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About the Role

This role is for a seasoned frontline fundraiser responsible for managing a robust portfolio of high-net-worth donors and prospects, focusing on securing and stewarding major and principal gifts. The position drives revenue growth by securing transformational philanthropic support and delivering high-impact donor experiences aligned with the Academy’s mission. This individual leads complex cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies, partners with Leadership Philanthropy and program leaders to align donor interests with institutional priorities, and contributes to team strategy, pipeline development, and fundraising best practices. By modeling a disciplined, donor-centered, and data-informed approach, this role strengthens the major gifts program and expands the Leadership Philanthropy team’s capacity, allowing senior leaders to focus on top-tier donor strategy and portfolio management.

Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of 90–100 donors and prospects, emphasizing leadership and principal gifts.
Independently develop and execute tailored cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for each prospect.
Consistently secure gifts of $25K+, advancing priorities across biodiversity science, environmental learning, and conservation.
Maintain disciplined moves management, forecasting, and pipeline reporting in Tessitura.
Serve as primary relationship manager for select high-profile donors and supporters.
Deliver bespoke, high-touch experiences, including behind-the-scenes tours, lab/collections visits, and field/site visits, to deepen affinity and accelerate giving.
Coordinate with Donor Relations, Events, and Communications for personalized, timely stewardship touchpoints and impact reporting.
Partner with scientists and program leads to align donor interests with mission-critical work and translate complex initiatives into compelling donor offers.
Collaborate with the Advancement Events team on curated on-site and field-based activations to advance cultivation and stewardship goals.
Work with Advancement Operations to leverage data, dashboards, and reporting for strategy and results.
Qualify and advance high-potential prospects into the major/principal gift pipeline.
Deepen relationships with well-cultivated new prospects after initial engagement by the LP Coordinator and Leadership & Legacy Giving Officer.
Identify potential board and volunteer leadership candidates and steward them toward deeper philanthropic engagement.
Partner with the Director of LP and the Associate Director on select donor strategies.
Model donor-centered communication, rigorous planning, and cross-team collaboration, sharing tools and best practices to elevate team performance.
Represent LP in internal meetings as needed, contributing to seamless coordination across Advancement and program teams.

Requirements

6+ years of frontline fundraising or equivalent high-level relationship management, with a track record of securing $25K+ gifts.
Demonstrated success managing a robust major-donor portfolio and closing complex, multi-stakeholder solicitations.
Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, effective with high-profile donors and institutional leaders.
Experience designing and executing bespoke donor engagements (tours, field visits, events) tied to program impact.
Strong organizational and project-management skills, adept at prioritizing across multiple donors, deadlines, and partners.
Proficiency with fundraising CRMs and reporting (Tessitura preferred); data-driven approach to strategy and forecasting.
Collaborative, generous teammate with a coaching mindset, committed to sharing practices that strengthen team culture.
Deep interest in the Academy’s mission; familiarity with science, climate, conservation, or museum philanthropy is a plus.

Skills

Frontline fundraising
High-level relationship management
Relationship-building
Communication
Organizational skills
Project management
Fundraising CRM proficiency
Tessitura proficiency (preferred)
Data-driven strategy and forecasting
Coaching mindset
Cross-team collaboration
Donor-centered communication
Rigorous planning
Major donor portfolio management
Complex solicitation closure
Donor engagement design and execution
Prioritization

Location

San Francisco, California

Work Type

Full-Time
Hybrid (3 days onsite)

Experience Level

6+ years of frontline fundraising or equivalent high-level relationship management

Salary/Compensations

$80,000.00 - $100,000.00

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits

About the Company

Globally renowned scientific and cultural institution in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
Houses a world-class planetarium, aquarium, research center, and natural history museum under one living roof.
Mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.
Maintains extensive collections of plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history.
Composed of diverse biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators.
Advances knowledge and inspires action through science and storytelling.
Mission-driven community valuing curiosity, collaboration, and innovation.
Connects people to the natural world and empowers them to protect it.
Strategic plan includes Hope for Reefs, Thriving California, and Islands 2030 initiatives leveraging biodiversity science, environmental learning, and collaborative engagement.

Equal Opportunity

The California Academy of Sciences gives full consideration for employment to all qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance (SF Police Code, Article 49).