University Advancement and External Relations

JOB SUMMARY:

The Leadership Gift Officer (LGO) is an agile front-line fundraiser responsible for identifying, qualifying, cultivating, and soliciting donors within Adelphi University’s leadership giving tier ($1,000 to $10,000+). Reporting to the Director of Leadership and Planned Giving, the LGO actively manages a dynamic portfolio of approximately 200 prospects.

This position focuses on discovering new potential support by mining unmanaged prospect pools, parent lists, and young alumni cohorts. Through proactive outreach and regional visits, the LGO builds a consistent pipeline for institutional priorities while identifying prospects with high major gift capacity ($25,000+) for referral to senior gift officers.

REPORTS TO: Director of Leadership and Planned Giving

RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Portfolio Management: Actively manage ~200 leadership gift prospects through all stages of the donor lifecycle, ensuring steady progression toward formal solicitations.

• Discovery & Prospect Qualification: Conduct proactive discovery work across unmanaged alumni and parent lists to identify prospective donors with high inclination and capacity to support Adelphi.

• Solicitation & Performance Metrics: Complete 100+ substantive prospect visits/engagements annually and meet defined solicitation targets for the Annual Fund and special institutional initiatives.

• Pipeline Transition: Evaluate portfolio constituents for major gift capacity ($25,000+); partner with senior gift officers to transition qualified prospects into major gift portfolios.

• Collaborative Outreach: Partner with the Alumni Relations and Advancement Services teams to leverage regional events and institutional communications for lead generation.

• Administrative & Professional Integrity: Maintain accurate and timely documentation of prospect interactions, contact reports, proposals, and stage movements in the advancement database.

• Perform other related duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities):

• Self-motivated and proactive approach to initiating contact with new or unmanaged prospects via phone, email, virtual meetings, and in-person visits.
• Clear understanding of basic donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship techniques.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to organize time, manage multiple prospect tracks, and meet performance metrics.
• Willingness to travel regionally and work occasional evenings/weekends for donor visits and events.
• Proficiency with basic database entry, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace applications.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• Minimum of three years of experience in development, annual giving, sales, admissions recruiting, or customer-facing outreach required.
• Experience within higher education is preferred.

ABOUT ADELPHI: