Major Gift Officer

The Rivers School; Weston (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

The Rivers School in Weston, MA seeks a full-time Major Gift Officer to advance its capital campaign and cultivate donor relationships. The role focuses on identifying, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts to support the school’s strategic plan.

You will manage a portfolio of leadership prospects, work with school leadership, volunteers, and professionals to build momentum, and help secure ambitious philanthropic goals for Rivers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required with 3–5 years of fundraising experience.
• Proven track record in fundraising success, preferably in education.

Responsibilities

• Manage an assigned portfolio of ~80 prospects with $100k+ capacity and meet metrics.
• Develop fundraising strategies, prepare proposals, and solicit gifts.
• Cultivate donor relations and steward gifts with timely acknowledgments.
• Assist and collaborate on the planned giving program and annual fund gifts.
• Represent the school to professional communities and coordinate with leadership.

Skills

Writing

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Presentation skills

Raiser’s Edge NXT

Google Suite

Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Raiser's Edge NXT

Job description

The Rivers School — a 6-12 co-ed independent day school in Weston, MA, just outside Boston — seeks professionals who are looking to join a dynamic, innovative, and welcoming school community.

Position Purpose:

The Rivers School is seeking a full-time Major Gift Officer who will be responsible for developing
strategies to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward long-term relationships with key donor prospects. Through face-to-face solicitations, the frontline fundraiser will generate revenue from major, capital, annual and planned gifts. This position will be pivotal in Rivers’ comprehensive capital campaign in support of the School’s newly developed strategic plan. As an integral member of the frontline team, the Major Gift Officer will manage a portfolio of leadership prospects and help secure the philanthropic support necessary to achieve the campaign’s ambitious goals. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with school leadership, colleagues, and volunteers to build momentum and advance the campaign’s priorities. These efforts will enhance the overall experience of Rivers’ students, parents and caregivers, and professional community.

This position reports into

Essential Job Functions:

• Manage an assigned portfolio of approximately 80 prospects, who have the capacity to give $100,000 or more through identifying, qualifying, cultivating, and soliciting prospects for annual, major, and planned gifts, as well as successfully meet departmental metrics and annual goals.
• Participate in the development of overall fundraising strategies, as well as prepare written and oral presentations and proposals.
• Participate and manage all aspects of building donor relations and solicitation of gifts.
• Assist the Director of Development in managing the planned giving program with annual goals for growing the number of members in the Robert W. Rivers Society.
• Collaborate with the Director of Annual Giving to solicit top annual fund gifts.
• Ensure donors are appropriately thanked and stewarded by the office.
• Establish and build relationships with the professional community to better represent the school.
• Other duties as assigned with night and weekend work on occasion.

Qualifications:

• Qualified candidates will hold a Bachelor’s degree and have at least three to five years of fundraising or transferable experience, preferably in an educational setting. An understanding and appreciation of independent schools is preferred.
• Must have a demonstrated record of fundraising success.

Required Skills:

• Must have exceptional writing and communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills.
• High level of fluency with Raiser’s Edge NXT, Google Suite, and Microsoft Office.
• Ability to organize and prioritize work, multi-task, and work with many people on different projects—from administrators, professional community members, volunteers, parents/caregivers, and alumni.
• Maintain a high level of confidentiality and professionalism.
• Must be a collegial, flexible, and collaborative team player.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Salary Range: $90,000-$125,000

Rivers encourages interest from candidates who will enrich the diversity of identity, experience, and perspectives among our professional and school community. We recognize that skilled and innovative individuals follow a variety of pathways in life, and we enthusiastically invite applications from those who may have experience that meets our qualifications in non-traditional ways. Rivers offers BIPOC affinity, LGBTQ+ affinity, and white allyship spaces for professionals, as well as institutional professional development, to support and enrich our work around equity and access. In addition to mentorship from peers and direct supervisors, all professional community members benefit from a year-long onboarding program.

If you would benefit from any accommodations at any point during the application process, please
contact our DEI Director, tc Hanmer ([e-mail]).