Major Gifts Officer

Type Media Center; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Type Media Center is launching a new major gifts program and seeking a full-time Major Gifts Officer to establish strategy, systems, and donor pipeline for a growing individual giving program.

Reporting to the Development Director and collaborating with the Executive Director, you’ll formalize donor relationships, build prospect research processes, and create cultivation and solicitation practices to scale the program. NYC-based hybrid work with travel as needed.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of fundraising experience with major gifts.
• Excellent storyteller who builds donor relationships and experiences that inspire action.
• Proven track record of soliciting and closing major gifts; startup-leaning growth experience preferred.
• Track record of cultivating and closing gifts at five figures or higher; portfolio/pipeline management.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to translate complex editorial work into donor narratives.
• Familiarity with wealth screening tools, CRM platforms, and DAFs.

Responsibilities

• Build Type Media Center’s major gifts program from scratch: identify prospects, create a donor management process, and design a CRM structure.
• Conduct prospect research to identify major gift candidates through wealth screening, DAF networks, and board connections.
• Develop and manage an initial portfolio of 50–75 prospects/donors at $10,000+ level with full touchpoint tracking.
• Set annual fundraising goals and report progress monthly and quarterly.
• Design cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies; lead meetings for portfolio gifts.
• Draft donor communications such as proposals and impact reports; prepare briefings for leadership.

Skills

Storytelling

Donor relations

Portfolio management

Prospect research

CRM systems

Relationship building

Event coordination

Communication

Tools

DonorBox

DonorPerfect

Mailchimp

Airtable

Slack

Microsoft Office

Google Suite

Zoom

Job description

Type Media Center is launching a new major gifts program, and we’re looking for a full-time Major Gifts Officer to help build and grow it. This is not a role with an existing portfolio, you’ll be responsible for establishing the strategy, systems, and donor pipeline that will become the foundation of our individual giving program going forward.

Reporting to the Development Director while working in close collaboration with the Executive Director, you’ll bring structure to a currently informal set of individual donor relationships, build out prospect research processes, and develop the cultivation and solicitation practices that will let this program scale over time. A significant portion of this role will also focus on the development of our Board of Trustees and the creation of public events aimed at expanding Type’s role in public discourse. This role is best suited to someone who is energized by early-stage, builder-type work, and is motivated by long sales cycles and able to create infrastructure.

What You’ll Do

• Build Type Media Center’s major gifts program from scratch: develop prospect identification criteria, build a prospective donor management process, and a CRM structure to support the work
• Conduct prospect research to identify new major gift candidates through wealth screening, donor-advised fund networks, board connections, and existing relationships across the organization
• Build and maintain an initial portfolio of 50–75 prospects and donors at the $10,000+ level, maintaining and tracking qualification, cultivation, and steward all touchpoints for each
• Develop an annual fundraising goal and report progress against it monthly and quarterly.
• Design and execute cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for each relationship, in coordination with the Development Director; lead solicitation meetings independently for portfolio-level gifts.
• Prepare briefings and prepare the Executive Director for donor meetings and high-priority asks; coordinate follow-up and next steps
• Draft donor communications including proposals, impact reports, gift acknowledgments, and personal correspondence
• Establish reporting structures and benchmarks to track program growth and present progress to leadership and the board
• Build prospect profiles with capacity and readiness metrics using wealth screening data, DAF sponsor reports, and board/staff referrals
• Represent Type Media Center at donor events, journalism conferences, and cultivation gatherings, including 90% in-person NYC-based/remote events and 10% travel
• Work with Nomination’s Committee of the Board to help grow the number of trustees and expand its fundraising capacity
• Help create a public events program that will help expand Type’s audience and potential funders

What We’re Looking For

• 3–5+ years of fundraising experience, with meaningful exposure to major gifts or frontline fundraising
• Passionate and effective storyteller who can build and develop relationships and experiences that inspire donors to take action
• Demonstrated track record of personally soliciting and closing major gifts, and experience building or significantly growing a major gifts program is strongly preferred. This is a startup role within an established organization
• Track record of cultivating and closing gifts at the five-figure level or higher; working knowledge of portfolio/ pipeline management
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate complex editorial work into compelling donor-facing narratives
• Strong relationship instincts. Must be comfortable engaging high-net-worth individuals
• Experience with partnering with Executive Director, board or senior leadership on high level solicitation
• Self-directed, entrepreneurial, and highly organized; enjoy building processes and systems
• Familiarity with wealth screening tools, CRM platforms, and database systems
• Understanding of intricacies of working with DAFs
• Familiarity with independent journalism, press freedom, and/or the nonprofit media sector
• Comfort working in a collaborative work environment; adaptability is essential
• Familiarity but not required: DonorBox, DonorPerfect, Mailchimp, AirTable, Slack, Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Zoom

Start date: Immediate

Location: NYC/Hybrid

Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $90,000–$105,000 commensurate with experience. Type Media Center offers a comprehensive benefits package including healthcare and dental coverage, FSA and HRA, paid time off, and a flexible hybrid work environment.

Equal Opportunity

Type Media Center is an equal opportunity employer. As such, Type Media Center provides equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants without unlawful discrimination with respect to age, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender identification or expression, marital status, military status or veteran, national origin, political association, political/personal convictions, predisposing genetic characteristics, race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and style), religion (including attire, clothing or facial hair worn in accordance with religious requirements), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions and transgender status), sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws, in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, promotion, demotion, transfer, lay-off, and termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment. Type Media Center complies with applicable state and local law governing nondiscrimination in employment which prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employees.