Nonprofit FundraisingExpert-built kit

Major Gifts Officer

Conducts discovery visits and cultivates relationships through personalized outreach while delivering direct solicitations and tracking donor engagement metrics.

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Interview content for Senior Major Gifts Officer

24
What to ask. Competency and attitude questions, assigned to the right round.
144
What to listen for. Positive and negative indicators, per question.
6
What the hire must do. Capabilities with expected proficiency at each level.

Look inside: one question, as it appears in the kit

Pick the level you’re hiring. The sample changes with the level you select.

Round 2 · Hiring Manager Deep Dive: Portfolio Strategy & Solicitation14 competency questions

Major Gifts Strategy And Operations

Compliance & Gift Processing

Audits pipeline data for accuracy, navigates complex gift vehicle regulations, and ensures seamless handoffs to finance teams.

Expected at Senior Major Gifts Officer

Sample competency question

Describe your process for documenting and finalizing a non-cash or highly structured gift agreement. How do you ensure seamless coordination with internal finance and legal teams?

Ask once, as written, then allow silence. A helpful rephrase may hand the candidate the answer.

Positive indicators

  • Proactive cross-functional coordination
  • Meticulous documentation standards
  • Clear donor communication on timelines

Negative indicators

  • Handles documentation reactively
  • Lacks awareness of compliance requirements
  • Delays finance team handoff unnecessarily

Senior officers oversee compliance accuracy and navigate complex vehicles, but institutional policy design and enterprise risk mitigation remain director-level responsibilities.

Ryan Mahoney

Why this role is hard · Ryan Mahoney

Hiring a senior major gifts officer is tough because you need someone who can build real trust while keeping track of pipeline numbers. The job requires quiet listening and firm boundaries when negotiating six-figure commitments. Standard panel interviews rarely reveal this balance. Candidates often play the charming part but crack under long cultivation cycles. You only see their true ability when they map out institutional prospects without burning out or risking donor privacy.

Everything in the download, in the order you’ll use it

Level guides for Major Gifts Officer, Senior Major Gifts Officer and Director of Major Gifts.

Before you post

  • 1Ready-to-use job description
  • 3Video screening prompts
  • 8Resume screening criteria

In the room

  • 14Competency interview questions
  • 10Attitude interview questions
  • 1Hands-on work simulations
  • 1Presentation prompts

At the debrief

  • Progression framework
  • Exceeds / Meets / Below anchors for every exercise
  • 3Interview plan with time per round

Core Evaluation

Critical questions for this role

The competency and attitude questions below are where the hiring decision is made. They run in the live interview rounds and are calibrated to the level selected above.

14 Competency Questions

1 of 14

  1. Discipline

    Major Gifts Strategy And Operations

  2. Job requirement

    Compliance & Gift Processing

    Audits pipeline data for accuracy, navigates complex gift vehicle regulations, and ensures seamless handoffs to finance teams.

  3. Expected at Senior Major Gifts Officer

    Senior officers oversee compliance accuracy and navigate complex vehicles, but institutional policy design and enterprise risk mitigation remain director-level responsibilities.

Interview round: Hiring Manager Deep Dive: Portfolio Strategy & Solicitation

Describe your process for documenting and finalizing a non-cash or highly structured gift agreement. How do you ensure seamless coordination with internal finance and legal teams?

Positive indicators

  • Proactive cross-functional coordination
  • Meticulous documentation standards
  • Clear donor communication on timelines

Negative indicators

  • Handles documentation reactively
  • Lacks awareness of compliance requirements
  • Delays finance team handoff unnecessarily

10 Attitude Questions

1 of 10

Active Listening

Active listening is the disciplined practice of fully concentrating on, comprehending, and thoughtfully responding to a speaker’s verbal and non-verbal communication without premature judgment or interruption. It encompasses cognitive empathy, reflective validation, and strategic information synthesis to uncover underlying motivations, build psychological safety, and align collaborative objectives within complex interpersonal dynamics.

Interview round: Recruiter Screen: Role Alignment & Experience

What is your approach when multiple family members express conflicting visions for how a major gift should be utilized?

Positive indicators

  • Proposes facilitated family dialogue sessions
  • Maps common ground before addressing divergence
  • Uses neutral language to de-escalate tension

Negative indicators

  • Aligns immediately with the highest-capacity family member
  • Attempts to force consensus without exploration
  • Avoids addressing conflict to maintain comfort

Supporting Evaluation

How candidates earn the selection conversation

The goal is to reduce effort for everyone by collecting more useful signals before adding more interviews. Lightweight application prompts and structured screens help your team focus interview time on the candidates most likely to succeed.

Stage 1 · Application

Filter at the door

Runs the moment a candidate hits Submit. Disqualifying answers end the application; everything else is captured for review.

Video-Response Questions

1 of 3

Application Screen: Video Response

Describe how you would structure a first solicitation call with a prospective major donor who has expressed deep interest in community wealth-building but has historically restricted their giving to local neighborhood initiatives rather than our broader policy advocacy work. What specific language and pacing strategies would you use to align their vision with our institutional priorities without triggering defensiveness?

Candidate experience

REC
0:42 / 2:00
1Record
2Review
3Submit

Response time

2 min

Format

Recorded video

Stage 2 · Resume Screening

Read the resume against fixed criteria

Reviewers score every application that clears the door against the same criteria. Stronger reviews advance to live interviews; weaker ones are archived without further screening.

Resume Review Criteria

8 criteria
Designs tailored, multi-year ask strategies aligning donor passions with institutional priorities, utilizing financial modeling and case-for-support frameworks to secure high-value commitments.
Maps long-term cultivation journeys for ultra-high-net-worth prospects, integrating legacy planning tools, wealth management awareness, and phased engagement milestones.
Coaches junior fundraisers, board members, and volunteers on solicitation best practices, ethical pitching, and relationship-building methodologies.
Evaluates and deploys digital prospecting tools, ethical AI scoring, and public records analysis to optimize portfolio health and prioritize high-potential engagement.

Does the resume show relevant prior work experience?

Is the resume complete, well-organized, and free from formatting, spelling, and grammar mistakes?

Does the resume indicate required academic credentials, relevant certifications, or necessary training?

Does the cover letter or personal statement convey clear relevance and familiarity with the job?

Stage 3 · During Interviews

Where the hire is decided

Interview rounds use the competency and attitude questions outlined above, then add tests, work simulations, and presentations that reveal deeper evidence about how the candidate thinks and works.

Presentation Prompt

Walk us through a strategic portfolio you managed, focusing on how you prioritized engagement resources and designed a multi-year cultivation pathway for a complex or high-capacity prospect. Discuss your framework for balancing immediate asks with long-term relationship building.

Format

deck-and-walkthrough · 20 min · ~2 hr prep

Audience

Hiring panel including the Director of Major Gifts, VP of Development, and a peer Senior Officer

What to prepare

  • 3-5 slides outlining your portfolio segmentation methodology, prioritization criteria, a specific cultivation pathway you designed, and how you adapted to donor feedback or market shifts

Deliverables

  • A 15-minute verbal walkthrough supported by your slides
  • 5 minutes of Q&A on your strategic trade-offs and resource allocation

Ground rules

  • Anonymize all donor, prospect, and institutional names
  • Focus on your strategic reasoning, pipeline management discipline, and how you balanced competing engagements

Scoring anchors

Exceeds
Candidate demonstrates a highly disciplined, adaptive portfolio strategy that seamlessly integrates data insights, donor psychology, and institutional capacity to drive sustained pipeline health.
Meets
Candidate outlines a logical portfolio management approach, explains their prioritization criteria, and shows competent tracking of cultivation milestones and adjustments.
Below
Candidate relies on reactive or ad-hoc pipeline management, lacks a clear prioritization framework, and cannot articulate how they balanced competing donor engagements.

Response time

20 min

Positive indicators

  • Presents a clear, data-informed framework for segmenting and prioritizing prospects based on capacity and engagement readiness
  • Explains how they designed a phased cultivation pathway that balanced institutional timelines with donor pacing
  • Demonstrates adaptive resource allocation when donor signals shifted or external factors changed
  • Shows awareness of pipeline health metrics and how they adjusted cadence to prevent stagnation or burnout

Negative indicators

  • Treats pipeline management as purely administrative tracking rather than strategic resource allocation
  • Cannot explain how they prioritized competing prospects or decided where to invest cultivation time
  • Over-relies on rigid, one-size-fits-all timelines that ignore donor agency or market volatility
  • Fails to connect portfolio strategy to actual revenue outcomes or relationship milestones

Work Simulation Scenario

Scenario. An ultra-high-net-worth prospect is prepared to commit a multi-year, restricted gift to fund a new community housing initiative. However, the donor is demanding direct operational control over program hiring and expedited disbursement timelines that conflict with institutional compliance protocols and phased implementation standards. You must facilitate a decision discussion with the Program Director and Finance & Compliance Lead to design a structured gift pathway that honors donor intent, protects organizational governance, and maintains program autonomy.

Problem to solve. Negotiate a viable multi-year cultivation and disbursement framework that satisfies donor engagement goals while enforcing compliance boundaries and preserving programmatic pacing.

Format

cross-functional-decision · 40 min · ~2 hr prep

Success criteria

  • Surface and document each department's non-negotiable constraints early in the discussion
  • Propose a structured compromise that replaces operational control with advisory input
  • Secure cross-functional alignment on a phased disbursement schedule with clear reporting milestones

What to review beforehand

  • Multi-year gift structuring best practices and restricted fund compliance requirements
  • Organizational policies on donor advisory roles versus operational control
  • Standard disbursement SLAs and audit trail documentation protocols

Ground rules

  • Drive the conversation toward decision points rather than open-ended debate
  • Translate donor demands into institutional risk and compliance terms
  • Avoid proposing solutions that violate legal compliance or program integrity standards

Roles in scenario

Program Director (cross_functional_partner, played by cross_functional)

Motivation. Protect program integrity, ensure community-centered pacing, and prevent donor interference in hiring or curriculum design.

Constraints

  • Cannot accept unrestricted donor control over staffing or program pivots
  • Requires phased funding tied to measurable community outcomes
  • Limited bandwidth for ad-hoc reporting outside standard evaluation cycles

Tensions to introduce

  • Push back strongly on expedited disbursement requests that bypass outcome verification
  • Emphasize that community trust depends on consistent, locally-led implementation
  • Challenge any proposal that grants donors veto power over programmatic decisions

In-character guidance

  • Frame concerns around community impact and long-term program sustainability
  • Be receptive to structured advisory roles that preserve community voice
  • Provide clear operational constraints without shutting down collaborative problem-solving

Do not

  • Do not volunteer alternative funding sources or bypass compliance requirements
  • Do not solve the structural compromise for the candidate or dictate the final agreement
  • Do not become hostile or dismissive of development goals; maintain professional collaboration

Finance & Compliance Lead (cross_functional_partner, played by peer)

Motivation. Ensure regulatory compliance, mitigate financial risk, and maintain standardized audit trails for all restricted major gifts.

Constraints

  • Must enforce 48-hour SLA for cross-border and restricted fund processing
  • Cannot approve expedited disbursements that bypass multi-state compliance checks
  • Requires standardized reporting templates and quarterly reconciliation cycles

Tensions to introduce

  • Highlight legal and audit risks of bypassing standard verification protocols
  • Push for strict documentation requirements before any disbursement milestone
  • Question how advisory input will be tracked without creating uncontrolled data flows

In-character guidance

  • Use precise compliance and risk terminology but translate it for non-finance stakeholders
  • Remain firm on regulatory non-negotiables while exploring structured workarounds
  • Acknowledge development relationship goals but prioritize institutional fiduciary duty

Do not

  • Do not waive compliance requirements or promise regulatory exemptions
  • Do not take over the facilitation or dictate the final pathway design
  • Do not escalate tension; provide factual risk assessments and procedural boundaries

Scoring anchors

Exceeds
Crafts a win-win structured agreement that explicitly addresses compliance and program constraints, preserves donor engagement through advisory pathways, and facilitates cross-functional consensus with clear implementation milestones.
Meets
Identifies key departmental tensions, proposes a workable compromise that respects core constraints, and keeps the discussion focused on a viable pathway with defined next steps.
Below
Lets the conversation fracture into siloed debates, ignores critical compliance or program risks, fails to produce a coherent decision framework, or concedes to unsustainable donor demands.

Response time

40 min

Positive indicators

  • Surfaces underlying constraints and non-negotiables of each function early in the discussion
  • Proposes structured tradeoffs that preserve compliance while offering donors meaningful advisory input
  • Maintains donor relationship focus while firmly enforcing institutional governance boundaries
  • Synthesizes a coherent, phased pathway with clear decision rights and reporting milestones

Negative indicators

  • Allows one department to dominate without balancing competing institutional priorities
  • Proposes compromises that violate compliance protocols or program autonomy standards
  • Fails to translate donor demands into actionable, risk-aware institutional frameworks
  • Leaves the discussion unresolved without clear next steps or documented agreements

Progression Framework

This table shows how competencies evolve across experience levels. Each cell shows competency at that level.

Major Gifts Strategy And Operations

6 competencies

CompetencyMajor Gifts OfficerSenior Major Gifts OfficerDirector of Major Gifts
Compliance & Gift Processing

Accurately records donor interactions, processes gift documentation, and adheres to organizational and legal compliance standards.

Audits pipeline data for accuracy, navigates complex gift vehicle regulations, and ensures seamless handoffs to finance teams.

Directs institutional gift acceptance policies, mitigates organizational risk, and ensures regulatory alignment across all major gift transactions.

Cultivation & Relationship Management

Builds and maintains meaningful relationships with qualified prospects through tailored engagement plans and regular communication.

Orchestrates multi-touch cultivation strategies for high-capacity donors and leverages board/volunteer networks for deeper access.

Designs enterprise-wide donor engagement frameworks and serves as the primary institutional liaison for top-tier philanthropic partners.

Portfolio Strategy & Pipeline Management

Manages an assigned portfolio of prospects, tracks engagement activities in CRM, and meets movement milestones.

Analyzes portfolio metrics to optimize pipeline velocity, reallocates resources strategically, and mentors officers on pipeline health.

Oversees the entire major gifts portfolio architecture, forecasting revenue streams and aligning pipeline targets with institutional financial goals.

Prospect Research & Qualification

Conducts systematic research to identify and qualify potential major donors using public records and wealth screening tools.

Leads advanced prospect profiling, synthesizes complex financial and philanthropic data to build targeted solicitation pipelines.

Oversees institutional prospect research strategy, ensuring data integrity and alignment with long-term capital campaign goals.

Solicitation & Proposal Development

Drafts compelling, customized proposals and delivers confident asks aligned with donor interests and organizational priorities.

Leads complex, multi-year gift negotiations and structures transformative proposals involving cross-departmental programmatic inputs.

Sets the strategic direction for solicitation methodologies, approves high-value gift structures, and coaches teams on advanced closing techniques.

Stewardship & Donor Retention

Executes timely stewardship plans, provides impact reports, and ensures donors feel recognized and valued post-gift.

Develops personalized retention strategies, manages donor renewal cycles, and resolves complex post-gift relationship challenges.

Establishes comprehensive stewardship policies that maximize lifetime donor value and integrate feedback into future program design.