Senior Director, Office of Philanthropic Partnerships

The Office of Philanthropic Partnerships (OPP) at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) seeks a diligent,
collaborative, and results-oriented Senior Director to inspire and
lead a team of principal gift officers ($5M+) while personally
advancing a blended portfolio of unaffiliated donors and alumni.
The Senior Director will pursue and cultivate national and
international relationships that result in transformational
philanthropic partnerships in support of signature initiative
efforts for the Institute.

The Senior Director will be asked to approach philanthropy in a
thoughtful and strategic manner, and to devise qualification and
cultivation strategies that stretch beyond traditional approaches
to loyalty-based fundraising. This is an exceptional opportunity to
assume a high-profile leadership role at an iconic institution with
world class faculty developing cause-based research that addresses
a range of complex societal issues from climate change and energy
to AI, robotics, and health.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Reporting into the Executive Director of the Office of
Philanthropic Partnerships, Jenny Liu, the Senior Director will
bring the vision, determination, and wisdom needed to lift a
high-performing team to even greater heights and contribute to a
donor-centric culture that connects philanthropists to significant,
cause-based endeavors.

Leading a team of at least three frontline fundraisers, the
Senior Director will establish, implement, track, and deliver
growth strategies for the expansion of MIT’s fundraising program.
The Senior Director will actively work with their team to identify,
develop, and engage donors with principal and transformational gift
potential for MIT (gifts of $5M+); ensure that cultivation and
stewardship plans are well developed, carefully coordinated, and
rigorously enacted; and remove barriers for a seasoned team of gift
officers who enjoy the freedom of innovating with prospects and
donors.

The Senior Director will also be responsible for managing their
own portfolio of 45-50 ultra-high net worth individuals
representing non-alumni, alumni, and corporations and capable of
making principal and transformational gifts to the Institute. Gifts
will support university-wide initiatives that aim to create major
global change at a pace and scale not yet seen before. These
philanthropic initiatives typically fall outside of an individual
college/school and often include donors with whom the President and
university leadership engage on strategic priorities. In addition
to strategic initiatives and presidential priorities, MIT will look
to raise funding for core needs across scholarships, fellowships,
professorships, and campus renewal.

The ideal candidate will showcase a proven history of personally
identifying, cultivating, and soliciting principal and
transformational gifts in addition to a clear mastery of the
fundamentals of principal gift fundraising and moves management. A
collegial, team-building style with the ability to motivate staff
and to cultivate productive, collaborative relationships in a
complex environment is essential. The Senior Director will foster a
professional work environment that rewards individual and
collective success, builds confidence, and promotes diversity in
all its forms.

SELECT RESPONSIBILITIES

Team Management

• Manage a team of principal giving officers to raise private
  philanthropic funds in support of the Institute from affiliated and
  unaffiliated individual and corporate donors capable of making
  significant gifts; set and implement strategies for global market
  development, donor development, volunteer management, and resource
  allocation.
• Partner with the Executive Director and the Human Resources
  Strategic Talent Management team to ensure effective staff
  management, including hiring and orientation, training and
  development, workflow, and performance management, and developing a
  diverse, equitable, inclusive work environment that promotes
  creativity and innovation.

Fundraising

• Work with the Executive Director and other senior leaders and
  faculty to develop and promote specific strategies for
  fundraising.
• Acquire a working knowledge of the Institute’s mission,
  academic programs, research, and fundraising objectives and be
  knowledgeable about fundraising priorities, ways of giving and how
  MIT engages and manages donors and volunteers. Grow and strengthen
  MIT’s relationships with alumni, parents, friends, and
  organizations, effectively communicating the mission of the
  Institute.
• Manage a portfolio of high-net-worth individuals through the
  identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and
  stewardship cycles; forge relationships with a diverse population
  of prospects that will help realize seven-, eight- and nine-figure
  solicitations and lead MIT to new levels of distinction.
• Work effectively with MIT’s most generous donors and potential
  prospects to establish trust and secure gifts of $5M and
  above.
• Counsel Institute officers, including Senior Administrative and
  Academic staff, on cultivation and solicitation strategies for
  selected prospects and visits.
• Oversee the preparation of funding proposals, talking points,
  assessments of potential support, briefings for senior leaders, and
  stewardship reports for all assigned prospects; ensure that all
  interested parties and stakeholders are involved in key efforts
  focused on specific prospects.

Other

• Serve as a key member of the Office of Philanthropic
  Partnership’s Senior Team, participating in strategic discussions
  and decisions about the overall program and providing advice and
  recommendations to the President and VP for Resource Development
  (RD).
• Serve as a member of OPP and RD committees as requested.
• Lead and support the implementation of strategic priorities and
  initiatives to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and
  progressive change.

SELECT QUALIFICATIONS

• 7+ years of experience fundraising in higher education or other
  comparable organization required, especially at the principal gift
  level.
• 3+ years of experience supervising staff, setting goals, and
  effectively managing performance and budgets.
• Demonstrated experience developing relationships with donors
  and prospects, negotiating the interests of both the individual
  donors and the Institute, and securing gift commitments at the
  level of $5M and above.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire high-net-worth individuals to
  provide significant financial support to an institution, and to
  raise donor sights, articulate aspirational goals and ideas, set
  priorities, and present philanthropic opportunities.
• Particular skill in developing non-alumni relationships into
  principal gift conversations where there is an alignment of
  interests.
• Ability to travel nationally and internationally with and staff
  the President, Senior Officers and key faculty on key meetings with
  prospects and donors approximately 20% – 30% of the time.

To learn more, visit
https://orgchart.mit.edu/leadership/vice-president-resource-development.