Major Gifts
Primer$100,000 - $120,000/year
Full Time
Mid-level (3 to 4 years), Senior (5 to 8 years)
Not SpecifiedCompensation
Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Non-ProfitIndustries
Requirements
- 4 years of successful fundraising experience, including at least 3 years of direct major gifts experience
- A record of personal success in raising money from individual major donors through current and planned gifts in the 4 to 5-figure range
- Broad-based knowledge of various development activities, including direct solicitations, event planning and management, and planned giving
- Excellent relationship management skills and the ability to work with a diverse group of donors and team members across geographies
- Excellent verbal communication skills
- Demonstrably strong writing skills
- Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy and accountability
- Ability to maintain confidentiality of donor information and a finely-tuned sense of discretion
- Ability to travel to meet with donors in person and attend Foundation gatherings
- Comfort and experience in a technology-driven environment
- Located with convenient travel into US East Coast or West Coast major metros and travel frequently
- A strong values and vision fit with the Wikimedia movement and Foundation
- A strong international perspective with personal experience in cross-cultural communication is highly valued
- Articulate and persuasive communicator, both in speaking and writing
- Active listening and strategizing; comfortable receiving input from many sources, and able to act on information to develop increased support
- Detail-oriented, able to maintain systems, track progress, and follow-up in a timely fashion
Responsibilities
- Serving as a front-line fundraiser on a team charged with securing annually increasing revenue targets through major gifts
- Cultivating and stewarding a portfolio of 75-100 prospects who have the capacity to give between $1k-$25k annually, along with qualifying and disqualifying major donors from a large giving pool, with frequent reevaluation of the portfolio based on qualification meetings
- Soliciting and securing major and planned gifts in support of the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Endowment, and building a pipeline for further giving and cultivation across our major gifts team
- Fostering strong, life-long donor relationships, including those assigned based on geographic location or other factors
- Developing intimate, high-end donor cultivation events, including building invitation lists, assisting with program content, and executing post-event cultivation strategies, in conjunction with the Events Manager
- Creating written materials to support fundraising, including meeting/event briefings, activity reports, solicitation letters, proposals, and stewardship reports
- Managing a variety of major donor communications, including project management, writing, and editing of these pieces, in collaboration with other staff across the Foundation
- Participating in donor identification, research, and qualification efforts
- Assisting with gift processing, acknowledgements, donor recognition, and other gift administration tasks as needed
- Tracking your contact with donors in our donor database
Skills
Key technologies and capabilities for this role
Questions & Answers
Common questions about this position
Is this position remote, and what are the location requirements?
The Senior Major Gift Officer will work remotely, but the ideal candidate will be located with convenient travel into US East Coast or West Coast major metros and travel frequently.
What experience is required for this role?
Candidates need 4 years of successful fundraising experience, including at least 3 years of direct major gifts experience, and a record of personal success in raising 4 to 5-figure gifts from individual major donors through current and planned gifts.
What is the salary or compensation for this position?
This information is not specified in the job description.
What does the fundraising team structure look like?
The Senior Major Gift Officer reports to and works closely with the Senior Manager of Major Gifts & Planned Giving, serving as a front-line fundraiser on a team charged with securing annually increasing revenue targets, and collaborates with staff like the Events Manager.
What makes a strong candidate for this Senior Major Gift Officer role?
A strong candidate has excellent relationship management skills, broad-based knowledge of development activities like direct solicitations, event planning, and planned giving, and the ability to manage a portfolio of 75-100 prospects while fostering lifelong donor relationships.
Wikimedia Foundation
Operates Wikipedia and free knowledge projects
About Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, aiming to create a world where everyone can freely access and share knowledge. It provides a platform for users to read, contribute, and share content, while also supporting the volunteer communities that help maintain these projects. The foundation is funded by donations from individuals and institutions, emphasizing its nonprofit status. Unlike many other organizations, it focuses on making knowledge accessible to all without charge, advocating for policies that support free knowledge initiatives. Its goal is to empower individuals to contribute to and benefit from a collective pool of knowledge.
San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2003Year Founded
$145.9MTotal Funding
GRANTCompany Stage
Social Impact, EducationIndustries
501-1,000Employees
Benefits
Remote Work Options
Risks
Reliance on Nvidia's AI tech may affect Wikimedia's data processing autonomy.
DSA audit could reveal vulnerabilities requiring significant resources to address.
Decentralized platforms like Mastodon may divert users from Wikipedia.
Differentiation
Wikimedia Foundation operates the world's largest free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
It supports a diverse range of projects like Wiktionary and Wikisource.
The Foundation is a non-profit, relying on global donations for funding.
Upsides
Nvidia's NeMo Retriever tech reduced Wikipedia processing time from 30 days to 3 days.
Holistic AI's audit under the DSA enhances Wikimedia's platform safety and accountability.
Collaboration with Open Foundation West Africa combats misinformation during Ghana's elections.
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