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AI Summary
The Director of Major Gifts will build and manage a portfolio of donors, focusing on discovery, qualification, and relationship development to secure significant gifts. They will execute individualized cultivation and stewardship strategies while collaborating with internal teams to advance the organization's mission.
Position: Director of Major Gifts
Reports to: Vice President of Philanthropy
Department: Philanthropy
Location: U.S. Remote
Who we are:
CIEE is a non-profit study abroad and intercultural exchange organization that transforms lives and builds bridges between individuals and nations through study abroad and international exchange experiences that help people develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and multi-cultural world.
Why work with us:
- You will change the world. CIEE builds bridges between people, countries, and cultures. We help young people participate in high-quality international exchange and study abroad programs that bring the world together. We change lives; our alumni change the world. Be part of the change!
- You will receive a competitive total rewards package (only applicable for U.S. employees).CIEE provides all employees with exceptional benefits offerings that increase total compensation by up to 25%. Our top-tier benefits include:
- Paid time off and Parental leave
- Gym Reimbursement Program
- Employee Assistance Program
- Short-term & Long-term Disability
- 6 floating Fridays (based on our eligibility rules)
- CIEE Study Abroad Program discounts
- 403(b) Retirement Plan with employer contribution
- Insurance Coverage (life, travel, medical, dental, and vision)
- Flexible Spending Accounts/Health Savings Accounts (medical and dependent)
- Voluntary Benefits (identity theft protection, pet insurance, accident, and critical illness)
- You will be part of a fast-paced, international, and collaborative team of professionals. CIEE operates the largest nonprofit network of study abroad locations, with facilities and staff in over 30 countries. Additionally, we help international participants from over 140 countries come to the USA each year. Committed to excellence and solving whatever problem the world throws at them, CIEE professionals work on international teams and are dedicated to advancing our almost 80-year-old mission to make the world a more peaceful place.
Who you are:
You are an experienced, resilient, and curious fundraiser who is equally comfortable opening new relationships and advancing established ones. You understand that discovery requires persistence, sound judgment, and the ability to distinguish genuine opportunity from polite interest. You are motivated by results, but you also know that sustainable fundraising is built through trust, disciplined followthrough, and strong internal collaboration,
What you’ll do:
- Build and manage a growing portfolio of major and leadership gift donors and prospects, with an initial emphasis on discovery, qualification, and relationship development.
- Conduct substantial proactive outreach to CIEE alumni and high-net-worth individuals who care about international education, including those with limited recent engagement with CIEE, and move promising relationships from initial contact to meaningful next steps and solicitation.
- Prioritize and develop relationships with current donors who demonstrate potential for increased support, while also qualifying new prospects from CIEE's broader constituencies.
- Develop and execute individualized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies that align donor interests with CIEE's established priorities and campaign goals.
- Secure significant gifts and develop donors toward major-gift support, recognizing that a donor's first meaningful gift may be below CIEE's formal major-gift threshold.
- Leverage the 80th anniversary and matching-gift opportunity to create timely, compelling pathways for engagement and giving while building relationships that extend beyond the campaign.
- Prepare donor strategies, briefing materials, correspondence, proposals, and other materials tailored to donors' interests and decision-making needs.
- Engage philanthropy leadership, executives, program leaders, alumni, board members, and other partners at the right moments in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Use available wealth-screening, donor data, institutional knowledge, and research resources to identify, prioritize, and evaluate donor prospects.
- Recommend strategic travel plans that maximize donor engagement and make responsible use of organizational resources.
- Maintain timely and accurate donor records, contact reports, next steps, gift opportunities, and revenue forecasts in Salesforce.
- Coordinate closely with annual giving and alumni engagement to support high[1]volume outreach, avoid conflicting communications, and transition responsive prospects into personalized relationship development.
- Help establish and refine qualification, portfolio management, moves management, stewardship, travel, and donor-engagement practices in partnership with philanthropy leadership and operations.
- Identify appropriate planned-giving, family foundation, donor-advised fund, corporate, or other opportunities that emerge through assigned relationships, coordinating with colleagues as needed.
- Contribute to a collaborative fundraising culture in which relationship strategy and revenue credit reflect meaningful team contributions.
What you’ll bring:
The ideal candidate will possess:
- Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Seven to ten years of progressively responsible fundraising experience preferred, including substantial experience with individual giving.
- Proven track record of cultivating, soliciting, and closing significant gifts, including five- and six-figure commitments.
- Demonstrated success initiating and developing donor relationships through proactive outreach, including relationships that were not previously qualified or fully developed.
- Experience building or substantially expanding a donor portfolio rather than only managing a mature, inherited caseload.
- Strong judgment in donor qualification, strategy development, solicitation timing, and the use of organizational leaders and partners.
- Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, including comfort engaging high-net-worth individuals and navigating complex relationships.
- Ability to work effectively in a team-based environment where several colleagues may contribute materially to a donor relationship or gift.
- Strong organizational skills, disciplined follow-through, and comfort working toward clear activity, pipeline, and revenue expectations.
- Experience using fundraising CRM systems; Salesforce experience is strongly preferred.
- Comfort using donor data, wealth-screening results, and qualitative information to prioritize outreach without treating capacity alone as qualification.
- An entrepreneurial and practical approach to building systems, testing strategies, and improving results in an evolving program.
- A genuine interest in international education, cultural exchange, and CIEE's mission. Prior CIEE involvement is valued but not required.
- Ability to work effectively across cultures and with people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
- Ability to embrace CIEE's Core Values: Excellence, Integrity, Respect, Inclusion, and Problem Solving.
CIEE believes that professionals with varied backgrounds bring unique approaches and ideas to solving problems and advancing our mission to bring the world together. Qualified candidates from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
Due to federal regulations and CIEE policies, a background check, reference check, and education and employment verification will be conducted as conditions of employment.
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