Job Description
Job Description
Title: Major Gifts Officer
Department: Advancement
Supervisor: Director of Leadership and Planned Giving
Status: Full-time (12 months) exempt
About Moses Brown School
Moses Brown is a nearly 250-year-old co-educational independent day school enrolling 770 nursery through twelfth-grade students. As a Friends school, we exist to inspire children to reach their full intellectual and spiritual potential through a curriculum rooted in Quaker values of community, equality, and service. We affirm the Quaker belief in the "Inner Light" of each person and value simplicity, integrity, and group wisdom.
The Momentum: Light the Way
Moses Brown is currently at a defining moment in its 250-year history. We are in the early phases of implementation of Light the Way, a bold strategic plan designed to ensure that MB students are prepared for a complex and ever-changing world while deepening our commitment to academic excellence, ethical leadership, and our foundational Quaker values.
Purpose/Objective
Reporting to the Director of Leadership and Planned Giving, the MGO serves as an essential partner in supporting the implementation of the Light the Way strategic plan. The MGO is responsible for the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of constituents capable of six- and seven-figure gifts. This role focuses on translating the strategic plan's priorities into compelling cases for support, establishing the MGO as a trusted partner for the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and the broader community.
Major Responsibilities
Transformative Portfolio Management: Manage a personal portfolio of approximately 125 prospects with a primary focus on those capable of making gifts of $100,000 to $1,000,000+.
Strategic Solicitation: Develop and execute multi-year cultivation and solicitation strategies for high-capacity donors to support Light the Way initiatives.
Donor Engagement: Conduct a minimum of 100 individual cultivation and stewardship meetings per year.
Proposal Pipeline: Through relationship management, meet annual goals for major gift proposals, prioritizing highly personalized asks aligned with the strategic plan.
Leadership Staffing: Prepare and staff the Head of School and fundraising volunteers for high-level solicitation and stewardship visits.
Comprehensive Giving: Lead strategies for annual giving and planned gift solicitations within the managed portfolio.
Collaboration: Work in partnership with Moses Brown colleagues to educate constituents on the impact of their philanthropy and the school's mission.
Requirements & Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's degree required.
Experience: 8+ years of successful major gift fundraising experience, with a proven track record of personally closing six- and seven-figure philanthropic commitments.
Exceptional Writing Skills: Must possess superior writing and editing skills with the ability to draft highly personalized, persuasive, and sophisticated proposals, case statements, and donor correspondence.
Relationship Building: Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain authentic, meaningful relationships with alumni and donors that lead to transformative levels of support.
Communication: Exceptional interpersonal and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate the vision of the Light the Way plan to diverse audiences.
Integrity: Absolute commitment to professional integrity and the confidentiality of donor and colleague information.
Travel: Ability and willingness to travel locally, regionally, and nationally to engage the school's donor base.
Institutional Alignment: Deep understanding of, or a strong connection to, Moses Brown School and/or education.
Technical Proficiency: Proficiency in Raiser's Edge NXT and Google Workspace; experience with Canva is a plus.