Senior Director, Programmatic Giving

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE competitions change the world for the better by accelerating innovation life cycles, catalyzing markets, and energizing stakeholders.  

The XPRIZE Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and incentivizing breakthroughs to the most critical challenges facing humanity. Since its beginning in 1994, the Foundation has been building and continues to build a vision of hope and abundance for humanity’s future by harnessing the power of innovators, technology, and resources.  

Through incentive prize competitions, XPRIZE enables people to create bold and transformative solutions that are scalable and drive real impact. XPRIZE competitions positively impact both the marketplace and humanity by addressing the market failures that have prevented significant breakthroughs across multiple sectors.  

An XPRIZE… 

sets an audacious but achievable goal that aims to overcome challenges deemed impossible. It tackles some of humanity's most pressing issues by redefining what is achievable and pushing the boundaries of human potential.  

defines and addresses a clear problem through extensive research, a design sprint, and a competition that catalyzes the development of the next breakthroughs to put humanity on the path toward a preferred future state for all. The desired outcome from an XPRIZE is clear and measurable, and the rules of the competition are transparent and easily understood.  

democratizes innovation by encouraging expert and nonexpert participation and multidisciplinary collaboration.  

catalyzes markets and revitalizes stagnant industries by increasing awareness of market failures and accelerating innovations to address them.  

is highly leveraged, with competing teams attracting and mobilizing investment capital, partner support, and new members in pursuit of the prize. Philanthropic dollars are thus magnified in support of a solution.   

Our first XPRIZE, the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE for private spaceflight, spurred an industry and created exponential breakthroughs. Since then we have provided over $140 million in incentives through these competitions. Each prize has created an industry-changing technology that brings us closer to a better, safer, more sustainable world.   

The use of incentive competitions, or prizes, to accelerate innovation goes back over 300 years, to when the British Admiralty launched the Longitude Prize in 1714 to find a better way to navigate our seas. In the years since, several well-known innovations have resulted from incentive competitions, including canning as a form of food preservation (a competition launched by Napoleon in 1795), modern plastics (the Billiard Ball Prize, 1863) and commercial aviation (the Orteig Prize, 1919).   

This is more than a job to us. When you work at XPRIZE, you’re making a positive impact on some of the biggest challenges facing our world. Whether you’re working in prize design or development, marketing and communications, stakeholder relations, business operations or any other department, you’re playing a critical role in turning the impossible into the possible.

Position Overview  

The Senior Director of Programmatic Giving for the XPRIZE Foundation is a new and exciting opportunity for a seasoned fundraiser to create, implement, and manage a robust Programmatic Giving program to support the core work of the Foundation. The successful candidate will be a metrics-driven major gift fundraiser or business developer, experienced in building new fundraising programming and systems, proven in working with volunteer leaders and high-level prospects, able to lead and mentor colleagues, and a professional who thrives in a dynamic, entrepreneurial culture.  

Reporting to the Vice President of Stakeholder Relations, the Senior Director of Programmatic Giving leads the growing Programmatic Giving team. The role will involve joint oversight of fundraising for all programs of the XPRIZE Foundation, which include prizes, Impact Roadmaps, and impact programs.  

Responsibilities 

• Builds, oversees, and monitors strategies to achieve Programmatic Giving goals as part of the XPRIZE Foundation’s annual fundraising program 
• Develops and implements systems and strategies around major programmatic gifts 
• Works closely with the Vice President of Stakeholder Relations, the Stakeholder Relations team and volunteer leadership, deploying them as necessary to cultivate and solicit gifts
• Leads and refines systems to track performance metrics and increase pipeline development, including strategic use of research
• Moves potential donors in an appropriate and timely fashion toward solicitation, gift closure and stewardship 

 Requirements  

• 5+ years of successful, progressive experience in programmatic fundraising 
• 10+ years of total sales and/or fundraising experience 
• Demonstrated success in closing multiple five to seven figure gifts
• Broad and deep knowledge of fundraising principles
• Experience and comfort in building a portfolio through discovery visits and calls
• Expertise in developing cultivation and solicitation strategies for all levels of giving
• Ability to supervise fundraising staff, including understanding of metrics-based moves management
• Excellent oral, written and interpersonal skills
• Strong problem solving, research and analytical skills
• Strong organizations and strategic planning skills
• Flexibility to work some evenings and weekends as well as occasional travel 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Background in technology-focused organizations
• Experience with and strong understanding of SalesForce CRM
• Successful background in creating and implementing giving programs, including discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship strategies across the giving spectrum; mechanisms for tracking, sustaining, and growing relationships with donors; and processes for developing a major gift portfolio 

Come change the world with us.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.