The Senior Major Gifts Officer is a frontline fundraiser responsible for building and managing a portfolio of individual major donors and prospects with a focus on gifts of $1,000 and above. This role is Arizona's Children Association's primary relationship manager for high-capacity individual donors, moving them through a structured and personal cultivation and solicitation process.

This is a builder role. AzCA's individual major giving program is in its early stages, and this person will help shape it from the ground up. The right candidate brings initiative, relationship instincts and a genuine belief in the power of child welfare to change lives. This position reports to the Chief Development Officer.

This role is designed to grow. High performers who build a strong individual donor portfolio, launch the Leadership Giving Society, and demonstrate the ability to lead cross-functional fundraising strategies will be considered for advancement into a Major Gifts Director role.

Salary Range: $65,000.00-$75,000.00

Key Responsibilities:

Portfolio Management and Major Gift Cultivation

• Manage an active portfolio of major donor prospects and donors, with a primary focus on individuals giving or with the capacity to give $1,000 or more annually.
• Execute all phases of the donor lifecycle: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Develop individualized engagement plans for each portfolio donor, with regular documented touchpoints and a clear path to ask.
• Conduct face-to-face meetings, site visits, and donor briefings to deepen relationships and align interests with AzCA's programs and priorities.
• Prepare personalized proposals, impact reports, and gift agreements in support of major gift requests.
• Collaborate with the CDO and CEO on solicitations for gifts above a defined threshold.

Leadership Giving Society

• Design and launch AzCA's Leadership Giving Society, a formal recognition and engagement program for donors contributing $1,000 or more annually.
• Develop a tiered membership structure, recognition benefits and year-round stewardship touchpoints for Society members.
• Create Society-specific communications, collateral and cultivation events to deepen member connection to AzCA's mission.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for all Leadership Giving Society members and prospects.
• Set annual membership growth targets in partnership with the CDO and track progress toward those goals.

Prospect Development and Pipeline Growth

• Use wealth screening tools, giving history analysis and relationship mapping to identify and qualify new prospects.
• Build a prospecting strategy that moves tax credit donors, recurring annual fund donors, and community stakeholders into the major giving pipeline.
• Maintain accurate and timely documentation of all donor interactions, strategies, and revenue projections in Raiser's Edge NXT.
• Perform database prospecting and, in conjunction with the Chief Development Officer, create applicable cultivation strategies.
• Participate in regular portfolio review meetings with the CDO to assess pipeline health and adjust strategy.

Donor Stewardship and Experience

• Design and implement a stewardship program for major donors that goes beyond acknowledgment letters, including personalized impact reports, program updates, and meaningful touchpoints between asks.
• Partner with program staff to develop specific, data-driven impact narratives tied to donor interests.
• Coordinate small, high-touch donor cultivation and stewardship events in partnership with the development team.
• Introduce donors to planned giving options, including donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions (QCDs), gifts of appreciated assets, and basic bequests, as part of relationship-based conversations.

Board and Leadership Partnership

• Support the CDO in preparing board members for specific cultivation and solicitation meetings.
• Serve as a strategic partner within the development team, contributing to overall fundraising planning and campaign strategy.
• Represent Arizona's Children Association at community and philanthropic events across Arizona.

Grant Writing (Philanthropic)

• Write and manage grant proposals to private and family foundations for gifts of $10,000 and above, in partnership with the CDO.
• Maintain grant calendar and ensure timely submission of proposals and funder reports.

Minimum Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• 3 to 5 years of progressive fundraising experience with demonstrated success in donor cultivation and solicitation.
• Demonstrated success securing individual gifts of $1,000 or more through personal relationship management.
• Experience working with senior leaders and board members in a fundraising context.
• Passion for child welfare and trauma-informed, family-centered services.
• Experience in child welfare, human services or a related nonprofit sector (Preferred).
• Familiarity with donor database systems; Raiser's Edge NXT experience preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

• Moves management and donor lifecycle strategy
• Donor qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship
• Planned giving basics and blended gift strategies at a conversational level
• Trauma-informed care principles and ethical storytelling with vulnerable populations
• IRS regulations and charitable giving compliance basics
• Trends in individual philanthropy and high-net-worth giving
• CRM/database systems, with Raiser's Edge NXT preferred
• Wealth screening tools and prospect research methodologies
• Build authentic, trust-based relationships with major donors
• Engage board members and executive leadership in donor strategy
• Conduct face-to-face solicitations with confidence and adaptability
• Navigate complex or multi-year gift conversations
• Connect donor values to child welfare outcomes in compelling ways
• Articulate complex social issues in accessible, emotionally resonant language
• Self-direct portfolio activity while aligning with organizational goals
• Manage competing priorities and long cultivation cycles with discipline

Minimum Qualification and Requirements

• Must be 21 years of age (licensing requirement).
• Possess a valid Arizona driver's license and be insurable under the agency's automobile policy.
• Must be able to provide own transportation to and from donor meetings and community events.
• Must be able to provide DPS fingerprint clearance.
• Must be able to meet training and agency compliance requirements for the position.
• An individual may qualify for this position if the individual is able to "perform safely" the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations. Perform safely means to perform without causing a direct threat to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodations, as defined by 42 U.S.C. #1211 (b) and the Commission's regulations found at 29 C.F.R #1630.2 (r).