Director of Major Gifts, Institutional Advancement

The Director of Major Gifts is a frontline fundraiser responsible for managing a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors and for building deep, lasting relationships with alumni and friends of Southwestern Law School. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement, the Director focuses on cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts and plays an active role in comprehensive campaign planning and execution. The Director works closely with the Vice President, Associate Vice President, faculty, volunteers, and colleagues across the law school to secure significant philanthropic support. This is an exempt and in-person position with remote work available.

Primary Responsibilities

Major Gift Portfolio Management

  • Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward philanthropic prospects and donors, with a primary focus on major gifts.
  • Manage a portfolio of approximately 120 major gift prospects and donors, including some foundation and corporate prospects, and develop individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for each in line with Southwestern’s priorities and the donors’ interests.
  • Develop and implement an annual major gift solicitation plan for the portfolio.
  • Meet or exceed assigned fundraising metrics and goals (e.g., visits, proposals, dollars raised).

Campaign and Strategic Initiatives

  • Collaborate with the Vice President and Associate Vice President to align portfolio strategies with institutional and campaign priorities and develop portfolios as a team.
  • Participate in planning and execution for a future comprehensive fundraising campaign, particularly in prospect identification, cultivation, proposal development, and closing major gifts.
  • Assist with publicity and recognition arrangements for important major gifts in coordination with the Vice President, Associate Vice President, and Communications & Marketing. 

Moves Management, Documentation, and Analytics

  • Work within the parameters of the moves-management tracking system and CRM/database to manage prospects, document substantive contacts, track solicitations and outcomes, and monitor progress toward goals.
  • Track and update major gift solicitations and progress on the current tracking platform and use data to inform strategy. 

Collaboration with Faculty, Leadership, and Foundations

  • Meet and work with prospects, donors, faculty, and volunteers to secure philanthropic funding for Southwestern.
  • Assist faculty and academic leaders in recognizing and prioritizing philanthropic funding needs and in articulating compelling cases for support.
  • Cultivate and present proposals to prospects and donors to secure philanthropic funding.
  • Collaborate with the Vice President and Associate Vice President to create proposals for foundation support.

Proposal Development and Donor Communications

  • Draft or assist in drafting proposals, grants, strategy documents, gift agreements, briefing materials, and donor correspondence.
  • Write or assist in drafting related materials as needed (e.g., letters, newsletters, brochures, pamphlets) in collaboration with advancement and communications colleagues.

Events, Stewardship, and Volunteer Engagement

  • Assist with planning or directing donor and prospect cultivation and stewardship events or programs.
  • Provide leadership on specific fundraising events or programs as needed to advance major gift objectives.
  • Support stewardship activities to ensure donors receive appropriate recognition, reporting, and follow-up.

Supervisory and Departmental Responsibilities

  • Provide guidance and direction to assigned support staff who assist with major gift–related activities.
  • Assist the Vice President and the Associate Vice President with special projects as requested.
  • Perform other duties as assigned by the Vice President.

Minimum Job Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
  • 5-10 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience and a proven record of successful cultivation and solicitation of major gifts.
  • Experience in major gifts fundraising during a campaign preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required

  • Demonstrated working knowledge of all areas of fundraising, including identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, with a particular emphasis on major gift acquisition
  • Ability to set goals strategically and proven record of achieving these goals.
  • Familiarity with fundraising analytics.
  • Proven success in fundraising proposal writing - including correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
  • knowledge of office procedures and records management as it pertains to prospect management.
  • High level of judgment, discretion, integrity, and confidentiality.
  • Accuracy and meticulous attention to detail.
  • Excellent critical thinking and listening skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment, meet concurrent deadlines, organize time and priorities, and to do so in collaboration with diverse stakeholders.
  • Ability to apply creative problem-solving skills to develop solutions within established policies and guidelines.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, especially Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, and constituent relationship management systems.
  • Ability to work independently, to be flexible, and to work as a positive team member.
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively and diplomatically with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
  • Must be willing and available to work evenings and weekends according to event-related scheduling.
  • Some travel required.

Salary: $140,000/YR.

To Apply: Send a cover letter and resume to jobs13@swlaw.edu.

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