Major Gifts Officer

About itrek

itrek empowers rising and current influentials to experience Israel firsthand. Through peer, professional and faculty-led Israel Treks, both graduate students from top programs and industry leaders experience Israel’s innovation, diversity and complex reality. With over 25,000 participants across 130 nationalities since its launch in 2011, itrek brings the richness and complexity of Israel to life through Israel Treks that combine education, culture, and fun–and leave a lasting impression on participants.

itrek is a 30-person team based in New York and Israel that continues to operate as a fast-moving and nimble organization. We love exploring new ideas and collaborating as a team to push ourselves and our thinking.

Position Overview

itrek is expanding beyond its strong history of institutional giving to build a robust individual donor base.  To drive this growth forward, itrek is in search of a dynamic and seasoned Major Gifts Officer (MGO). Currently, itrek generates upwards of $11M annually, with over $2M sourced from individual contributors. The MGO will join itrek at an exciting time when the organization is raising the financial resources to support a budget of more than $15M.

Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer, the Major Gifts Officer (MGO) will join a five-person Development Team to cultivate, solicit, and steward donors, focusing on four and five-figure gifts. With main offices in New York City and Tel Aviv, the MGO will be essential in expanding itrek’s supporter network, particularly in South Florida. They will develop cultivation and solicitation strategies, manage a donor portfolio, and support the CEO and CGO with their donor accounts. Responsibilities also include planning small-scale donor events. The ideal candidate is a self-motivated, collaborative, and goal-oriented fundraiser with experience working with senior professionals and board members. The Major Gifts Officer is a remote position, with travel required up to 30% in key demographic areas as well as occasional travel to itrek’s offices in NYC. 

Primary Responsibilities

Individual Major Giving, Stewardship & Strategy (70%)

• In collaboration with the CGO, CEO and Board, design and implement an effective regional major gift donor program, including setting goals and strategies to expand, cultivate, solicit, and steward the donor base
• Identify, develop, and maintain a personal portfolio of major donors through prospecting, cultivation, direct solicitations, and stewardship. (Note: itrek defines a major donor as a contribution of $5k and above)
• Grow the individual giving function by building a new portfolio in South Florida, expanding on key relationships and meeting monthly and quarterly benchmarks. 
• Establish and maintain ongoing donor and prospect relationships by phone/Zoom, written communication, and personal contact; create and execute personalized communications and engagement plans for each donor and prospect
• Assist the CEO, CGO, Board, and itrek team members with their portfolios and solicitations (e.g. provide portfolio development support, strategic thought partnership, and help with donor communications) 
• Identify leadership engagement opportunities for donors and lay leaders, including itrek alumni and Advisory Board members.
• Work with development colleagues to screen and prepare profiles of current and prospective donors
• Work with the Development Team to refine research, data entry, and acknowledgment processes as needed; track and report progress in Salesforce using specific metrics

 

Fundraising Events (25%)

• Execute small-scale fundraising and cultivation events in key communities
• Implement regional industry-specific events for alumni and prospective/current donors

 

Development Team Responsibilities (5%)

• Collaborate with itrek’s Director of Development & Institutional Giving on departmental strategy and partner with the Development Operations Associate on moves management tracking.
• Participate as an active member of the Development Team, including attendance at regular team meetings, department-wide campaigns and stewardship activities, and other Growth Team projects as necessary

 

Skills and Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years of nonprofit fundraising experience, including successful relationship-building with high-level donors 
• Proven capability to engage and inspire high net-worth individuals, coupled with a deep understanding of Israel and the dynamics of Jewish philanthropy
• Established success in fundraising, showcasing proficiency in segmenting, prioritizing, and crafting st