Tech Sector Development Director

San José State University; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 112,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

San José State University seeks a dynamic Director of Development for Technology Sector to cultivate and solicit major gifts from technology executives, founders, investors, and industry leaders. The role works across campus to align donor interests with university priorities in entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology-enabled education.

TheDirector manages a major-gift portfolio, collaborates with central development, planned giving, and alumni relations, and reports to senior leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution.
• A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in development, major-gift fundraising, constituent engagement, business development, external relations, or a related field.
• Experience in building relationships with high-net-worth individuals and securing significant philanthropic or business commitments.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of approximately 100–150 prospective donors, with primary responsibility for prospects capable of making major gifts of $50,000 or more.
• Develop and execute individualized strategies for the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of assigned prospects.
• Conduct a significant number of substantive donor and prospective donor visits and interactions annually, in person and virtually, in accordance with established performance expectations.
• Prepare and present compelling philanthropic proposals aligned with donors’ interests and the university’s strategic priorities.
• Solicit outright, multi-year, planned, blended, and other complex gifts in partnership with appropriate advancement colleagues.
• Maintain a consistent pipeline of prospective donors at various stages of engagement and achieve annual fundraising, solicitation, qualification, and activity goals.
• Build and maintain relationships with alumni and friends of the university who are founders, entrepreneurs, technology executives, information systems professionals, venture capital and private equity leaders, investors, innovators, and industry partners.
• Develop a broad understanding of trends and philanthropic interests within technology, information systems, innovation, and entrepreneurial communities.
• Create engagement strategies that connect technology-oriented constituents to the university through leadership briefings, faculty interactions, student programs, industry discussions and other meaningful experiences.
• Identify emerging prospective donors within entrepreneurial and technology networks, including individuals whose university affiliation or philanthropic capacity may not yet be fully developed.
• Help expand the university’s visibility and relationships within key technology and entrepreneurial markets.
• Represent the full breadth of the university and develop philanthropic opportunities that may cross colleges, schools, departments, centers, institutes, and administrative units.
• Assist in developing a university-wide philanthropic strategy for engaging technology and information systems entrepreneurs and industry leaders.
• Ensure that donors receive timely, meaningful, and personalized stewardship
• Document prospect contacts, strategies, proposals, and other relevant information accurately and promptly in the advancement database

Skills

Constituent communication

Tech proficiency

Tech ethics

Donor closing

Networking & relationships

Oral & written communication

Project management

CRM proficiency

Office tools

Student focus

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

5+ years fundraising/major gifts

Experience with complex organizations

Tools

CRM systems

Fundraising databases

Microsoft Office / Google Suite

Job description

San José State University seeks a dynamic Director of Development for Technology Sector to cultivate and solicit major gifts from technology executives, founders, investors, and industry leaders. The role works across campus to align donor interests with university priorities in entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology-enabled education.

TheDirector manages a major-gift portfolio, collaborates with central development, planned giving, and alumni relations, and reports to senior leadership.