Leadership Annual Giving Officer

The salary range for this role is $60,000-$70,000 and is commensurate with experience

Benefits: Our commitment to employee well-being is reflected in our competitive benefits package located here: https://www.iit.edu/hr/benefits

Position Summary

The Leadership Annual Giving Officer manages and grows a portfolio of donors and prospects capable of making annual gifts between $1,000 and $49,999. This role is responsible for building meaningful donor relationships, increasing giving levels, and creating a strong pipeline for future major and principal gift fundraising.

The position blends personalized outreach, strategic solicitation, and donor engagement, and serves as a critical bridge between broad-based annual giving and major gift fundraising. The Gift Officer uses data, relationship-building, and coordinated engagement strategies to retain, upgrade, and move donors toward deeper philanthropic commitment.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio Management and Fundraising

• Manage an active portfolio of approximately 300 to 400 leadership annual giving prospects and donors.
• Qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors with giving capacity in the $1,000 to $49,999 range, resulting in $250,000-$500,000 per year once established.
• Develop and implement individualized strategies for donor retention, upgrade, and long-term engagement.
• Personally solicit gifts through phone, email, virtual meetings, and in-person visits (150+ per year).
• Close leadership annual gifts and multi-year commitments aligned with institutional priorities.

Donor Engagement and Pipeline Development

• Work closely with advancement teams to ensure coordinated engagement and solicitation strategies.
• Identify donors with major gift potential and prepare them for transition to major gift portfolios.
• Document donor interests, capacity, and engagement in NXT to support long-term strategy.
• Partner with major gift officers to support donor handoffs and joint solicitations when appropriate.

Stewardship and Relationship Building

• Deliver timely and meaningful stewardship, including thank-you calls, impact reporting, and personalized communications.
• Ensure donors understand the impact of their giving and feel connected to the institution’s mission.
• Maintain high standards of donor service and responsiveness.
• Data-Driven Strategy
• Use prospect research, giving data, and engagement metrics to inform outreach and solicitation strategies.
• Track activity, progress, and results to ensure portfolio performance and revenue goals are met.
• Contribute to forecasting and pipeline reporting for leadership annual giving.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 2 to 4 years of experience in fundraising, alumni relations, or related fields including sales.
• Demonstrated success in cultivating and soliciting donors or managing donor relationships.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfort with relationship-based fundraising and asking for philanthropic support.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work both independently and collaboratively.
• Experience using a CRM or donor database (preference for NXT experience).

Preferred

• Experience managing a portfolio of donors or prospects.
• Knowledge of higher education, nonprofit, or mission-driven organizations.
• Familiarity with prospect research, moves management, or donor analytics.