Department: Alumni Relations & Development
Salary/Grade: EXS/14
Target hiring range for this position will be between $160,000-$180,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
For full consideration, please apply by Tuesday, March 17.
Job Summary:
This position reports to the Executive Director of the West Coast Regional Office and is located in Los Angeles. The Director of Major Gifts is responsible for managing a significant major and/or principal gift donor portfolio consisting of alumni, friends, and parents in Southern California. The Director will manage processes and prospects by building a balanced portfolio through qualifying visits, cultivating prospects, making solicitations that align with prospects' interests and financial capacity, securing commitments, and stewarding current donors. This position collaborates with colleagues across Alumni Relations and Development in Evanston and Chicago as well as with deans, faculty, program directors, and other University leaders to prepare them for prospect meetings and form a plan of solicitation of donors that includes coordinating with other development staff to align prospect passion, financial capacity, giving vehicle and/or identify stewardship opportunities for major donors. Travel is required to Evanston three times a year.
Please note: This position is located in Los Angeles.
Specific Responsibilities:
Strategic Planning
- Creates and leads a coordinated program of fundraising activities designed to increase the number and level of major and/or principal gifts donors.
- Develops and executes strategies to involve campus leaders, alumni, friends, and volunteers to identify and cultivate new individual, corporate, institutional and/or foundation prospects.
- Gathers data, assesses leads, and develops strategies designed to realize the current and lifetime giving potential of individual prospects.
- Maintains consistent and appropriate contact.
- Facilitates or makes solicitations.
- Closes major ($250K to $5M) and principal gifts ($5M+) for the University.
- Ensures effective stewardship.
Collaboration
- Reviews and proposes strategic alliances, joint ventures and key collaborations with department and other University partners to identify opportunities to integrate University strategic plan goals.
- Oversees and coaches team members regarding department collaborations.
- Key partnerships and work involved includes:
- Schools and Programs
- Gift planning
- Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA)
- Northwestern University Leadership Circle (NULC)
- Professional schools (Kellogg, Pritzker Law, and Feinberg)
Prospects and Gifts
- Builds a portfolio through discovery and qualification of approximately 40+ prospects annually in the region they are assigned to.
- Identifies and personally solicits hi-profile, and/or extremely complex major gifts of $250K to $5M and principal gifts of $5M+.
- Oversees continuous research, development and up-to-date knowledge on prospects and works with other areas to coordinate contacts.
- Requires travel throughout the region and 3-4 annual trips to Evanston.
- Partners with other areas of development, specifically Annual and Planned Giving to coordinate contacts.
Volunteers
- Interact with volunteers on the West Coast; attend meetings and utilize volunteer help as needed.
Events
- Act as a strategic partner for the donor engagement team to support and advance long-term event strategy aligned with regional fundraising goals.
- Serve as a liaison between the donor engagement and major gift teams to enhance event processes aligned with prospect identification, donor cultivation, and stewardship.
Administration
- Ensures compliance with prospect management guidelines for tracking and maintenance of contact and progress reporting.
- Coordinates appointments and prepares materials used by senior management, Board and volunteers for meetings, visits, events or phone calls made to high-profile prospects.
- Oversees administrative support management to ensure effective team success and daily operations.
- Writes correspondence and proposals to prospective donors.
- Prepares contact reports on meetings and interactions with alumni.
- Updates and maintains prospect management information in the donor database.
- Tracks and manages the prospective donor pool to develop reports and monitor program results.
Miscellaneous
Performs other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications: (Education, experience, and any other certifications or clearances)
Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)
Regional Fundraising Strategy & Portfolio Leadership
- Develops and executes a regional fundraising strategy while managing a portfolio of major and principal gift prospects.
Principal Gift Strategy & Judgment
- Evaluates complex donor situations and develops strategies to secure transformational gifts aligned with institutional priorities.
Cross-Campus Influence & Partnership
- Builds strong partnerships with deans, faculty, and university leadership to advance fundraising priorities and coordinate donor strategies.
People Leadership or Staff Development
- Leads, coaches, and develops staff to achieve ambitious fundraising goals.
Resilience & Adaptability
- Maintains momentum and strategic focus while navigating complex donor relationships and evolving priorities
Regional Prospect Strategy & Pipeline Growth
Preferred Qualifications: (Education and experience)
Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)
Campaign and Principal Gift Leadership
- Experience contributing to large-scale fundraising initiatives or campaigns and coordinating strategies across multiple institutional stakeholders.
Strategic Network Development
- Demonstrates the ability to expand donor networks within a region by identifying new relationship pathways and cultivating high-capacity prospects.
Institutional Influence
- Ability to guide senior leaders and partners in shaping donor engagement strategies that align institutional priorities with philanthropic opportunity.
Fundraising Program Development
- Experience designing or scaling regional fundraising initiatives, volunteer engagement strategies, or prospect pipelines.
Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.
Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.
Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.
Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.
Northwestern University
$160,000-$180,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.For full consideration, please apply by Tuesday, March 17.
Mar 11, 2026