Major Gifts Officer

Job Description

Major Gifts Officer

Location: Washington, DC Metro Area

Job Type: Temp-to-Hire

Schedule: Hybrid

We are working with a well-established nonprofit organization seeking an experienced Major Gifts Officer to join its development team. This is an excellent opportunity for a strategic, relationship-driven fundraising professional who is comfortable engaging high-level donors, developing partnerships, and driving significant revenue.

The ideal candidate will have strong emotional intelligence, excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to confidently represent an organization at events and in donor meetings. A background in nonprofit or association fundraising is preferred, though candidates with transferable business development experience and a proven fundraising track record will also be considered.

Responsibilities

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• Manage a portfolio of approximately 100–125 major gift prospects and existing donors.
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• Develop and execute strategies to cultivate, solicit, and steward individual donors.
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• Build and maintain strong relationships with high-net-worth individuals and other key stakeholders.
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• Identify new major gift opportunities and develop customized cultivation and solicitation strategies.
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• Lead donor meetings, visits, events, and other engagement opportunities.
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• Develop and execute plans to increase donor retention, renewal, and overall giving.
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• Work closely with executive leadership, board members, volunteers, and internal teams to advance fundraising initiatives.
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• Prepare proposals, correspondence, reports, and other materials to support donor engagement.
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• Maintain accurate donor activity, contact reports, and pipeline information within fundraising databases.
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• Participate in fundraising events and represent the organization professionally with donors and external partners.
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• Track progress toward annual revenue goals and provide regular updates to leadership.
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• Research and identify prospective major and planned gift donors.
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• Help develop donor recognition and engagement initiatives.
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• Provide leadership and direction to a Development Coordinator.
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• Travel domestically as needed for donor meetings, events, and organizational conferences.
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Qualifications

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• Bachelor's degree required.
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• 4+ years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit fundraising, development, business development, or a related field.
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• Proven track record of achieving significant revenue or fundraising goals; experience managing $1M+ fundraising portfolios strongly preferred.
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• Major gifts, individual giving, or high-end relationship management experience preferred.
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• Nonprofit or association experience strongly preferred.
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• Experience cultivating and maintaining relationships with high-net-worth individuals.
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• Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to execute day-to-day fundraising activities.
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• Excellent networking and relationship-building skills.
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• High emotional intelligence and the ability to read situations and audiences effectively.
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• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
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• Comfortable working with senior executives, board members, donors, and other high-level stakeholders.
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• Self-motivated, proactive, and comfortable working independently.
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• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
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• Management or supervisory experience preferred, though candidates ready to take the next step into management will be considered.
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• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and donor/fundraising databases.
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• Willingness to travel for donor meetings and events.
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Additional Details

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• The portfolio includes primarily existing donors, with significant opportunity for continued engagement and increased giving.
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• Annual individual giving goals are approximately $1.5M–$1.8M.
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• Travel will include local DMV-area meetings as well as occasional domestic travel.
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• The position will have a budget available for appropriate donor engagement activities and travel.
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• Opportunity to take on increasing autonomy and responsibility as trust and performance are established.
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• Directly supervises one Development Coordinator.
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