Relationship Lead, Leadership & Family Giving

Merrimack College; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Merrimack College in North Andover, MA invites applications for Assistant Director of Leadership & Family Giving. The role focuses on building a strong pipeline of leadership annual donors, families and emerging major gift prospects, guiding engagement and philanthropic pathways.

Responsibilities include managing a portfolio of current and former families and donors, coordinating with Annual Giving and Prospect Research, and supporting family philanthropy initiatives such as Parents Leadership

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of experience in advancement, development, alumni relations or donor relations; higher education or related field preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and engage individuals around an organization’s mission and priorities.
• Fundraising experience including donor qualification, cultivation and solicitation is strongly preferred.
• Interest in developing donors from annual and leadership giving toward major gift relationships.
• Excellent organizational and project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and follow-through.
• Strong written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of current and former families, leadership annual donors and other emerging major gift prospects, developing individualized engagement strategies.
• Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors with potential to increase giving and develop into major gift prospects.
• Conduct discovery meetings to understand prospective donors’ interests, capacity and connection to Merrimack.
• Coordinate with Annual Giving and Prospect Research to identify donors showing increased engagement and potential.
• Develop and execute strategies to move qualified prospects from annual/leadership giving toward major gifts.
• Track prospect activity, moves management and pipeline development within advancement systems.

Skills

Donor relations

Relationship building

Fundraising

Communication skills

Organization

Travel

Tools

Advancement databases

Prospect management software

Job description

Merrimack College in North Andover, MA invites applications for Assistant Director of Leadership & Family Giving. The role focuses on building a strong pipeline of leadership annual donors, families and emerging major gift prospects, guiding engagement and philanthropic pathways.

Responsibilities include managing a portfolio of current and former families and donors, coordinating with Annual Giving and Prospect Research, and supporting family philanthropy initiatives such as Parents Leadership