationalizing the Individual & Major Giving strategy and donor pathways.
• Oversee moves management, pipeline development, and donor stewardship.
• Plan and execute donor events and engagement initiatives for high-value donors.
• Develop donor-facing materials and cases for support with Programs and Communications.

Skills

Major gifts

Donor engagement

Moves management

Portfolio management

Event fundraising

Relationship management

Education

Bachelor's degree

CFRE certification

Tools

Raiser’s Edge NXT

Job description

Job Title: Director, Major Gifts

Organizational Unit: Development

Reports To: Chief Development Officer

Supervises: Mid-level Giving & Prospecting Officer

Location: Equality Now is a remote organization. This position may be based in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, or Washington, D.C., with a strong preference for candidates based in New York.

MISSION OBJECTIVE:

The Director, Major Gifts plays a pivotal role in advancing Equality Now’s global mission by leading and growing a major gifts portfolio, including gala sponsorships, mid-level giving and donor engagement. In partnership with the Chief Development Officer and Chief Executive Officer, the Director translates Equality Now’s development strategy into actionable fundraising plans, strengthens donor pipelines and systems, and cultivates meaningful relationships with individuals, family foundations, and philanthropic networks.This role spans strategy, donor cultivation and stewardship, portfolio management, events, executive engagement, and team leadership, and collaborates closely with Annual Giving & Development Operations functions. It requires an experienced fundraising leader with sound judgment, strong relationship-management skills, cross-cultural fluency, and the ability to translate Equality Now’s complex legal and programmatic work into compelling opportunities for philanthropic investment.

The Director will have the opportunity to shape and strengthen Equality Now’s Individual and Major Giving program during an important period of organizational growth. The successful candidate must be comfortable building systems, navigating complexity, inspiring donors and colleagues, and building the capacity of supervisee(s) and other junior staff focused on securing sustainable revenue to advance legal and systemic change for women and girls worldwide.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The following provides a general outline of the role. It is not exhaustive, and responsibilities may evolve at the discretion of the CDO based on organizational needs and priorities.

Purpose: Innovate for Mission Expansion

• Serve as the senior lead for operationalizing the Individual & Major Giving strategy, translating our 2026-2030 development strategy into actionable plans, systems, and donor pathways across the full Individual Giving portfolio.
• Drive the execution and refinement of Equality Now’s high-touch major donor growth strategy, including implementing a network-mapping approach, strengthening Advisory Board and Ambassador engagement, building individualized strategies for UHNW, and designing innovative donor/prospect engagement initiatives (eg-salons, donor cohorts, donor journeys, in-kind/volunteer opportunities for mission impact)
• Partner with the CEO and CDO to support high-value donor/prospect cultivation and shape donor-facing opportunities aligned with organizational priorities, advising on donor motivations, portfolio insights, and potential engagement opportunities.
• Provide strategic leadership to align all tiers of individual giving—major gifts, gala sponsorships, mid-level, and annual giving—ensuring cohesive messaging, clear donor journeys, and seamless handoffs between donor segments.
• Lead maintenance and continuous improvement of pipeline development and tracking practices, including donor qualification, engagement strategies, moves management, and standardized systems that enhance efficiency, clarity, and visibility across the portfolio.
• Lead/guide the development of donor-facing cases for support, investment opportunities, and strategic offerings, ensuring they reflect Equality Now’s mission, program vision, and funder-aligned messaging.

Engagement: Advocate

• Manage a portfolio of high-value donors and prospects, cultivating deep, trust-based relationships with individuals and family foundations capable of $10,000–$250,000+ giving, while identifying opportunities and supporting leadership-level engagement.
• Support CEO and CDO engagement with top-tier donors and prospects, preparing strategic briefings, donor intelligence, outreach recommendations, follow-up plans, and bespoke cultivation opportunities.
• Oversee and elevate the mid-level donor program, ensuring a compelling donor journey that supports upgrades and helps to surface and convert major donor prospects.
• Engage and activate Advisory Board members and other supporters and ambassadors, partnering with them to leverage networks, cultivate prospective donors, support events, and build community around Equality Now.
• Serve as an external ambassador for Equality Now, representing the mission with fluency in global women’s rights and human rights–cultivating relationships and expanding networks in philanthropic and peer spaces.
• Ensure donor experiences reflect mission-driven, community-centered engagement, including opportunities to meet international staff, join learning conversations, attend cultivation events, and participate in curated donor experiences.
• Strengthen departmental and cross-departmental collaboration, to ensure donor messaging is programmatically accurate, compelling, and aligned with organizational impact narratives, and that the development program gains efficiencies and effectiveness through collaboration across corporate, institutional and individual giving.

Delivery: Define Project Cycle

• Lead the operational management of the entire Major & Mid-levelGiving portfolio, overseeing processes, timelines, deliverables, and performance standards across major gifts, gala sponsorships, mid-level giving, and annual giving.
• Implement and oversee strong systems for donor/prospect planning and tracking, including moves management, portfolio assignment, forecasting, and performance analytics, ensuring leadership always has clear visibility into pipeline health.
• Partner with the Manager, Annual Fund & Development Operations, to ensure excellence in development operations, data integrity, analytics, and annual fund growth strategies.
• Contribute to the planning and execution of high-impact donor events with Comms & Development colleagues, including the gala, cultivation salons, and community-building convenings, ensuring events advance the 2026-2030 development strategy and build momentum for donor/prospect engagement and pipeline development.
• Develop individualized donor strategies and annual engagement plans, ensuring they are tailored to the donors’ interests, mission-centered, and coordinated with leadership involvement and organizational priorities and opportunities.
• Produce high-quality donor communications and materials, partnering with Programs and Communications to prepare proposals, impact updates, donor briefings and reports, strategic correspondence, and leadership-level messaging.
• Ensure accurate reporting, analytics, and revenue projections, synthesizing donor engagement metrics, portfolio movement, and pipeline health to support leadership decision-making and organizational planning.
• Drive continuous learning and adaptive planning, integrating donor insights, event performance, campaign outcomes, and Strategic Plan benchmarks into ongoing improvements to Major Giving and Mid-level gift operations.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position supervises staff and is responsible for providing leadership, guidance, development, and performance management. Responsibilities may evolve based on organizational needs.

Leadership and Team Management

• Provide clear direction, priorities, and performance expectations to direct reports.
• Hold regular check-ins, monitor performance, provide timely feedback, and support professional growth.
• Foster an inclusive, accountable, transparent, and high-performing team culture.
• Address operational and personnel issues promptly, fairly, and in coordination with People & Culture when appropriate.

Performance and Development

• Conduct performance reviews and identify individual and team development needs.
• Coach and mentor staff to strengthen fundraising, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Promote cross-functional learning and knowledge sharing.

Operations and Workflow

• Manage workflows, priorities, workloads, leave, and coverage to maintain operational continuity.
• Monitor progress, quality, and outcomes against agreed objectives.
• Hold regular team meetings to communicate priorities, share updates, and address challenges.

Compliance and Collaboration

• Ensure adherence to organizational policies, ethical standards, safeguarding requirements, and applicable laws.
• Facilitate effective communication and collaboration across departments and leadership.
• Model Equality Now’s values of integrity and accountability, inclusiveness, resilience, and empathy.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS & TARGET SKILLS PROFILE:

The Director will be thoroughly committed to Equality Now’s mission. The position requires deep subject-matter expertise, visionary leadership, and functional integration capacity. Specific requirements include:

Substantive Knowledge

• Deep expertise in major gift fundraising, high-touch donor engagement strategies, and best practice moves management, ideally in a global nonprofit setting, with demonstrated success in securing 5–7 figure gifts from individuals and family foundations
• Strong understanding or direct experience in event fundraising, high-touch donor engagement and strengthening development operations and workflows.
• Familiarity with global human rights, women’s rights and gender equality funding landscapes (highly desirable). Understanding of legal, advocacy and movement building approaches is a plus.
• Proven ability to manage, mentor and develop staff.

Communication Skills

• Fluent in English; proficiency in Spanish, French, or Arabic is a plus.
• Adept at fostering cross-cultural collaboration and cultivating trust-based relationships consistent with the mission and values of Equality Now.
• Exceptional donor relationship management and communication skills, with a demonstrated aptitude for translating complex legal, financial, and programmatic concepts into compelling, polished, audience‑specific decks, proposals and cases for support.
• Strong listening, verbal and interpersonal skills to engage professionally and effectively with HNW donors, senior leadership, partners, and staff across geographies and cultures.
• Adept at facilitating cross‑functional collaboration, ensuring clarity, transparency, and strategic alignment between Development, Programs, and Finance, while fostering trust, accountability, and mutual respect across diverse and dispersed teams.

Execution Skills

• Demonstrated leadership experience, with a focus on strategic delivery and operational excellence.
• Proven ability to recruit, mentor, and manage staff, fellows, and consultants, fostering high-performing, accountable teams, while modeling inclusive leadership, ensuring all voices are heard, valued, and meaningfully integrated into decision‑making processes.
• Strategic and creative thinker with a record of translating vision into measurable outcomes.
• Strong project management skills with a track record of meeting deadlines and producing high‑quality deliverables in fast‑paced environments.
• Highly organized, results‑oriented, and adaptable, with experience in database management (Raiser’s Edge NXT or equivalent).
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally and domestically, sometimes on short notice, to support regional teams, engage with partners, and represent Equality Now.

Targeted Specialized Knowledge

• Bachelor's degree required, Master’s degree, Continuing Education or significant professional experience in relevant fields is highly desired (e.g., International Relations, Nonprofit Management, Public Policy, Law, Human Rights, CFRE certification, etc)
• 10+ years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, including substantial, independent donor-facing work and staff/program management responsibilities.
• Demonstrated success working in a global human rights, gender equality, or related international NGO context, with proven ability to navigate diverse and complex organizations is preferred.

COMPENSATION:

At Equality Now, our compensation philosophy reflects our commitment to advancing the human rights of women and girls through lasting legal and systemic change. We approach pay holistically, recognizing base salary as one part of a broader total rewards package designed to support employee wellbeing, growth, and long‑term engagement.

• Base Salary Range: $120,000–$140,000 USD

The final offer will be determined based on several factors, including geographic location, relevant experience, demonstrated skills, qualifications, and internal equity. Equality Now also provides a comprehensive total rewards package, including health and retirement benefits, generous leave, and professional development opportunities.

Equality Now is strong because it is diverse. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Equality Now is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employees are selected based on their qualifications and ability, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, language, political or other opinion, nationality, ethnic or social origin, disability, pregnancy, mental status, HIV status, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by applicable law. We welcome and value all forms of diversity.