Major Gifts Officer

Supervisor:
Director of Development

Location:
Development

Position Overview:
Reporting to the Director of Development, the incumbent will identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward alumni, parents and other major gift prospects. As a member of the Development team, the incumbent will help create and implement key initiatives designed to significantly increase the college’s fundraising capacity, and carry an individual portfolio of approximately 150 prospects.

Responsibilities:

80% A. Participate in all aspects of the gift cycle

  1. Identify, cultivate and solicit major gifts ($2,500-$25,000 on an annualized basis) from Alumni, and other prospects for The Cooper Union and its constituent schools of Architecture, Art and Engineering, as well as for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  2. Maintain a portfolio of, and serve as prospect manager for, approximately 150 major gift prospects for the solicitation of a major gift and an annual gift
  3. Steward major gift prospects through correspondence, calls, visits, and events as appropriate and track prospect activity
  4. Develop effective major gift solicitation strategies, write compelling proposals and help develop solicitation materials to prospects in the $2,500 to $25,000 range
  5. Develop and manage affinity groups
  6. Track the status of multi-year pledges and send pledge reminders to donors
  7. Acknowledge gifts and assure appropriate donor recognition
  8. Assist with event planning as needed
  9. Provide gift and cultivation status reports on prospect portfolio


20% B. Assist in the creation of reports of results of fundraising activity

Qualifications:

  • Minimum BA degree
  • Three to five years of direct fundraising or related experience
  • Ability to communicate effectively to internal and external audiences through exceptional personal presentation and persuasive writing
  • Superior analytical and organizational skills
  • Desire to work in a collaborative environment stressing mutual support for common objectives

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is an AA/EOE by choice.

Submit application to:
Human Resources, 30 Cooper Square, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10003
or email to: hr@cooper.edu

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.