Major Gifts Officer

JOB SUMMARY

Description: Reporting to the Deputy Director, the Major Gifts Officer will play a critical role in strengthening the Biggs Museum of American Art’s major gifts program and advancing the institution’s comprehensive campaign. This position will focus on identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual donors and prospects with significant philanthropic capacity.

The Major Gifts Officer will help manage the Museum’s major gift and campaign pipeline, coordinate donor strategy, support leadership and volunteer engagement, and move prospects thoughtfully from identification to qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and commitment.

This is a frontline fundraising position with a significant management role. The Major Gifts Officer will personally build donor relationships while also helping deploy the right institutional leaders, Board members, volunteers, and staff at the right moments to advance key donor relationships.

Education and Experience:

This is not an entry-level role. The successful candidate should bring direct donor-facing fundraising experience, strong relationship management instincts, and the judgment to work effectively with major donors, senior leaders, Board members, and campaign volunteers.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• 5+ years of progressively responsible fundraising experience is preferred; exceptional candidates with slightly less experience may be considered if they bring strong donor-facing major gifts experience.
• Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and closing major gifts, preferably at the five- and six-figure level or above.
• Experience with major gifts and/or campaign fundraising, and a strong understanding of moves management, donor qualification, portfolio management, and relationship-based fundraising.
• High comfort level working with executive leadership, Board members, campaign volunteers, and other relationship-holders in donor cultivation and solicitation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare donor briefings, proposals, talking points, and follow-up communications.
• Experience using donor databases/CRMs and prospect research tools; Salesforce/Veevart and iWave a plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills, maturity, discretion, and commitment to ethical, donor-centered fundraising.
• Interest in museums, arts and culture, education, and community impact preferred.

Organizational Structure: Reports to the Deputy Director and works closely with the Executive Director, and advancement team.

Schedule: Full-time, on-site, exempt position. Some evenings and weekends are required for donor meetings, cultivation events, campaign activities, and key museum events. This is a donor-facing role requiring regular in-person presence in Dover and travel throughout the region. Candidates should reside in or be willing to relocate within a reasonable commuting distance of Dover, DE.  

Responsibilities

Major Gift Fundraising and Campaign Pipeline

• Manage an active portfolio of approximately 100-150 major gift donors and prospects, with portfolio size adjusted based on campaign phase, prospect capacity, and cultivation requirements.
• Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gift donors and prospects in support of The Biggs’ campaign and long-term fundraising goals.
• Conduct regular donor and prospect meetings, including discovery visits, cultivation conversations, solicitation meetings, and stewardship touchpoints.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and close major gifts, with an emphasis on five-, six-, and seven-figure potential where appropriate.
• Qualify newly identified prospects, including individuals with limited current connection to The Biggs but meaningful philanthropic, regional, civic, or arts-related capacity.
• Engage donors around Biggs’ mission, collection, exhibitions, education programs, community impact, and future vision.

 Moves Management and Donor Strategy

• Manage and coordinate Biggs’ major gift and campaign prospect pipeline, including qualification, prioritization, assignment, strategy, next steps, and follow-up.
• Develop individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies for priority prospects based on capacity, affinity, giving history, relationship pathways, and institutional knowledge.
• Translate prospect research, wealth screening, Board/volunteer insight, and institutional knowledge into practical donor strategy.
• Help determine when a prospect is ready for solicitation, who should lead/participate, and what ask amount or gift opportunity is appropriate.
• Create or coordinate tailored gift opportunities, proposals, briefing materials, and solicitation strategies.
• Maintain regular review of prospect movement, assignments, follow-up, and next steps.

Leadership, Board, and Volunteer Coordination

• Partner with the Deputy Director, development team, Board members, campaign volunteers, and senior museum leaders to identify relationship pathways and secure donor introductions.
• Prepare leadership and volunteers for donor conversations through briefing notes, research summaries, talking points, suggested next steps, and supporting materials.
• Manage donor assignment lists and help deploy the right staff leaders, Board members, volunteers, and relationship-holders at the right time in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Participate in regular prospect strategy meetings with the Deputy Director to review progress, assignments, follow-up, and next steps.
• Support Development Committee and/or campaign committee work as appropriate, particularly around prospect strategy, donor assignments, and major gift pipeline movement.

 Stewardship, CRM, and Reporting

• Develop thoughtful stewardship plans that keep donors meaningfully connected to the impact of their giving.
• Use Salesforce/Veevart consistently to document donor activity, relationship notes, assignments, next steps, proposals, asks, commitments, and stewardship actions.
• Track and report progress against major gift and campaign-readiness goals, including visits, meetings, proposals submitted, asks made, gifts closed, and prospects moved through the pipeline.
• Help ensure major gift records, donor assignments, campaign strategies, and follow-up steps are accurately documented and actively managed.
• Collaborate with advancement colleagues to ensure major gift strategy is aligned with annual giving, membership, events, grants, stewardship, and institutional priorities.

Compensation

The position offers a salary range of $90,000 to $110,000 annually commensurate with experience, along with insurance benefits, IRA match, PTO, and other benefits outlined in the employee handbook.

Apply
If you are excited about this role but do not meet every requirement, you are encouraged to apply. Please be ready to discuss how you plan to address any areas where you may need to develop further. We value diverse experiences and perspectives and believe they enhance the Museum team. We are open to considering all candidates who are passionate about contributing to our mission.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume to Sandra James (sandra.james@thebiggsmuseum.org) with the subject line “Major Gifts Officer candidate.” Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls please.

About working at the Biggs Museum of American Art

The Biggs Museum of American Art, located in the heart of downtown Dover, Delaware, is a vibrant hub for regional art and cultural engagement. Dedicated to transforming the community through the art of our region, the museum celebrates discovery, fosters collaboration, and is open to all.

Home to an exceptional collection of American fine and decorative arts, The Biggs showcases works spanning the Colonial era to the present, with a special emphasis on Delaware Valley artists and the rich artistic heritage of the Mid-Atlantic region. Alongside its permanent collection, the museum presents innovative temporary exhibitions, community programs, and educational initiatives that connect audiences of all ages to the transformative power of art.

As a cultural cornerstone of Dover’s lively downtown, The Biggs serves as a catalyst for learning, civic pride, and economic vitality, hosting everything from hands-on family programs and wellness events to special exhibitions featuring national and regional artists. Through partnerships with organizations, schools, and fellow museums, The Biggs advances the arts as essential to civic well-being and community life.

We believe that creativity has the power to improve individual lives and the well-being of a community. As part of that belief, The Biggs is committed to achieving diversity and inclusion in its hiring practices, governance, programming and engagement with the community. We are an equal opportunity employer regardless of, race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, military status, veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any other characteristic that is protected by law.