Position Summary

The Senior Major Gifts Officer will serve as the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s front-line fundraiser, exclusively focused on cultivating and securing investments from high-net-worth individuals. This leader will own a significant portfolio of prospects and be responsible for moving donors through the full development pipeline: from research and outreach to solicitation, onboarding, and stewardship.

This role is critical to the National Council’s growth and will partner closely with the Director of Development and CEO to raise general operating support and program-specific funding. The ideal candidate is a proven closer with a track record of securing individual gifts in a front-line fundraising role.

Key Responsibilities

Prospecting & Portfolio Management

• Identify and qualify new donor prospects, generally with $25k–$1M annual giving capacity

• Build and manage a robust pipeline of 100+ individual prospects and investors. Investors will be both individual and institutional funders.

  • Develop relationships with an individual donor archetype of donors with private sector experience (i.e., entrepreneurs, C-Suite leaders, healthcare executives)

  • Develop partnerships with institutional foundations, especially those prioritizing federal advocacy, improving healthcare delivery, advancing health equity, protecting youth and students, and integrating artificial intelligence into care delivery.

• Lead top-of-funnel outreach, including personal email, warm introductions, events, conferences, and 1:1 meeting scheduling

Investor Engagement & Solicitation

• Personally lead investor meetings, cultivate relationships, and secure gifts from individuals focused on improving mental health outcomes in the United States.

• Strategize to customize pitches, framing, and messaging based on the needs of the National Council’s program teams and the interests of potential investors.

• Design and deliver compelling pitches using the National Council’s core collateral and investor-facing messaging

• Strategize with the Director of Development, CEO, board members, and senior program leaders before high-stakes donor meetings — including briefing principals, shaping meeting strategy, coordinating follow-up, and quarterbacking complex institutional asks.

• Maintain ownership of follow-ups, gift tracking, and stewardship activities
  

Strategy & Execution

• Drive fundraising strategy for high-capacity donors and institutional funders, including tailored cultivation journeys, identification of emerging funding opportunities, and refinement of investor-facing messaging and positioning.

• Write grant applications and grant reports, when required.

• Represent the National Council at events and conferences — both within the mental health field and in settings where target donor prospects naturally gather.

• Travel to meet donors in person — especially in geographies with significant numbers of UHNIs (e.g., New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bay Area, Boston, Seattle, D.C, etc). Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time is required.

• Align donor engagement with the organization's emphasis on unrestricted, multi-year giving.
  

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Own relationships with program-specific teams to surface compelling stories and impactful updates about our organization’s work serving members, conducting research, advocating for policy change, conducting Mental Health First Aid trainings, and more.

• Own donor database accuracy, forecasts, and reporting for the “book” of investors you are responsible for.

• Act as a jack/jill of all trades, willing to pitch in — including on one-to-many emails, webinars, events, and other tactics that are used to engage our donor community.

• Coordinate and support fundraising participation from board members, senior advisors, and external fundraising consultants — including helping activate networks, prepare outreach, and manage relationship strategy.
  

Qualifications

We’re open to diverse backgrounds, but we expect a track record of securing investments in frontline fundraising roles. Qualifications include:

• 7+ years of experience in fundraising, business development, philanthropy, partnerships, or related external-facing roles;

• 4+ years managing donor or investor relationships with responsibility for cultivation and solicitation strategy;

• Track record of securing five-, six-, and seven- figure donations from individuals.

• Track record of securing and stewarding major institutional grants, including foundation proposals, reporting, and long-term relationship management

• Ability to execute excellently on tactics that enable donor prospecting, cultivation, solicitation, onboarding, and stewardship;

• Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex donor pipelines and move prospects through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship stages.

• Comfort soliciting contributions from Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals;

• Deep understanding of how to navigate large foundations — including how to navigate bureaucratic processes and how to write both grant proposals and reports.

• Experience hosting fundraising events and webinars;

• Ability to lead high-stakes meetings with credibility and strategic insight;

• Highly autonomous operator with strong judgment, comfort navigating ambiguity, and ability to independently manage complex donor relationships in a fast-paced environment;

• Experience managing against ambitious annual fundraising goals and portfolio performance metrics.

• Exceptional written communication skills and demonstrated ability to write effective emails, proposals, and grant reports.

• Exceptional executive presence and ability to engage credibly with CEOs, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, foundation executives, and board members.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Tools (Documents, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams) and CRM tools (e.g., iWave, Airtable).

Salary & Benefits

The salary range for this position is $170,000 to $190,000. Salary decisions within the range are based on experience, education, and internal equity.

The National Council offers a comprehensive benefits package, which includes (but is not limited to):

• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance

• 403(b) retirement plan with employer contributions after 1 year of service

• Paid time off, including vacation, sick, personal, floating holiday, bereavement, and observed federal holidays

• Parental support benefits, including adoption, fertility, and surrogacy reimbursement and two weeks paid parental leave

• Free unlimited Relias professional development courses

• Annual professional development and tuition reimbursement funds

• Calm Premium access

How to Apply

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications promptly through our online portal. All applicants will receive a response. Please contact Positively Partners with questions or to request support in submitting your application.

Candidates who advance can expect an initial phone interview with the Positively Partners team, a hiring manager interview with the Director of Development, and a multi-part final interview with a range of stakeholders.

Positively Partners is committed to conducting an equitable, accessible search process. Accommodation requests during the interview process will be handled confidentially. Please email search@positivelypartners.org to make a request.

Department Summary

The Development team sits within the National Council’s Business & Strategy division. The team is responsible for building and executing a comprehensive development strategy across major gifts, institutional giving, corporate partnerships, and donor stewardship. This is a newly built-out function within the organization, and the Senior Major Gifts Officer will play a foundational role in shaping how it grows.

About Us

The vision of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing is to make mental wellbeing, including recovery from substance use challenges, a reality for everyone. Despite overwhelming need, nearly 30 million people across the U.S. do not have access to comprehensive mental health and substance use treatment.

Founded in 1969, the National Council is a 501(c)(3) membership organization that drives policy and social change on behalf of more than 3,100 mental health and substance use treatment organizations and the more than 10 million children, adults and families they serve. We advocate for policies to ensure equitable access to high-quality services. We build the capacity of mental health and substance use treatment organizations. And we promote greater understanding of mental wellbeing as a core component of comprehensive health and health care. Through our Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program, we have trained more than 3 million people in the U.S. to identify, understand and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges.

The National Council is growing to meet this moment. With an annual budget of $80 million, we’ve grown our dedicated team to 225 employees since 2020. Although we have office space in Washington, D.C., we operate as a remote-first organization, with employees working from their various locations across the United States.

The National Council is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We embrace individuals from all backgrounds and perspectives, welcoming people of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and ages, as well as veterans, people with disabilities, and those with lived experiences in mental health and substance use challenges to apply. We are committed to fostering a welcoming environment and recruitment process for everyone.