Director of Major Gifts

Director of Major Gifts

Convent of the Sacred Heart is New York City's oldest independent school for girls. As an independent, Catholic school, educating students in Pre-K through 12, we are part of an international network of 160 schools. We are committed to a set of principles shared by all Sacred Heart Schools. Known as the "Goals and Criteria," these principles articulate the core components of a Sacred Heart education and charge our community with a unified educational mission. At the heart of our philosophy is the belief that each child possesses unique gifts. Our job is to unearth those gifts, nurture them, and empower each child of the Sacred Heart to share those gifts with the global community. Convent of the Sacred Heart is committed to building a community that is anti-racist, anti-bias, fair, inclusive, and welcoming to everyone and seeks candidates who connect to our Mission and Goals.

Position: Director of Major Gifts

Reports to: Chief Advancement Officer

FLSA: Exempt, full-time

Salary Range: $160,000 - $180,000 annually

Start Date: Mid-September, 2026

Convent of the Sacred Heart seeks an experienced, dynamic, and results-driven fundraising professional to serve as the Director of Major Gifts. As NYC's oldest independent school for girls, Sacred Heart is dedicated to cultivating women of intellect, leadership, and faith. This role comes at a pivotal moment in the school's history. Reporting directly to the Chief Advancement Officer, the Director will play a central role in helping to launch and execute Sacred Heart's upcoming Capital Campaign, driving fundraising momentum for transformative institutional priorities.

The Director will manage a robust portfolio of major gift donors and prospects—including Sacred Heart parents, alumnae, parents of alumnae, grandparents and friends—to secure leadership-level campaign commitments, multi-year pledges, and planned gifts.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively manage a portfolio of 75-100 major gift prospects, moving them through the qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship phases specifically tailored to Capital Campaign priorities.
• Demonstrated success in cultivating, soliciting, and closing multi-year campaign gifts
• In collaboration with the Chief Advancement Officer manage the regional and national travel required to engage remote leadership prospects.
• Partner closely with the Chief Advancement Officer and the Capital Campaign Committee, providing fundraising volunteers with the briefings, materials, and strategic support needed to successfully solicit peer-to-peer campaign gifts.
• In conjunction with the Chief Advancement Officer and Annual Fund Director, strategically navigate the intersection of campaign asks and Annual Fund renewals, ensuring donors are upgraded to support both immediate operational needs and long-term capital goals.
• Collaborate with frontline fundraisers and school leadership to design and execute high-touch stewardship programs that uniquely honor and recognize campaign donors.
• In collaboration with the Chief Advancement Officer help to create a Planned Giving Program to be launched during the Campaign
• Develop strategies to secure blended gifts (combining current capital gifts with deferred estate gifts) to maximize a donor's total campaign impact.
• Contribute to a highly disciplined, data-driven culture by meticulously tracking campaign proposal statuses, multi-year pledge schedules, and donor interactions in the database (Raiser's Edge).
• Maintain the highest standards of data accuracy and confidentiality, providing regular progress reports on portfolio movement and pipeline metrics to the Chief Advancement Officer.

Qualifications & Core Competencies

• Bachelors Degree required
• Minimum of 7+ years of successful fundraising experience, with a proven track record of closing six and seven figure gifts specifically within the context of a comprehensive capital campaign.
• Expertise in planned giving vehicles and conducting values-aligned donor discussions.
• Experience with campaign strategy, donor pipelines, and moves management methodologies.
• A deep commitment to, and ability to eloquently articulate, the mission, history, and future vision of a Sacred Heart education.
• Exceptional communication and listening skills; highly comfortable collaborating with high-net-worth individuals, Board of Trustees, and Campaign Committee chairs.
• Strong experience leveraging donor databases (e.g., Blackbaud Raiser's Edge/NXT) to manage a strict campaign pipeline.

It is the policy of Sacred Heart to provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants. This means that all employees and applicants will be treated on an equal basis without regard to race, religion, color, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, national and ethnic origin, ancestry, disability, age, military or veteran status, marital and partnership status, citizenship status, caregiver status, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, sexual and reproductive health decisions, height or weight, predisposing genetic characteristics, criminal history, actual or perceived domestic violence victim status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable state, federal or local law (collectively referred to herein as "Protected Classifications"). In addition to the Protected Classifications set forth in this EEO Policy, the School also prohibits any form of discrimination or harassment based on being a certified medical marijuana patient, pre-employment marijuana testing, unemployment status, sexual and reproductive health decisions, salary history, arrest or conviction, or domestic violence victim status in accordance with state law. This policy applies to all terms, conditions and privileges of employment, including but not limited to: hiring, training, faculty development, transfers, promotion, compensation, benefits, educational assistance, employee facilities, termination, and retirement.