Wikimedia Foundation · 7 hours ago
Senior Major Gift Officer
Wikimedia Foundation is a nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, aiming to provide free access to knowledge for everyone. The Senior Major Gift Officer plays a crucial role in the fundraising team, focusing on raising major and planned gifts while managing a portfolio of prospects and developing strategies for donor cultivation.
Computer Software
Responsibilities
Serving as a front-line fundraiser on a team charged with securing annually increasing revenue targets through major gifts
Cultivating and stewarding a portfolio of 75-100 prospects who have the capacity to give between $1k-$25k annually, along with qualifying and disqualifying major donors from a large giving pool, with frequent reevaluation of the portfolio based on qualification meetings
Soliciting and securing major and planned gifts in support of the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Endowment, and building a pipeline for further giving and cultivation across our major gifts team
Fostering strong, life-long donor relationships, including those assigned based on geographic location or other factors
Developing intimate, high-end donor cultivation events, including building invitation lists, assisting with program content, and executing post-event cultivation strategies, in conjunction with the Events Manager
Creating written materials to support fundraising, including meeting/event briefings, activity reports, solicitation letters, proposals, and stewardship reports
Managing a variety of major donor communications, including project management, writing, and editing of these pieces, in collaboration with other staff across the Foundation
Participating in donor identification, research, and qualification efforts
Assisting with gift processing, acknowledgements, donor recognition, and other gift administration tasks as needed
Tracking your contact with donors in our donor database
Qualification
Required
4 years of successful fundraising experience, including at least 3 years of direct major gifts experience
A record of personal success in raising money from individual major donors through current and planned gifts in the 4 to 5-figure range
Broad-based knowledge of various development activities, including direct solicitations, event planning and management, and planned giving
Excellent relationship management skills and the ability to work with a diverse group of donors and team members across geographies
Excellent verbal communication skills
Demonstrably strong writing skills
Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy and accountability
Ability to maintain confidentiality of donor information and a finely-tuned sense of discretion
Ability to travel to meet with donors in person and attend Foundation gatherings
Comfort and experience in a technology-driven environment
A strong values and vision fit with the Wikimedia movement and Foundation
Articulate and persuasive communicator, both in speaking and writing
Active listening and strategizing; comfortable receiving input from many sources, and able to act on information to develop increased support
Detail-oriented, able to maintain systems, track progress, and follow-up in a timely fashion
Sharing a culture of constructive criticism and respect
Self-motivated professional who takes initiative and has the ability to work independently
Gravitas and professionalism appropriate for interacting with high level donors, board members, and C-level staff
Preferred
Experience working in an organization with a timezone distributed workforce
Experience working with technical and/or scientific donors
Experience with endowment campaigns
Experience in marketing and/or securing planned gifts
Fluency in languages other than English
Company
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation encourages the development and distribution of free educational content with projects such as Wikipedia.
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$158.98MKey Investors
Alfred P. Sloan FoundationCraig Newmark PhilanthropiesGoogle.org
2020-01-01Grant· $2.1M
2019-09-10Grant· $2.5M
2019-01-22Grant· $1.1M
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2025-12-04
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