Senior Director, Major Gifts Strategy & Development

University of Texas; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Insurance and retirement benefits

Professional development opportunities

Other UT programs

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin is seeking a Senior Executive Director of Development for Major Gift Strategy to set and drive principal gifts strategy campus-wide. Reporting to the University Development Office leadership, you will lead 3+ fundraisers and partner with campus leaders, faculty and VIP donors to advance fundraising goals.

This on-site role is based at UT MAIN CAMPUS in Austin, Texas, with a high-profile portfolio and opportunities to shape major gift initiatives and donor

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• A minimum of 3-5 years as a successful manager of major gift or principal gift fundraisers and/or programs.
• A minimum of 6-8 years’ experience closing $1M+ gifts year over year, with demonstrated ability to execute successful full‑cycle donor strategy and work high‑capacity prospects through a principal giving strategy quickly.
• High degree of emotional intelligence.
• Demonstrated tenacity, adaptability and earned trust across campus.
• Ability to drive results.
• Highly effective communications skills (written, verbal, interpersonal).
• Ability to think strategically and creatively with an entrepreneurial mindset while working well under pressure.
• Project managements skills.
• Capable of working independently, while also engaging in collaboration between teams.
• Experience working with VIP, Raiser’s Edge or other similar CRM.
• Ability to travel frequently to visit prospects and donors.
• Ability to use discretion and maintain integrity and professionalism.
• Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Responsibilities

• Develop the Major Gift band strategy in collaboration with development leadership.
• Set year-over-year growth fundraising targets and track and maintain responsibility to achieve band goal success.
• Build success on past years of fundraising and look for pipeline development opportunities.
• Translate institutional fundraising targets into Major Gift band expectations for Chief Development Officers and the President’s Office.
• Work with managers and Prospect Research & Management (PRM) on goal setting for the band.
• Monitor major gift planned solicitations and partner with fundraiser managers to coach gift officers to solicitation success.
• Deliver a consolidated proposal forecast using consistent stage definitions across contributing officers and colleges, schools and units (CSU’s).
• Explain forecast variances, risks, and recommended band-level actions to fundraising leadership across campus.
• Lead regular pipeline reviews with key development teams to develop action plans with owners, and deadlines.
• Review visits, prospect engagement, proposals, and closures with necessary development stakeholders to identify trends and gaps.
• Partner with GIFT Operations and PRM to identify gaps in proposal quality, moves management, portfolio coverage, and stewardship.
• Coordinate donor strategy and warm handoffs when opportunities move between gift bands.
• Work in partnership with the learning and development team to develop gift officer training specific to principal giving strategies and activities.
• Serve as a manager to senior fundraisers who manage our principal and major gift fundraisers across our college, school, and units.
• Carry a small personal portfolio and model fundraising expectations.
• Serve on a Metrics Refresh Task Force to determine future metric expectations for the major gift officers.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Skills

Emotional intelligence

Tenacity

Adaptability

Communication skills

Strategic thinking

Project management

Independent work & collaboration

Travel willingness

Discretion & integrity

VIP donor engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Raiser’s Edge

Job description

The University of Texas at Austin is seeking a Senior Executive Director of Development for Major Gift Strategy to set and drive principal gifts strategy campus-wide. Reporting to the University Development Office leadership, you will lead 3+ fundraisers and partner with campus leaders, faculty and VIP donors to advance fundraising goals.

This on-site role is based at UT MAIN CAMPUS in Austin, Texas, with a high-profile portfolio and opportunities to shape major gift initiatives and donor