Description

The Executive Director of Philanthropy for Central Major Gifts is a pivotal leadership role reporting to the Assistant Vice Chancellor (AVC) for University Development and serving as a key member of the division’s leadership team. NC State is seeking a dynamic, results-oriented leader charged with leading the strategy for securing financial support from a varied portfolio of alumni and friends.

This individual will drive the full gift cycle—identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts—while fostering a culture of excellence and sophisticated, donor-centric philanthropy. As the strategic lead for the central major gifts team, the Executive Director is responsible for developing and executing high-level plans to meet ambitious annual goals centered on new prospect discovery and qualifications, impactful in-person meetings, and successfully closed gifts.

A collaborative partner, the Executive Director plans, coordinates, and represents university-wide fundraising initiatives and programs by closely partnering with colleges and units, university leadership, and development colleagues across campus. Beyond strategy, this role serves as the direct supervisor, mentor, and coach to the central major gifts staff, providing the hands-on guidance necessary to thrive in a high-performance environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Growing the major gifts program and building a pipeline of individual major gift donors ($50,000+) through identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship cycles
• Developing annual fundraising and program goals for staff in collaboration with AVC; monitoring progress against goals and producing necessary reports
  Fostering and reinforcing a non-territorial, sophisticated approach to donor-centric philanthropy that encourages flexibility and responsiveness throughout University Advancement
• Actively managing a personal portfolio of current and potential major gift donors
• Initiating and conducting personal meetings with prospects and donors throughout the year and leading / participating in solicitations with leaders and development colleagues to meet individual and achieve institutional goals
• Leading strategies to identify, qualify, prioritize, cultivate, solicit, recognize, and steward all donors and prospects assigned to the Central Major Gifts team
• Working collaboratively with and in support of volunteers, other University development and advancement staff, and other College and University leaders to identify, cultivate and solicit donors for College and University-wide priorities
• Prioritizing and implementing complex donor strategies involving multiple units and leadership
• Building and managing regional fundraising programs, engaging all units / teams to maximize donor engagement, prospect strategies and grow major giving
• Leading and managing staff in a fiscally sound manner by ensuring that the appropriate systems, staffing and procedures are in place to support goals
• Serving as a resource, role model, and coach to development staff on matters of prospect strategy and solicitation; sharing new approaches and techniques
• Ensuring that all interested parties (team members) are well informed and engaged in efforts focused on specific prospects

Requirements

Qualifications:

Minimum Education and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
6+ years of progressive experience in institutional advancement
Proven success managing advancement teams
Demonstrated ability to secure six- and seven-figure gifts
 

Other Required Qualifications:

• Proven experience and demonstrated success in major individual gift fundraising, preferably in higher education, with a deep understanding of cultivating and soliciting prospects capable of six-figure gifts or more
• Broad knowledge of the principles of fundraising and the philanthropic process and gift cycle; able to (1) initiate contacts with potential donors; (2) develop appropriate cultivation strategies for them, including working with volunteers and senior university administrators; (3) move potential donors in an appropriate and timely fashion toward solicitation and closure; (4) solicit when appropriate
• Understanding of the needs and interests of major donors in order to develop relationships between them and the University
  Demonstrated experience in management, leadership, team development, and ability to successfully motivate and manage a multi-functional and varied staff
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; outstanding interpersonal skills
• Problem-solving, research, and analytical skills
• Ability to articulate the case for support so that individuals “buy in” to the vision/mission/goals and with sufficient effectiveness to secure gifts at assigned donor-giving levels
• Ability to build trust-based, respectful, collegial and effective relationships with faculty, administrators, volunteers, and colleagues as part of a team in a large, complex research university
• Optimism, perseverance and a positive attitude
• Commitment to a collegial and collaborative team approach
• Self-motivated and driven with an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving