Director, Community

XPRIZE Overview

XPRIZE is an established global leader in designing and executing large-scale competitions to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. As a 501(c)3, our unique model democratizes innovation by incentivizing crowd-sourced, scientifically viable solutions to create a more equitable and abundant future for all. Since our founding in 1994, we’ve launched $519 million in prize competitions that are driving more than $31 billion in social and economic impact — a 60x return on philanthropic investment. These competitions not only de-risk early-stage breakthrough ideas but also mobilize capital, talent, and momentum to accelerate solutions from concept to real-world scale.

We operate across 5 areas of impact,including:

- Deep Tech + Exploration

- Energy + Climate + Nature

- Food + Water + Waste

- Health

- Learning + Society

Join XPRIZE to help create meaningful impact as we strive to empower humanity to achieve breakthroughs and architect a more equitable and abundant future for all.
Position Overview

XPRIZE Foundation is seeking an experienced fundraising professional to join the Community team within Advancement. The Community team is responsible for expanding and stewarding XPRIZE's global benefactor community by cultivating meaningful relationships with high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and philanthropic advisors who are passionate about advancing breakthrough innovation.

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Advancement, the Director, Community will serve as a frontline fundraiser responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding a portfolio of major gift prospects and benefactors. This individual will develop long-term philanthropic relationships that result in unrestricted and strategic philanthropic investments while helping expand XPRIZE's global network of supporters.

The successful candidate is an entrepreneurial relationship builder with demonstrated success securing major gifts, managing complex donor relationships, and collaborating across a highly matrixed organization. This role requires exceptional communication skills, strong fundraising instincts, and the ability to represent XPRIZE's mission with credibility among sophisticated philanthropic audiences.
Responsibilities

- Build and actively manage a portfolio of approximately 100-150 major gift prospects and benefactors.

- Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors capable of making annual philanthropic commitments of $50,000-$250,000+, with an emphasis on growing unrestricted support.

- Execute individualized donor strategies that deepen engagement through personalized cultivation, executive interactions, site visits, salons, and exclusive XPRIZE experiences.

- Develop and manage an annual fundraising pipeline that supports individual and organizational revenue goals.

- Conduct regular discovery meetings to identify new philanthropic opportunities and expand XPRIZE's global benefactor community.

- Collaborate closely with the Integrated Strategy, Strategic Philanthropy, Prize, and Executive Leadership teams to coordinate donor engagement strategies and blended fundraising opportunities when appropriate.

- Partner with Executive Leadership to prepare for donor meetings, cultivation events, and strategic travel.

- Represent XPRIZE at conferences, events, and donor gatherings to increase organizational visibility and identify new fundraising opportunities.

- Maintain accurate forecasting, donor strategy, contact reports, and pipeline activity within Salesforce.

- Support Community engagement initiatives including salons, benefactor experiences, Visioneering, and other donor-facing events.

- Remain current on philanthropic trends, wealth strategies, and emerging best practices in major gift fundraising.

Requirements

- 7-10 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience with demonstrated success securing major gifts from high-net-worth individuals.

- Proven record of achi