Major Gifts Officer

POSITION DESCRIPTION TITLE: Major Gifts Officer

REPORTS TO: Director of Development

CLASSIFICATION: Exempt

PRIMARY FUNCTION:

The Major Gifts Officer plays a key role in advancing the mission of Boys & Girls Clubs by building meaningful, long-term relationships with individual donors who believe every child deserves a safe place to belong and opportunities to succeed. This position is responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gift prospects through personalized outreach, including phone calls, meetings, and thoughtful recognition. Working closely with the development team and organizational leadership, the Major Gifts Officer connects donors to the life-changing impact of Boys & Girls Club programs in academics, workforce readiness, health, and wellness, ensuring supporters feel valued, informed, and inspired by the difference their generosity makes for kids and teens in our community.

This position may be structured as a 32- or 40-hour per week role, offering flexibility to align with the selected candidate’s preferences. The starting range for this position is budgeted at $60,000-$70,000 based on a 40 hour work week.

Key Responsibilities

Donor Cultivation & Solicitation

• Manage a portfolio of major gift prospects and donors with the capacity to give mid-and high-level gifts ranging from $2,500 .
• Conduct regular outreach, including high-volume calls and one-on-one meetings.
• Develop tailored cultivation and solicitation strategies based on donor interests.
• Prepare and present personalized proposals and giving opportunities.

Stewardship & Recognition

• Implement thoughtful stewardship plans, ensuring donors receive timely thanks and impact updates. Oversee recognition for named spaces in capital campaigns.
• Coordinate recognition activities and meaningful donor experiences such as tours or small events.
• Maintain accurate records of all interactions using the CRM system - DonorPerfect.

Prospect Identification & Portfolio Management

• Identify and research new prospects for major giving.
• Track donor movement and progress toward revenue goals.
• Collaborate with leadership, board members, and program staff to support donor engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 3 years of major gift fundraising experience.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including comfort with frequent outreach.
• Proven ability to build relationships and manage a donor portfolio.
• Organized, self-directed, and goal-oriented.
• CRM experience preferred.

Working Conditions

• Regular local travel for donor meetings.
• Occasional evening or weekend commitments for events

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

While performing the duties of this job the employee is frequently required to walk, sit and stand; talk or hear; use hands to finger; handle or feel objects, tools or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and may be infrequently required to run. The employee must remain physically fit enough to keep children safe in an emergency.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Must be able to stand for extended periods of time. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus. Hand-eye coordination is necessary to perform certain duties. The noise level in the work environment can range from quiet to moderate in office setting to moderate and usually loud in recreation and play settings when children are present.

All employees working directly with children at all Boys & Girls Club of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth locations may be required to work outdoors in various types of weather conditions.

The information presented indicates the general nature and level or work expected of employees in the classification. It is not designed to contain, or to be interpreted as, a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and objectives required of employees assigned to this job.