Senior Director of Major Gifts
Earthjustice
Sales & Business Development
New York, NY, USA
USD 255,100-283,400 / year
Posted on May 28, 2025
The Senior Director leads a sophisticated, nationwide major gifts team raising more than $25M annually with plans to double major gifts revenue by 2029. To set us up for success, we are seeking an ambitious fundraising leader with a clear track record of growing major giving, significant experience managing a remote team of gift officers, and demonstrated ability to secure six and seven-figure gifts. Our next Senior Director will be a highly skilled strategist, strong and persuasive communicator, and motivating team builder. Success will be defined by revenue growth, increased average gift size, and expanding donor markets.
In addition to leading the major gifts team, the Senior Director is a key member of the department’s leadership team. They are responsible for achieving the total organizational fundraising goal, enabling a healthy department culture for 100+ staff, and supporting innovative approaches to growing philanthropic revenue.
Notably, the Senior Director will lead a cross-departmental effort to grow regional donor markets, focused on NYC and SF in the first year. Working with a cross-team cohort, this role will guide a comprehensive approach to expanding these markets. Because of this, the next Senior Director is a hybrid or office-based role in New York City.
The Senior Director reports to the Associate VP of Institutional, Legacy & Major Giving, and directly supervises four staff, including the Major Gifts Director, Major Gifts Senior Associate Director, Earthjustice Council Associate Director, and a Team Specialist. Major gifts staff are primarily “out the door” relationship builders working with colleagues in planned, principal, and mid-level giving while supported by research, data, and writing staff. Therefore, the role works closely with leaders across fundraising and fundraising operations teams.
Responsibilities
Major Gifts Leadership (30%): Provide strategic direction and guidance for the Major Gifts team, creating an environment of success for major gifts staff. As a collaborative leader, you’ll ensure excellence in the donor experience, drive a strategic approach to advancing donor relationships, and hold the team accountable to meeting its goals and agreements. You’ll do this by:
- Ensuring every donor and qualified prospect has a solid strategy,
- Setting and tracking progress towards ambitious revenue and engagement goals.
- Leading annual planning, ongoing learning, and quality improvement efforts.
- Overseeing a robust Earthjustice Council made up of major donor peer-to-peer fundraisers.
- Establishing successful relationships and processes with teams across the department.
- Guiding an emerging regional market building strategy.
Department Leadership (10%): Serve as a productive member of the Development Leadership Team, alongside other department directors and VPs. As a key departmental leader, you’ll help shape the long-term vision, goals, strategies, policies and procedures for the department. You’ll do this through:
- Creating and contributing to department-wide recommendations.
- Engaging and enhancing in cross-team planning and problem-solving.
- Owning and communicating department changes, updates, or requests with the major gifts team.
Staff Management (40%): Supervise staff, including managers, based upon guidance from Earthjustice guidelines on Management Effectiveness. As a staff supervisor, you’ll provide clear direction aligned with Earthjustice’s mission and foster a respectful, inclusive, and collaborative work environment. You’ll do this through:
- Providing mentorship and supporting professional development.
- Giving ongoing performance feedback.
- Modeling and leading conflict resolution.
- Guiding and implementing team-building efforts.
Direct Fundraising (20%): Manage a small portfolio of top tier donors and prospects, especially in the NYC area. As a frontline fundraiser, you’ll directly and strategically engage donors and prospects with major gift capacity, collaborate with other program and development staff to maximize giving, and solicit major gifts. You’ll do this by:
- Setting and meeting donor visit and move goals.
- Sharing learnings, strategy, and best practices with Earthjustice colleagues.
- Package comprehensive gift proposals that align donor interest with program needs.
- Seeking gifts near or at a donor’s estimated 5-year gift capacity.
Please note that the percentage breakdowns provided above serve as a guideline and may shift over time based on the evolving needs of the role and/or department.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of successful major gifts experience in a growing organization.
- 5+ years of experience managing teams, including at least 3 years supervising managers.
- Experience working with CRMs including BBEC, Salesforce, or similar.
- Outstanding communication and comprehension skills as demonstrated through clear writing and speaking as well as ability to translate complex issues for non-expert audiences.
- Highly skilled major gifts strategist with deep understanding of moves management and frameworks for increasing captured gift capacity.
- Ability to synthesize data and fundraising trends in order to inform decision-making.
- Ability to prioritize, manage multiple deadlines, and respond quickly to new opportunities.
- Willingness to work on fast-paced projects in collaboration with other Earthjustice staff members.
- Skilled in leading diverse teams; fosters growth through mentorship, effective communication, and constructive feedback while hiring and developing team talents to align with organizational needs.
- Contributes towards an equitable and inclusive work culture that encourages partnership, active listening, and integrating diverse perspectives.
- Supports Earthjustice’s core values of partnership, inclusion, justice and excellence.
Salary & Benefits
We offer a competitive salary and excellent, comprehensive benefits. We also offer a casual and congenial work environment.
Salaries at Earthjustice are determined by experience level and working location.
Salary range in New York, NY:$255,100 – $283,400