Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology - Major Gifts Officer bei Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology

Who We Are: 

Are you ready to work at a dynamic institution that believes in higher education with lower obstacles? Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (now known as Franklin Cummings Tech) is a nationally accredited non-profit, technical college serving Eastern Massachusetts and beyond. The college was seeded in 1791 with funds from the estate of Benjamin Franklin that were given to the City of Boston to proliferate access to education and level the playing field for aspiring talent with meager financial means.  

Today, Franklin Cummings Tech continues to build on that legacy by offering post-secondary education in high-demand technical and skilled trade fields that lead to excellent careers. Our majors intentionally focus on select industries connected to sustainability and the clean energy transition including electric vehicle technology, smart manufacturing, practical electricity, power engineering, heat pumps/HVAC, biotechnology, automation, construction management and more.  

With a mission to deliver transformative technical and trade education that leads to economic advancement, we offer a unique mix of certificate and degree granting programs that appeal to enterprising students and respond to employer’s demand for a well-prepared workforce. Intentional partnerships with the industries we serve coupled with high graduation and job placement rates, recently attracted the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the college from the Cummings Foundation.  

Last year, Franklin Cummings Tech educated more than 1,000 learners across three student types: 1) certificate and degree seekers, 2) continuing education clients, and 3) high schoolers pursuing early college. As further evidence that our mission holds resonance, this year the college tracked a 25% year over year jump in fall new student enrollment and applications soared. 

We seek team members who are optimistic, entrepreneurial, data-informed, and excited about the prospect of continuing to strategically increase student success outcomes and total enrollment from 1,000 learners today to at least 1,500 learners by 2030. Join us in this mission driven work! 

Our campus is moving from the South End to Roxbury in early 2026! This new custom-built space is designed to LEED GOLD standards and will offer enhanced accessibility to mass transit routes as well as the benefits of a modern, impressive footprint in one of Boston's most vibrant cultural and educational corridors. 

Overview 

Are you an inclusive relationship manager who thrives on sharing stories of impact and connecting passion with purpose? Now is an exciting time to join the growing Development team at Franklin Cummings Tech as our next Major Gifts Officer. 

The Opportunity 

Reporting to the Deputy Director of Development, the Major Gifts Officer will be singularly focused in their role as a member of the Development team at Franklin Cummings Tech, which is optimistically oriented towards building a comprehensive major gifts program befitting a college of its caliber.   

As is common at two-year colleges, the incredible and amazing alumni of this institution do not yet comprise the majority of the individual giving constituency. However, the talented leader in this role has the chops to overcome this challenge with a track record of proving that a vital major gifts program can be built on the compelling mission of the college, the outsized impact of the economic mobility pathways that the college produces in Greater Boston and beyond, as well as the career placement and education delivery results in the unique mix of majors offered at the college.  

The MGO must be a confident fundraiser and a stellar team player who is committed to joining the effort to build on a successful $60M comprehensive campaign that recently closed. A detailed four-year strategic plan for the further growth of the college is in place, and a motivated MGO is a critical person to engage new and existing donors and prospects. 

The Major Gifts Officer is responsible for identifying, qualifying, and managing the growth of a major gift portfolio with an emphasis on ensuring that as many donors as possible are retained year over year. The person in this role will be laser-focused on individual relationship management, including growing the donor base of the college by leveraging their deep knowledge of the organization and passion for the mission to connect with potential donors who have the capacity to give financial support and the inclination for involvement.  

Duties include, but are not limited to, self-scheduling donor meetings, arranging campus tours, and leveraging the full college events calendar to create other methods of cultivation. Occasionally, there may be cause to create and oversee a few small donor engagement events in service to the work. However, this is not an events-driven development shop.   

The MGO will be responsible for meeting an annual revenue target by working with an initial portfolio of 25-50 individuals capable of giving $5,000 or more annually that they will be responsible for growing into a portfolio of 125 donors over the next three years. The primary purposes of funds raised at Franklin Cummings Tech are unrestricted, restricted, naming, scholarship, and planned gift opportunities. The measurable outcomes against which all team members are gauged include: dollars raised, donor retention, prospect engagement and visits, and upgraded gifts. 

Key Responsibilities
 

• Manage and expand a portfolio of individual donors with capacity of giving $5,000 or more to the college with confidence and integrity. 
• First creates then executes a cultivation plan for each donor that includes clear goals and an action timeline for each donor/prospect in their portfolio based on principles of donor-led relationship building. 
• Steward individual donors such that building long-term relationships is paramount.  
• Leverage communication skills to create aligned proposals, written solicitations, and verbal requests that will provide opportunities for donor responsiveness based on their personal interests and passion for specific aspects of the mission. 
• Work within the norms and expectations of the Development team to provide timely updates, meeting reports, and collaborative information as required to accurately reflect portfolio activity and performance in a multi-faceted organization. 
• Understands and supports fundraising goals to meet organizational needs. 
• Supplies accurate and appropriate information for the college database to make it possible to gather statistical analysis to evaluate the overall growth and performance of the team. 
• Actively manages time, balancing day-to-day meetings to advance relationships with donors and prospects with various activities including meeting prep, phone calls, visit reports, email correspondence, timely responses to donor inquiries and follow-up.  
• Passionately represents FC Tech's mission, programs, and messages with stakeholders and actively networks within the community to activate support behind our mission. 
• Recognizes their role as a community ambassador and enthusiastically performs other major donor/development activities as required (i.e., tours, public speaking or spokesperson activities).
   

Qualifications and Skills 

• Minimum of 3–5 years of fundraising or similar relationship management experience, ideally in nonprofit, higher education, or healthcare settings. 
• Demonstrated success in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual donors or relationships. 
• Excellent communication (written and oral) and relationship-building skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate donors. 
• A proactive, strategic mindset and comfort working both independently and collaboratively. 
• Familiarity with Greater Boston’s philanthropic landscape and/or experience in campaign environments is a plus. 
• Coachability, commitment to collaboration, and a learning orientation are essential.
• Ability to work independently and with good judgment, highly effective project management abilities; must be comfortable with quickly shifting deadlines and priorities.

This role falls within salary band 4.

Please see our salary guidelines here:   Compensation Plan - Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology 

Why Join Us?
 

• Advance transformative education for Boston’s diverse learners. 
• Help grow institutional partnerships that will shape the future of the college. 
• Join a collaborative, mission-driven development team during a time of growth. 
• Competitive compensation, generous benefits, and hybrid work flexibility.