Major Gifts Officer

General Statement of Duties:

The Major Gifts Officer (MGO) serves as a senior member of the Focus: HOPE Development team, responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major and planned giving donors in support of the organization’s mission. This role manages a portfolio of major and planned giving prospects, builds and executes the organization's planned giving program, cultivates a volunteer-to-donor pipeline, collaborates on fundraising events, leads Focus: HOPE's annual appeals, and supervises key Development staff. The MGO partners closely with the Chief Philanthropy Officer on organizational fundraising strategy and serves as a deputy leader within the Development function.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

Major Gifts

• Manage an active portfolio of 100-125 major gift prospects and donors, developing individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies for each.
• Conduct regular donor visits, high-touch outreach, and strategic stewardship, actively maintaining real-time tracking, forecasting, and pipeline metrics in the donor database (CRM).
• Prepare formal gift proposals, briefing materials, and stewardship communications for major donors and prospects.
• Prepare and run
• Partner with the CPO and CEO on cultivation and solicitation of principal-level gifts ($100,000+).

Planned Giving

• Design and launch a formal planned giving program, including marketing materials, gift-acceptance policies, and donor recognition (legacy society).
• Identify and cultivate planned giving prospects among current donors, board members, and long-term supporters.
• Serve as the organization's point of contact for bequest, trust, and other deferred gift inquiries, coordinating with donors' legal and financial advisors and the Finance Department as appropriate.

Volunteer & Donor Pipeline

• Engage and cultivate volunteers as prospective individual donors, developing a structured pathway from volunteer engagement to giving.
• Partner with Program and Volunteer Management teams to identify high-potential volunteers for the individual giving pipeline.

Annual Appeals & Fundraising Events

• Lead planning and execution of Focus: HOPE's two annual appeals (Spring and End-of-Year), including strategy, segmentation, messaging, and results tracking.
• Develop cultivation and solicitation strategies for the broader annual giving program, including direct mail, online giving, and monthly giving channels.
• Develop donor re-engagement initiatives for lapsed donors and oversee stewardship and recognition activities to support donor retention and increased giving.
• Collaborate in the planning and execution of 2–3 annual fundraising events, working with Marketing & Communications on logistics and donor engagement.

Staff Supervision

• Directly supervise the Development Coordinator and the Development & Marketing Associate, providing performance management, goal-setting, and professional development support.
• Coordinate staff workplans to ensure alignment across Development and Communications priorities.

Strategy & Leadership

• Serve as a senior deputy within the Development function, supporting the CPO on organizational fundraising strategy and stepping in on key initiatives as needed.
• Contribute to annual revenue planning and forecasting for the major and planned giving pipeline.
• Encourage and support staff-wide colleague giving as part of Focus: HOPE's culture of philanthropy.
• Collaborate with the Grants Manager and Corporate Philanthropy Officer on integrated donor campaigns and communications.
• In coordination with the CPO and Marketing Manager, develop the organization’s annual report.
• In coordination with the CPO and Marketing Manager, develop brand standards and guides.
• In coordination with the CPO, direct the development of donor communications and collateral with Marketing staff.
• Provide regular pipeline and program reporting to the CPO, including analysis and reporting on results across all annual giving program elements.
• Work closely with the Finance Department to ensure accurate representation of contributed revenue in monthly financial reports.
• Oversee CRM data integrity and moves management protocols within RENXT, including pipeline tracking for major/principal gift prospects, report generation for board and leadership, and coordination with Development Coordinator on data entry standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned.