Senior Development Manager, Major Gifts & Donor Strategy

Organization: Cambodian Children’s Fund

Reports To: Head of US Operations & Development

Functional Reporting: Works closely with Global Development leadership and relevant international colleagues

Location: Remote, United States. Proximity to major donor markets on the West Coast or East Coast is desirable.

Status: Full-time

Salary Range: $105,000 to $120,000 commensurate with experience.

About Cambodian Children’s Fund

Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) is a nonprofit organization working to help children and families in Cambodia move beyond poverty through a holistic model of education, healthcare, family support, community outreach, and leadership development.

Founded in 2004, CCF now supports nearly 2,000 students and more than 15,000 community members annually through integrated programs that address the barriers that keep children out of school and families trapped in crisis. Our work is supported through a mix of major gifts, sponsorship, annual giving, events, foundations, and other donor-led funding streams.

The US office is a small, evolving fundraising team. We are building toward a more disciplined, donor-centered development operation that can strengthen stewardship, reduce key-person dependence, improve portfolio visibility, and support long-term revenue growth.

Position Summary

The Senior Development Manager, Major Gifts & Donor Strategy will play a central role in strengthening CCF’s US fundraising by managing and developing high-value donor relationships, advancing sophisticated gift conversations, and helping translate CCF’s mission and program work into donor-ready funding opportunities.

This is a frontline fundraising role for an experienced relationship manager and major gifts fundraiser who is comfortable operating in a small, dynamic team and who can combine donor strategy, portfolio management, strong execution, and sound judgment. This role is not a general development support position. Its primary value is sustained, specialized work with major and upper-mid-level donors, including portfolio strategy, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and complex giving opportunities.

The role is designed primarily to strengthen CCF’s major and upper-mid-level donor work in the near term, while helping the organization build capacity over time for adjacent giving pathways such as donor-advised funds, appreciated assets, stock gifts, and planned or legacy giving where appropriate.

The person in this role will help strengthen both current revenue and the quality of donor engagement over time. The role should bring fundraising discipline into the system: clear donor strategies, documented next steps, timely follow-up, and reliable Salesforce records for assigned relationships.

This remote role may require periodic domestic travel for donor meetings, cultivation events, team meetings, and occasional international travel to Cambodia, subject to organizational need and safeguarding requirements.

Primary Focus of the Role

The role will focus primarily on:

• • Cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major and upper-mid-level donors
  • Donor-centered relationship strategy and disciplined portfolio management
  • Multi-year and higher-value giving opportunities
  • Wealth-based and tax-efficient giving conversations, including appreciated assets, DAFs, stock gifts, and planned-giving opportunities where appropriate
  • Strategic use of donor intelligence, follow-up, and event-based cultivation
  • Close coordination with leadership, board-connected networks, and international colleagues

Key Responsibilities

• • Manage a portfolio of major and upper-mid-level donors and prospects, with clear relationship strategies, next steps, and revenue goals
  • Work with the Head of US Operations & Development and Development Manager, Donor Engagement to identify donors ready to move from one-time, sponsorship, regular giving, or mid-level support into higher-value or more strategic giving pathways.
  • Cultivate, solicit, and steward high-value gifts from individuals, families, DAF holders, donor-directed foundations, and related supporters
  • Lead sophisticated donor conversations that are donor-centered, financially informed, and aligned with donor interests and capacity
  • Identify and advance opportunities for multi-year gifts, appreciated asset gifts, stock gifts, DAF grants, legacy or planned giving, and other wealth-based giving vehicles
  • Discuss non-cash and tax-efficient giving options credibly at a high level, while appropriately involving donor advisors and internal or external specialists when technical guidance is needed
  • Translate program, budget, and organizational information into clear, donor-ready funding opportunities and giving cases
  • Help shape donor-facing propositions, funding packages, and messaging so they are fundraising-ready, donor-centered, and grounded in CCF’s actual program and budget realities
  • Partner with the Head of US Operations & Development on major donor strategy, forecasting, relationship transitions, and risk mitigation around donor concentration
  • Work closely with internal colleagues to ensure donor communication, reporting, and stewardship are accurate, timely, and aligned
  • Support the donor strategy side of selected cultivation events, including invite strategy, donor pathway planning, follow-up priorities, and upgrade opportunities
  • Conduct prospect research and donor analysis to identify new opportunities and support strategic portfolio growth
  • Use Salesforce and related systems to maintain strong portfolio discipline, donor records, contact reports, next steps, campaign attribution, and pipeline visibility
  • Contribute to a more data-informed fundraising culture by analyzing donor trends, opportunity movement, response patterns, and portfolio performance
  • Help strengthen internal fundraising capability by sharing practical approaches, language, judgment, and process discipline around major gifts and wealth-based giving opportunities
  • Model CCF’s values in all internal and external interactions
  • Perform other related fundraising duties as assigned

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will include:

• • Stronger stewardship and follow-through with major and upper-mid-level donors
  • Improved visibility and discipline in portfolio management and forecasting
  • Increased ability to secure or expand multi-year and higher-value gifts
  • Greater use of donor-centered, wealth-aware fundraising conversations
  • Improved post-event donor follow-up, conversion, and upgrade activity
  • Better donor-facing funding propositions and fundraising positioning
  • Contribution to stronger internal fundraising capability over time
  • Practical support for adjacent giving pathways without distracting from core revenue priorities
  • Stronger retention, upgrades, post-event conversion, and multi-year or complex giving conversations within the assigned portfolio.

Success will be assessed through documented portfolio movement, completed donor contacts, solicitations advanced or closed, donor retention and upgrade activity, pipeline growth, Salesforce discipline, and contribution to reliable revenue forecasting.

Candidate Profile

We are looking for someone who is:

• • Donor-centred, strategic, and credible with sophisticated supporters
  • Highly organized and disciplined in portfolio management
  • Comfortable with data, systems, and multiple platforms
  • Flexible and pragmatic in a small-team environment
  • Capable of translating internal program language into compelling donor language
  • Comfortable initiating and advancing higher-level donor conversations without overstepping into technical tax or legal advice
  • Able to exercise judgment in donor positioning, ask strategy, timing, and follow-up
  • Willing to contribute across functions when needed, while protecting the role’s primary focus on major and upper-mid-level donor strategy, portfolio movement, and revenue outcomes.

Key Selection Criteria

• • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience required; advanced degree or CFRE preferred but not required.
  • Minimum of 7–10 years of relevant fundraising experience, with strong emphasis on major gifts, donor relationship management, and high-value donor strategy
  • Demonstrated success managing and growing relationships with major donors, high-net-worth individuals, DAF donors, donor-directed foundations, and similar supporters
  • Demonstrated success securing and expanding gifts in the $25,000+ range; experience with $100,000+ gifts and multi-year commitments strongly preferred
  • Experience with direct solicitation, stewardship planning, cultivation strategy, and multi-year gift development
  • Demonstrated comfort with donor-centered fundraising and consultative, relationship-based gift conversations
  • Practical familiarity with appreciated asset giving, stock gifts, DAFs, and related charitable giving vehicles; experience opening or advancing planned-giving or legacy conversations strongly preferred
  • Demonstrated ability to translate programmatic or institutional material into donor-centered fundraising framing
  • Strong analytical skills and demonstrated ability to use data to inform donor strategy, forecasting, and fundraising decisions
  • High level of competence in Salesforce or a comparable CRM; strong portfolio and moves-management discipline required
  • Comfort learning and working across multiple fundraising, marketing, and reporting platforms; experience with tools such as FreeWill, Chariot, ActiveCampaign, Raisely, Power BI, or similar platforms is a plus
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to draft clear donor communications, proposals, and stewardship language
  • Ability to thrive in a small, evolving team where flexibility, initiative, and willingness to contribute across functions are essential
  • Experience in nonprofit fundraising, philanthropy, consultative sales, wealth advising, financial planning, or related donor-facing work is valued
  • Strong judgment, follow-through, and accountability
  • Genuine commitment to CCF’s mission and values
  • Willingness to complete required child-protection screening and comply with safeguarding expectations

Why This Role Matters

The US office is strengthening its fundraising capacity, donor stewardship discipline, systems visibility, and donor engagement model. This role matters because it adds experienced fundraising expertise where CCF most needs it: higher-value donor relationships, stronger portfolio management, more effective donor strategy, and greater ability to engage donors in wealth-based giving conversations over time.

It is a key role in helping the US office protect and deepen core revenue, reduce reliance on a small number of relationship holders, and build more sustainable fundraising practice as CCF gradually expands into adjacent giving opportunities.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $105,000 to $120,000, commensurate with experience.

Benefits for eligible full-time U.S. employees currently include:

• • Medical, dental, and vision coverage beginning the first day of the month after hire
  • 100% premium coverage for employee plus one dependent
  • Paid time off beginning at up to 14 days per year
  • 15 paid holidays annually
  • 401(k) retirement plan with immediate eligibility and a 4% employer match, effective June 1, 2026
  • Flexible Spending Account options
  • Employee Assistance Program access
  • Employer-paid basic life insurance
  • Parental leave, subject to policy terms and eligibility requirements
  • Workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance coverage as required by law

Benefits are subject to applicable CCF policies, plan documents, carrier terms, eligibility requirements, and enrollment procedures.