Director of Development

MIT Hillel

Role Overview

Join a dynamic team as our Director of Development at an exciting, supportive Hillel that has won a Great Place To Work award. Make your mark at a stable Hillel with a longstanding Executive Director and senior program staff.

As Director of Development, you will deliver the financial resources necessary to sustain and expand ongoing operations, including a current budget of about $1M from 1200 donors. Working closely with the Executive Director, the MIT Hillel staff and volunteer leadership, and MIT Development offices, the Director of Development must have an entrepreneurial spirit and be capable of working both independently and as part of a team. MIT Hillel is seeking a creative, organized individual with a minimum of eight years of professional experience in face-to-face solicitation, board development, and marketing. Familiarity with relational databases, Microsoft Excel, gift processing, special event planning, and prospect research is preferred.  

This is a full-time, non-exempt, in-person position that reports to our Executive Director.

What You’ll Do

Cultivating and stewarding a community of support that provides sufficient resources for MIT Hillel to:

• Run its program and meet annual budget this year,
• Have security for future years,
• Have the freedom to create new programs/initiatives and be leading edge in the field.

What You’ll Do

Annual Campaign

• Create and oversee the implementation of an annual campaign strategy that includes all levels of givers: major, pipeline, and general level donors.
• Drive the major gifts program by supporting and partnering with the Executive Director on major gift cultivation, solicitation, reporting, and stewardship (involves travel annually to Florida and California, and 2x/year to NYC).
• Partner with MIT Resource Development and Alumni Association professionals to steward and identify donors.
• Manage all mass mail appeals (physical and internet), including concept, design, and production.
• Oversee gift processing.
• Thoughtfully steward donors, including acknowledging gifts in a personal and timely fashion.
• Produce an annual report for stakeholders.
• Manage MIT Hillel’s participation in MIT’s annual giving day.

Cultivate New Donors

• Conduct donor prospect research, particularly for young and pipeline donors.
• Orchestrate donor meetings/events with the Executive Director and outside development opportunities.
• Research, prioritize, and implement new or expanded fundraising strategies.

Endowment/ Planned Giving 

• Identify and pursue opportunities for additional endowments and planned giving.

Communications and Community Building

• Write regular newsletter columns and other communications to educate and inspire current and future donors.
• Assist Executive Director with her communications, as needed.
• Plan and organize development-related special events throughout the year, including our Leading Jewish Minds speaker series and Reunions receptions.

Other Responsibilities

• Create and maintain positive working relationships with MIT’s development offices.
• Report quarterly to the Board of Directors.
• Forecast fundraising potential for annual budgeting process; monitor development expenses.
• Keep an eagle eye at all times on ensuring our data is always as close to perfect as possible.
• Supervise the Development/Administrative Associate to ensure accurate donor documentation and oversight of other development operations.

What You’ll Bring to the Job

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field plus 8 years of experience in fundraising and development.
• Intermediate skills in MS Office, including Excel, plus proficiency with development software.
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities, with an ability to inspire donors through storytelling and data-driven impact.
• A proactive mindset with the ability to take initiative and think creatively.
• Strong relationship-building skills.
• A passion for the mission of MIT Hillel. You should have a familiarity with and a commitment to the Jewish community. Knowledge of wider Jewish philanthropic communities and university development work is a plus.
• Ability to find humor and joy in the uniqueness of the MIT community.

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary for this role is $120,000-$140,000.
• A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, Group Supplemental Retirement Annuity (GSRA), pension plan, life insurance, Long Term Disability (LTD), generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
• Professional development, mentoring, and skill building opportunities.
• A network of terrific colleagues from across MIT and the Hillel movement.
• An unlimited supply of Hillel swag.

About MIT Hillel

MIT Hillel, located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ensures a vibrant Jewish life at MIT for undergraduate and graduate students and our extended community. The MIT campus, in Cambridge, MA, is part of greater Boston’s large and exciting university community.

Characteristic of the fact that MIT students are not afraid to challenge generally accepted ideas, any stereotype of the typical MIT student – and therefore an MIT alum – will not hold up to scrutiny. One can, however, generalize that those connected to MIT are savvy, entrepreneurial, and bright.

MIT Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.