Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts

About Friends' Central School

Friends’ Central School is an independent, coeducational Quaker day school founded in 1845 and serving approximately 850 students in Nursery through grade 12. Located in the Philadelphia suburbs, the School has two campuses. The Middle & Upper Schools are located just outside of West Philadelphia in Wynnewood, and the Lower School is on the Old Gulph Road campus in the heart of Wynnewood. The exceptional faculty at FSC offers a curriculum that cultivates the intellectual, spiritual, and ethical growth of our students. Our pedagogy is grounded in continuing revelation, reflection, integrity, and a willingness to accept responsibility. From Nursery to grade 12, students participate in a process designed to foster creative, critical, and flexible thinking, along with compassion. As they transform from playful children to skilled, self-possessed teenagers, they are always intellectually curious and engaged thinkers. FCS prepares graduates to succeed in college and in life. To learn more about Friends’ Central School, please visit https://www.friendscentral.org/. 

The Role of Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts

Friends’ Central School seeks an experienced, thoughtful fundraiser with a proven track record of success to serve as its next Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts. 

Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, the Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts will work to secure annual, capital, and endowment support and strengthen Friends’ Central School’s growing culture of philanthropy. Centering a commitment to the School’s mission, the Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts will work with the Chief Advancement Officer and Head of School to shape the strategic direction of the advancement office and facilitate a new era of fundraising and constituent relations. This will be accomplished through the creation of comprehensive, goal-based strategies, and the cultivation and stewardship of meaningful relationships within the community.

Reporting to Chief Advancement Officer, Colette Kleitz, the Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts will join a talented team working to expand philanthropic support from alumni and parent donors for Friends’ Central School’s educational programs, facilities, and endowment.  

The Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts will:

• Oversee the cultivation and solicitation of major and planned gifts, personally, and in concert with colleagues, Trustees, and other volunteers.
• Supervise two staff members - the Major Gift Officer and the Donor Relations Associate - and manage their own prospect pool.  
• Work closely with the Chief Advancement Officer to assess and strengthen all aspects of the Major Gifts program, including operations, prospect tracking, productivity metrics, and staff management.
• Establish an effective prospect pipeline and use this tool to track the universe of rated prospects and donors.  
• Use a data-driven approach to assigning prospect pools across the department.
• Collaborate with annual fund, stewardship, alumni relations, and advancement services colleagues to ensure efforts are coordinated and advance defined departmental goals.
• With the development team, Friends’ Central School leadership, and volunteers, participate in building the donor pipeline that will grow gift income into the future.  

Contact Information

This is a full-time position based on-site in Pennsylvania. Salary commensurate with experience with a generous benefits package.

Evaluation of candidate materials will begin immediately and continue until a new Associate Director of Advancement, Major Gifts is named. Inquiries, nominations, and letters of interest with a résumé may be sent in confidence to [email protected]. 

Friends’ Central School seeks candidates with a commitment to fostering an inclusive learning community who will address issues of diversity, as well as enhance the Philosophy of Inclusivity and Awareness articulated in our Diversity Statement.