Notice to applicants:
We have seen a rise in recruitment scams. Please note that outreach from Khan Academy recruiters will only come from the [redacted].org domain. Our team does not use Gmail or other personal accounts for contacting potential candidates. Khan Academy will never solicit money, equipment fees, or sensitive financial information at any stage of the hiring process. We also do not work with external recruiting agencies, so outreach from headhunters presenting opportunities on behalf of Khan Academy is illegitimate. Please always check the email domain and cross-reference the position with the official Khan Academy Careers page to confirm an opening is valid.
THE ROLEKhan Academy is looking for a major gifts professional to join our Philanthropy team in an interim capacity from October through February. This role provides behind-the-scenes portfolio management and solicitation support for major individual giving, serves as a core writer for individual giving proposals and reports, and leads a focused research project to identify new major-gift and mid-level prospects from AI-sector liquidity events. You will be key in supporting the "wealth-wave" plan to expand the individual pipeline and ensuring philanthropic leadership is well prepared for donor engagements through end of year.
This role reports directly to the Director of Philanthropy for overall direction, prioritization, and approvals, and works closely with the Chief of External Relations on individual major donor outreach and end-of-year solicitations. Weekly hours are managed against a blended cap of 40 hours/week, with emphasis shifting across work streams as deadlines and priorities evolve.
Key Responsibilities:- Portfolio & Donor Strategy (~10 hrs/wk, through EOY): Provide behind-the-scenes portfolio management for major individual giving, driving strategy to move relationships forward and secure gifts, including recommending and confirming appropriate next steps.
- Leadership Preparation: Prepare C-suite executives and other philanthropic leadership for individual major donor meetings with briefings, pre-read decks, suggested strategies, and follow-up on next steps.
- End-of-Year Outreach Management: Track and manage Chief of External Relation end-of-year donor outreach, including who has been contacted, follow-up status, and next steps.
- Outreach Coordination: Coordinate donor outreach email by triaging messages, drafting responses for her review, and flagging donor replies that need attention.
- CRM Management: Maintain accurate donor activities and updates in Salesforce (SFDC).
- Philanthropic Writing & Reporting (~10-15 hrs/wk, ongoing): Adapt compelling concept notes, proposals, and donor reports for individual giving opportunities, drawing on existing materials, templates, and stated program priorities. Convey key strategic priorities and narrative consistent with Khan Academy's voice, mission framing, and prior donor communications, and incorporate feedback from the Philanthropy team and leadership.
- Impact Metrics: Coordinate with key team members to pull, analyze, and present key performance metrics as part of preparing donor reports.
- Review & Approvals: Submit donor reports, proposals, and related materials to Director of Philanthropy for initial review ahead of final approval by Chief of External Relations.
- Prospect Research & Pipeline Expansion (~5-10 hrs/wk, until complete): Use prospecting tools and public information to research and identify likely major-gift and mid-level prospects, including from IPOs and liquidity events at OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI companies (Google, Meta, etc.).
- Prospect List Development: Work with internal teams to cross-reference generated lists against Khan Academy's existing donor, prospect, and email records to flag existing connections, and deliver a prioritized prospect list with supporting rationale that feeds directly into the wealth-wave strategy.
WHAT YOU BRING- 7+ years demonstrated years in philanthropy, major gifts fundraising and individual giving responsibility.
- Strategic Thinker & Execution Focus: Proven ability to manage behind-the-scenes fundraising operations, moves management systems, and donor pipeline development strategies.
- Exceptional Writing Skills: Exceptional written communication skills with experience crafting compelling donor communications, briefings, and philanthropic proposals and reports.
- Leadership Enablement: Demonstrated experience preparing, briefing, and supporting executive leaders and board members for high-level donor engagements.
- Prospect Research: Experience using prospecting and wealth screening tools and public information to identify and prioritize major-gift prospects.
- Relationship & Cross-Functional Ability: Strong interpersonal skills to work seamlessly across functions and leadership dynamics.
- Fundraising Expertise: Demonstrated success raising six figure+ gifts and solid understanding of major gifts, donor pipelines, wealth screening/wealth-wave strategies, and moves management processes.
- Rapid Ramp-Up: Proven ability to quickly absorb an organization's strategy, priorities, and narrative, and to deliver meaningful results from the first weeks of an engagement.
- Organization & Flexibility: Ability to manage multiple concurrent work streams against a blended hour cap and shift emphasis as deadlines and priorities change.
- Mission Alignment: Deep passion for Khan Academy's mission "to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere".
- Cross-Cultural Competency: Proven ability to adopt inclusive perspectives and demonstrate self-awareness to support inclusion and belonging across the organization.
MORE ABOUT US- Sal's TED talk from 2011
- Sal's TED talk from 2015
- Sal's TED talk from 2023
- Our team: http://www.khanacademy.org/about/the-team
