Senior Regional Director of Development, Major Gifts

Job Summary:

The Senior Regional Director, a full-time, exempt position on the FAS Major Gifts team will be charged with developing and executing sophisticated cultivation and solicitation strategies leading to the realization of six and seven-figure major gifts from an assigned portfolio of approximately 85-100 alumni and parent prospect households in the West Coast Region.

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

• Manage a targeted portfolio of approximately 85-100 households in the West Coast Region.
• Responsible for meeting or exceeding assigned goals, including, but not limited to, proactive strategies to qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward College, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni, parents, and friends, with a keen eye towards blended solicitations involving flexible current use support, gift planning vehicles, and the potential for complicated asset involvement.
• Acquire a deep understanding of assigned prospects’ philanthropic interests, capacity, and inclination through face-to-face and virtual meetings.
• Utilize knowledge of prospects’ interests to develop and execute robust, multi-step prospect strategies which strategically leverage academic leadership, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community leading to successful solicitation and closure of six- and seven-figure gifts.
• Foster relationships between prospective donors and academic leadership, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community to deepen a prospect’s engagement with Harvard.
• Travel frequently with senior academic and administrative leaders. Responsible for securing anchor visits for all leaders and for constructing meetings to effectively leverage each senior leader’s time to advance prospect strategies. Responsible for communicating meeting strategies through written briefings and pre-visit briefing meetings or calls.
• Work closely with senior fundraising leaders within FAS Development, the University Development Office, and other Harvard Schools to coordinate strategies for prospects with multi-school affiliations and/or interests.
• Serve as a leader, resource, and mentor for other fundraisers in the organization.
• Responsible for timely entry of contact reports and the accurate upkeep of prospect stage and solicitation records in the alumni database.
• This position will require routine travel within the West Coast Region. Ability to travel approximately 35% of working days.