Executive Director, Principal Gifts

Job Details

About Occidental College
Founded in 1887, Occidental is a nationally recognized, private college of the liberal arts and sciences, dedicated to providing a gifted and diverse group of students with a total educational experience of the highest quality -- one that prepares them for leadership in an increasingly complex, interdependent and pluralistic world.
What makes Occidental special? An intellectually rigorous academic environment. Small classroom settings where students collaborate with professors and their peers while pursuing or discovering their passion. A beautiful residential campus that offers students hands-on engagement with the cultural and intellectual resources of Los Angeles. A community open to stimulating conversation and divergent points of view. Some 2,100 students from 46 states and 28 countries choose from 41 majors and minors and participate in one the country’s top undergraduate research programs. Oxy students routinely win top awards and fellowships; its first Rhodes Scholar was named in 1907. Dedicated to excellence and equity, Occidental also is one of the country’s most economically diverse campuses, according to the New York Times. Some 71 percent of Oxy students receive some form of financial aid; 20 percent are Pell Grant recipients; and 19 percent are the first in their family to attend college

Title: Executive Director, Principal Gifts
Department: Institutional Advancement Mgmt.
Duration: Indefinite
Employment Status: Exempt, Full Time

Job Summary
Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Development, the Executive Director, Principal Gifts provides strategic leadership to grow Occidental’s Principal Gifts Program. The Executive Director is responsible for identifying, cultivating and soliciting transformational philanthropic investments ($500K+) that advance the College’s mission and top priorities, managing a portfolio of Occidental’s most generous donors and high-capacity prospects. The Executive Director will provide guidance and mentorship for members of the Institutional Advancement team on fundraising strategies for securing principal gifts.
The Executive Director, Principal Gifts, will work closely with senior leadership, including leadership volunteers, to deepen engagement and expand the pool of principal gift supporters. In collaboration with the Vice President of Institutional Advancement, they also ensure the President’s active involvement with top donors and prospects.

Job Duties

• 70% - Principal Gifts Fundraising and Stewardship - Provide strategic leadership and direction for Occidental’s Principal Gifts Program, driving its growth and long-term success in securing $500K+ commitments each year in support of college priorities. Manage and advance a portfolio of approximately 100 high-capacity prospects, developing and implementing sophisticated "moves management" strategies that drive successful fundraising and stewardship outcomes of donors at the $500K+ level. Ensure all principal gift donor engagement focuses on building deep, long-term philanthropic partnerships rather than transactional giving. Oversee the development of highly personalized and compelling proposals, briefings, and stewardship strategies that inspire and sustain principal gift transformational giving. Develop and manage comprehensive, personalized stewardship plans for donors, collaborating across Institutional Advancement to ensure effective execution. Maintain oversight of principal gift pipeline performance and data integrity, ensuring timely and accurate tracking of donor engagement, opportunities, and outcomes to inform strategy and decision making. - (Essential)
• 15% - Presidential Fundraising and Leadership Engagement - Lead the identification and expansion of the pipeline of high-net-worth individuals as prospective principal gift donors, leveraging strategic connections with leadership, alumni, Trustees, and other Occidental community members. Partner closely with the Vice President of Institutional Advancement to drive strategy for engaging the President, senior leaders and volunteers, ensuring their effective engagement in cultivating and soliciting top principal gift prospects. Serve as a strategic advisor to the President on principal gift fundraising, leading the planning, briefing, and execution of principal gift donor engagements. Direct the strategy and execution of high-impact presidential development trips, including prospect identification, trip strategy, donor outreach, and follow-up. Support the tracking, measurement, and follow-up of the President’s development activities, ensuring continued donor engagement and progress toward gift commitments. - (Essential)
• 10% - Management and Mentorship - Supervise and mentor the Senior Coordinator, Principal Gifts, providing strategic direction for program coordination and ensuring operational support for a strong Principal Gifts Program. Lead efforts to boost principal gift activity across Institutional Advancement, ensuring alignment among major gifts officers and other Institutional Advancement colleagues with principal gift strategies. Partner with Institutional Advancement colleagues to ensure all principal gift prospects are supported by clearly defined strategies, next steps, and targeted outcomes. Cultivate and lead an ambitious, collaborative culture of principal gifts fundraising, providing guidance, mentorship and best practices. - (Essential)
• 5% - Institutional Advancement Duties - Develop a deep understanding of Occidental’s mission, priorities, academic departments and business units, translating complex institutional priorities into compelling cases for support while serving as an ambassador of the Office of Institutional Advancement. Track and analyze progress toward principal gift fundraising goals, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement. Contribute to broader advancement initiatives, including high profile events such as Homecoming, Family Weekend, Day for Oxy (Giving Day), Alumni Reunion Weekend and campaign events, as needed. - (Essential)

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in related field to position duties or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Nine years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising.
• Two years of supervisory experience.
• Ability to travel up to 50% to support donor engagement activities.
• Proven ability to secure transformational principal gifts, demonstrating a track record of achieving $500,000 commitments that advance institutional priorities, supported by deep knowledge of best practices in higher education fundraising, including strategies for principal and transformational gifts.
• Exceptional relationship building skills, with a capacity to cultivate and sustain strong connections with high-net-worth individuals, institutional leaders and key stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point), Google Suite, Adobe Acrobat and social media applications.
• Demonstrated ability to be detail-oriented and thorough; skilled at anticipating and preventing potential problems and handling a wide variety of tasks with efficiency and accuracy.
• Strong commitment to quality work products.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate verbally, in writing and electronically.
• Effective interpersonal skills as evidenced in the ability to collaborate with a variety of constituencies.
• Demonstrated commitment to justice, equity, inclusion and diversity.
• Superior organizational, logistical, time management and planning skills with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks/projects simultaneously, prioritize and fulfill the functions of the office in a timely manner.
• Ability to self-motivate and work independently.
• Knowledge of contemporary leadership and management methods to ensure employee success and achievement, and demonstration of related and applicable skills as evidenced by the ability to effectively direct, assess and evaluate performance of direct reports.
• Ability to effectively design, define, describe and document job functions, responsibilities, tasks, and required qualifications associated with supervised positions, and the demonstrated skills in assessing candidates’ experience, knowledge, skills and abilities when hiring for vacant positions, ensuring the best choice of candidate.
• Ability to provide employee development, training and opportunities for direct reports to demonstrate performance achievement and success; recognizing performance of both above standards and needs improvement and respond accordingly.
• Skilled at communicating feedback verbally, in writing and electronically; and documenting performance via introductory and annual performance appraisals.
• Skilled in developing and determining corrective employment/performance/behavioral strategies, as needed. Demonstrated ability to design and execute performance improvement plans, conducting disciplinary action and/or determining the appropriateness of employment continuation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree, ideally in higher education, nonprofit management, business, communications, or a related field.
• Experience in higher education fundraising and proficiency with CRM systems, such as Salesforce.

EXPECTED HIRING RANGE: $142,000/yr - $200,000/yr
If you are offered this position at Occidental College, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills, education, experience, and/or geographic location. In addition to those factors, Occidental complies with applicable pay equity laws and considers internal equity among current employees when developing the final offer. Please keep in mind that the range mentioned above is the base salary range for the role. Hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical in order to allow for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a generous compensation and benefits package.
Advertised: 10 Apr 2026 Pacific Daylight Time
Applications close: