Major Gifts Professional (Interim) - Philanthropy Team

Khan Academy is looking for a major gifts professional to join their Philanthropy team in an interim capacity from October through February. This role involves behind-the-scenes portfolio management and solicitation support for major individual giving, core writing for individual giving proposals and reports, and leading a focused research project to identify new major-gift and mid-level prospects from AI-sector liquidity events.

The role supports the wealth-wave plan to expand the individual pipeline and ensures philanthropic leadership is well-prepared for donor engagements through the end of the year.

This position reports directly to the Director of Philanthropy for overall direction, prioritization, and approvals, and collaborates closely with the Chief of External Relations on individual major donor outreach and end-of-year solicitations. Weekly hours are managed against a blended cap of 40 hours/week, with emphasis shifting across work streams as deadlines and priorities evolve.

Key Responsibilities:

• Portfolio & Donor Strategy (~10 hrs/wk, through EOY):
  • Leadership Preparation: Prepare C-suite executives and philanthropic leadership for individual major donor meetings with briefings, pre-read decks, suggested strategies, and follow-up on next steps.
  • End-of-Year Outreach Management: Track and manage the Chief of External Relations' end-of-year donor outreach, including who has been contacted, follow-up status, and next steps.
  • Outreach Coordination: Coordinate donor outreach email by triaging messages, drafting responses for review, and flagging donor replies that need attention.
  • CRM Management: Maintain accurate donor activities and updates in Salesforce (SFDC).
• Philanthropic Writing & Reporting (~10–15 hrs/wk, ongoing):
  • Impact Metrics: Coordinate with key team members to pull, analyze, and present key performance metrics as part of preparing donor reports.
  • Review & Approvals: Submit donor reports, proposals, and related materials to the Director of Philanthropy for initial review ahead of final approval by the Chief of External Relations.
• Prospect Research & Pipeline Expansion (~5–10 hrs/wk, until complete):
  • Prospect List Development: Work with internal teams to cross-reference generated lists against Khan Academy’s existing donor, prospect, and email records to flag existing connections, and deliver a prioritized prospect list with supporting rationale for the wealth-wave strategy.

What You Bring:

• 7+ years demonstrated experience in philanthropy, major gifts fundraising, and individual giving responsibility.
• Strategic Thinker & Execution Focus: Proven ability to manage behind-the-scenes fundraising operations, moves management systems, and donor pipeline development strategies.
• Exceptional Writing Skills: Exceptional written communication skills with experience crafting compelling donor communications, briefings, and philanthropic proposals and reports.
• Leadership Enablement: Demonstrated experience preparing, briefing, and supporting executive leaders and board members for high-level donor engagements.
• Prospect Research: Experience using prospecting and wealth screening tools and public information to identify and prioritize major-gift prospects.
• Relationship & Cross-Functional Ability: Strong interpersonal skills to work seamlessly across functions and leadership dynamics.
• Fundraising Expertise: Demonstrated success raising six-figure+ gifts and solid understanding of major gifts, donor pipelines, wealth screening/wealth-wave strategies, and moves management processes.
• Rapid Ramp-Up: Proven ability to quickly absorb an organization’s strategy, priorities, and narrative, and deliver meaningful results from the first weeks of an engagement.
• Organization & Flexibility: Ability to manage multiple concurrent work streams against a blended hour cap and shift emphasis as deadlines and priorities change.
• Mission Alignment: Deep passion for Khan Academy’s mission to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere.
• Cross-Cultural Competency: Proven ability to adopt inclusive perspectives and demonstrate self-awareness to support inclusion and belonging across the organization.