Major Gift Officer

Connelly School of the Holy Child is a Catholic, college preparatory school, committed to the intellectual, spiritual, artistic, physical, and social development of young women in grades 6 through 12. The school emphasizes academic challenge, joy of learning, and education of well-rounded women of faith and action.

Position Summary

Holy Child is seeking a Major Gift Officer to foster lasting relationships between the school and its benefactors, promoting positive attitudes toward giving among current and prospective donors. Working in concert with other members of the advancement staff, the Major Gift Officer will manage a major gifts fundraising plan to identify, qualify, steward and solicit high capacity prospects.  The Major Gift Officer is responsible for managing a portfolio of prospects to match donor's interests with school priorities and secure needed funds. The successful candidate will be a high energy, self-starter who enjoys building relationships between the school and constituents and in working with others to inspire significant giving to the school’s highest priorities. We are looking for someone who is a strong fundraising strategist with outstanding communications skills. They must be results oriented and have a track record in cultivating and soliciting major gifts. 

This person is a member of the advancement team that includes: Chief Advancement Officer, Director of Development & Alumnae Relations, Annual Fund Manager, Parent Relations Manager and Development Associate and is supported by the Advancement Systems Manager.

Responsibilities include:

• Effectively represent Holy Child to external audiences using strong verbal and written communication skills, especially in ways that enhance a person’s commitment to the organization.
• Enhance operational efficiency for Holy Child’s major giving program and help ensure that all systems and processes—from gift documentation to systems reporting—are timely, accurate and tailored to align with the needs of the Advancement Office. This includes authoring and editing prospect research manuals, reports, and other documents as needed
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for a portfolio of approximately (150+) prospects, developing and implementing clear written donor strategy and timeline with entries to the relationship record (using Veracross) to track all interactions, including both major gift and annual fund gift solicitation as needed/appropriate with prospects.
• Prepares customized proposals, including gathering information to personalize.
• Plan and execute a total of 125 face to face cultivation, solicitation and stewardship meetings per year. (modified with zoom due to COVID) and a minimum of 15 major gift solicitations. Deliver timely and effective follow-up to prospects and donors.
• Uncover new donors through prospect research methods such as data screening and analysis of external wealth information sources
• Edits/writes grant proposals to foundations and corporations, including personally contacting program officers for guidance and arranging site visits as appropriate.
• Build cultivation and solicitation strategies in collaboration with the staff, the campaign committee and volunteer leadership for individual potential donors in support of the annual fund, planned giving, and growth campaigns; ensure strategies are compatible and maximize opportunities with other existing campaigns and appeals.
• Organize and manage campaign pipelines in Veracross and generate reports for campaign tracking and analysis for Board of Trustees
• Works with administrators, Campaign Committee members and others when appropriate to cultivate and solicit major gift and planned giving prospects, including developing and communicating prospect research, management, and lead information.
• Support campaign volunteer committees (assist in volunteer recruitment, organize meetings, and conduct follow-up)
• Assist in strategizing and implementing campaign cultivation and recognition events
• Maintain a strong relationship with faculty and staff to fully understand Holy Child today and its’ priorities for the future
• Attend and represent the school at alumnae, parent and other community events
• Other duties as assigned by the Chief Advancement Officer