Job Overview

senior director, west coast & mid west, majr gifts, development &alumni relations, leadership

job description
senior director, west coast & mid west, majr gifts, development &alumni relations, leadership

category
charles river campus > professional
job location
boston, ma, united states
tracking code

posted date
8/21/2025
salary grade
grade 53
position type
full-time/regular

boston university (bu) seeks a collaborative and entrepreneurial senior director, west & midwest regions (senior director) to lead a seasoned team of major gift fundraisers working with a vast swath of the university's alumni and an abundant number of engaged and committed families and friends. this is an exciting
opportunity for an enterprising leader in major gift fundraising to join an institution at the outset of a campaign that will propel ever-more ambitious achievement.

the bu community is alive with excitement as president melissa gilliam, a medical doctor, macarthur-grant winning researcher, and adolescent health advocate assumed the university presidency on july 1, 2024. one of the largest nonprofit universities in the country, boston university comprises 17 schools and colleges. founded in 1839, bu has always been a hub for innovation. it was the first university to open all divisions to female students in 1872. bu created one of the first study abroad programs, and, today, about one third of the university's 37,557 students come from countries outside the united states. this inclusivity is one of the greatest institutional strengths of the university, underpinned by the university's commitment to making bu affordable for all qualified students through initiatives like the century challenge. this unique philanthropic tool greatly increases scholarship support and provides access to the best and brightest students around the world. by participating in the century challenge, a donor establishes an endowed scholarship fund of $100,000 or more, and the university matches the income distributed from that fund for scholarship purposes for 100
years.

reporting to the assistant vice president of major gifts, the senior director will be responsible for leading a donor-centric fundraising program and ensuring their team collectively surpasses ambitious annual fundraising goals and activity benchmarks. this position functions as a thought leader of the major gifts fundraising effort
for the university and provides oversight, direction, and advice for the west and midwest regions. working closely with university leaders, the senior director will spearhead fundraising strategies for several of the most critical markets for the university nationally. leading by example, the senior director will manage a portfolio
of major and principal gift prospects.

the ideal candidate will possess a minimum of ten years of development experience, a keen understanding of best practices in fundraising, at least five years of managerial experience, and a demonstrated record of accomplishment in developing successful fundraising strategies in a complex university. the successful
candidate will have a proven track record of personally identifying, cultivating, and soliciting major and principal gifts. the successful candidate must have extraordinary communication skills with a collegial, team building style and a demonstrated ability to motivate staff as well as to cultivate productive, collaborative relationships across campus. the next senior director will foster a professional work environment that rewards individual and collective success, builds confidence, and promotes diversity in all its forms. in accordance with its core values and mission, bu is especially interested in recruiting members of diverse communities and individuals who will promote and uphold the values embodied within the university's diversity statement.

boston university

boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world. boston university is committed to generating new knowledge to benefit society.

bu remains dedicated to its founding principles: that higher education should be accessible to all, and that research, scholarship, artistic creation, and professional practice should be conducted in the service of the wider community-local and international. these principles endure in the university's insistence on the value of diversity, in its tradition and standards of excellence, and in its dynamic engagement with the city of boston and the world.

boston university comprises a remarkable range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs built on a strong foundation of the liberal arts and sciences. with the support and oversight of the board of trustees, the university, through its faculty, continually innovates in education and research to ensure that it meets the needs of students and an ever-changing world.

dr. melissa l. gilliam
president, boston university

bu's president, dr. melissa l. gilliam, is a national leader in faculty recruitment and student success and a champion of diversity and inclusion. dr. gilliam is a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics; her scholarship focuses on developing interventions to promote adolescent health and well-being. dr. gilliam graduated from harvard medical school and earned a master of public health from the university of illinois chicago. in addition to her deep background in the sciences and medicine, she studied english literature at yale university and earned her master of arts in philosophy and politics from the university of oxford.

before her appointment as bu president, dr. gilliam served as the executive vice president and provost of the ohio state university, overseeing 15 colleges and six campuses and the office of academic affairs, including undergraduate education, graduate education, international affairs, diversity and inclusion, external engagement, online learning, and information technology.

development & alumni relations at bu

with an endowment valued at approximately $3.5 billion, bu has a legacy of endowment giving in support of faculty chairs and student scholarships. in fy2024, the university raised $349 million in annual philanthropic support. there are approximately 350,000 known prospects and more than 455,000 living alumni; the alumni
giving rate is approximately 10 percent.

bu's board of trustees and the university's executive leadership team are invested in the future of bu and are mobilizing for a comprehensive fundraising campaign, which is currently in the quiet phase. the last campaign for bu, choose to be great, closed in 2019 and raised $1.85 billion for the university.

development & alumni relations (dar) comprises a team of 273 professionals in principle, international, and major gifts, foundation relations, annual giving, alumni engagement, stewardship, talent management, and advancement information systems, including database management and prospect research. as bu prepares for another campaign, dar is reinvigorating its approach to prospect management and analytics. dar has added a prospect information strategies team that is incorporating prospect analytics and predictive modeling, which includes information and process flows around prospect, portfolio, and pipeline development. they have also added resources to the leadership annual giving and donor experience teams, underpinning the major gifts pipeline with growth in the breadth and depth of the donor base. these are just a few of the exciting areas of investment in staff and resources aimed at supporting the ramp up into the next campaign.

dar harnesses the power of philanthropy to make an excellent education accessible and welcoming to all, and to advance bu's global leadership in research, scholarship, artistic creation, and professional practice. to support their work, dar has built-and is continuing to build-an outstanding team of dynamic, mission-driven advancement professionals who constantly strive to create an environment where everyone belongs. it's not just a job, but a career and a community.

dar values:

• teamwork, transparency, and mutual respect, because we value every member's contribution and know that leadership can come from anywhere.
• diversity, equity, inclusion, and a commitment to ensuring that each of us knows we belong here.
• integrity in how we work and how we treat one another.
• strategic thinking and curiosity in the relentless pursuit of fresh approaches and measurable results.
• continuous growth and improvement, both as individuals and as a team.
• joy and shared appreciation for working hard toward goals that matter.

to learn more about the dar team please visit

senior director, west & midwest regions, major gifts

the senior director, west & midwest regions, major gifts is a senior member of the major gifts team, a cohort of fundraisers focused on securing gifts of $100,000+ from boston university alumni, parents, and other individuals. in addition to fundraising across six regions nationally, the major gifts team comprises colleagues
leading the university's athletics and parents & family philanthropy programs. the major gifts team plays a key role in fundraising for university initiatives such as the newbury center for first-generation student success, the bu arts initiative, the student wellbeing initiative, and click apply for full job details