Director of Development, Major Gifts & Principal Gifts

Edtech.com's Summary

George Washington University is hiring a Director of Development, Major Gifts & Principal Gifts. The role involves creating and executing development programs to increase philanthropic support for the university's schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. The Director manages a portfolio of major gift prospects, engaging in personal visits and collaborating with university leadership to meet fundraising goals and build donor relationships.

Highlights

Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward up to 125 major gift prospects, including gifts exceeding $1 million.

Conduct 8-10 monthly one-on-one prospect visits to build donor relationships.

Collaborate with deans, faculty, clinical leaders, and development staff to achieve fundraising targets.

Support philanthropic priorities for faculty, student support, academic programs, and capital projects.

Provide senior leadership and mentorship to other major gifts officers.

Manage donor stewardship activities, including pledge collection and endowment fund oversight.

Required qualifications: Bachelor’s degree plus 6 years’ professional experience, or Master’s degree plus 4 years; degree must be conferred by start date.

Hiring salary range: $120,862.67 to $169,137.25.

Reports to the Assistant Vice President of Development, Health and Medicine.

Works within the Division of Advancement to promote a culture of philanthropy involving alumni, students, staff, and other university stakeholders.

Director of Development, Major Gifts & Principal Gifts Full Description

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Please see Special Instructions for more details.

Employer will not sponsor for employment Visa status

Posting Details

I. JOB OVERVIEW

Job Description Summary:	Director of Development, Major Gifts and Principal Gifts is a key member for the George Washington University Division of Advancement and the GW Health and Medicine Development team, representing the Schools of Medicine (SMHS), Nursing (SON) and Public Health (SPH). Our goal is to advance GWs mission of excellence in education, research, scholarship, and patient care. The Division of Advancement is responsible for leading the university’s alumni and fundraising efforts and seeks to promote a culture of philanthropy throughout the university community, including alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, corporations and foundations, patients and other friends. Our goal is to advance GWU’s mission of excellence in education, research, scholarship, and patient care. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President of Development, Health and Medicine, this position: Works alongside development staff across the division and university to create and execute a sustainable development program that will broaden GW’s base of philanthropic support, particularly for top prospects. Provides direct support to the dean, administrative leadership, faculty, clinical leaders and central and school based development staff to meet fundraising goals, and build affinity in support of philanthropic priorities. This position is responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of up to 125 major gift prospects for their respective school and/or division. This position will also develop and execute a strategy to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward gifts up to and exceeding $1 million. This position requires one-on-one engagement with the portfolio and will complete 8-10 monthly prospect visits in pursuit of this goal. Collaborates closely with fellow school/unit fundraisers, deans, department heads, faculty and administrative staff of the university to accomplish fundraising goals, in addition to working closely with prospect research and development/alumni relations colleagues in identifying, cultivating, and tracking major gift prospects. This role plays a critical role in developing meaningful connections with alumni, grateful patients, community members, parents, and friends of the school while developing strategies to move them across the donor continuum to result in stronger engagement and philanthropic support (outright major gifts and planned gifts). Additional responsibilities include preparation of briefing packets for university leadership, collaborating on the development strategy and management within several departments of the college or division in the portfolio, and participating in working group activities within development that advance university fundraising. This role is essential for achieving ambitious goals for philanthropic support for faculty support, student support, academic programs, and capital priorities, and will handle sensitive and confidential information. This position will provide senior leadership and mentorship to other major gifts officers, and may be a member of GW’s central development office or will support one of GW’s ten schools across the university. Self-management of personal metrics, including overall goal review in attainment, visits, pledge collection, portfolio moves management, etc. Stewards assigned donors, including pledge collection and management of endowment funds to ensure appropriate spending and communication to donors. This is the highest non-management fund-raising position at the university. Performs other related duties as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.
Minimum Qualifications:	Qualified candidates will hold a Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate area of specialization plus 6 years of relevant professional experience, or, a Master’s degree in a relevant area of study plus 4 years of relevant experience. Degree must be conferred by the start date of the position. Degree requirements may be substituted with an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
Additional Required Licenses/Certifications/Posting Specific Minimum Qualifications:
Preferred Qualifications:
Hiring Range	$120,862.67 - $169,137.25
GW Staff Approach to Pay	How is pay for new employees determined at GW?

Healthcare Benefits

GW offers a comprehensive benefit package that includes medical, dental, vision, life & disability insurance, time off & leave, retirement savings, tuition, well-being and various voluntary benefits. For program details and eligibility, please visit https://hr.gwu.edu/benefits-programs.

II. JOB DETAILS

Campus Location:	Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.
College/School/Department:	University Advancement
Family	Dev & Alumni Relations
Sub-Family	Major Gifts
Stream	Individual Contributor
Level	Level 4
Full-Time/Part-Time:	Full-Time
Hours Per Week:	40
Work Schedule:	Monday - Friday, 8:30-5pm, occasional evenings/weekends
Will this job require the employee to work on site?	Yes
Employee Onsite Status	Hybrid
Telework:	Yes
Required Background Check:	Criminal History Screening, Education/Degree/Certifications Verification, Social Security Number Trace, and Sex Offender Registry Search
Special Instructions to Applicants:	Employer will not sponsor for employment Visa status
Internal Applicants Only?	No
Posting Number:	S013957
Job Open Date:	12/12/2025
Job Close Date:
If temporary, grant funded, Sponsored Project funded or limited term appointment, position funded until:
Background Screening	Successful Completion of a Background Screening will be required as a condition of hire.
EEO Statement:	The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that does not unlawfully discriminate in any of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Posting Specific Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

* Are you currently employed with The George Washington University?
- No
- Yes
* For current GW employees, have you completed your Introductory Employment Period (IEP)? (As a reminder, employees in their IEP are not eligible to apply for other internal university staff and research positions until the IEP is complete.)
- Yes, IEP complete
- No, still in IEP
- N/a - not a current GW employee
* What is your expected salary range?
(Open Ended Question)

Documents needed to Apply

Required Documents

Resume
Cover Letter

Optional Documents

Human Resource
Management & Development

2013 H Street, NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20006

Phone: 202-994-8500
Fax: 202-994-9680
Email: askhrmd@gwu.edu
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Original Job Description