Senior Director, Foundation Relations

Job Summary

The University of Colorado Boulder’s Office of Industry Collaboration (OIC), in partnership with the Advancement Team at CU Boulder, encourages applications for a Senior Director of Development, Foundations Relations ! This position is part of a high achieving team that serves as the front door for industry and foundation relations on campus. The Senior Director, Foundation Relations manages a portfolio of partners, including prospects that are capable of providing grants and making gifts in excess of $100,000, that help further the mission and goals of the university. This position is responsible for refining and implementing strategies to advance cultivation, engagement, and solicitation activities with foundation partners while reporting to the Managing Sr. Director of Foundation Relations for the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Industry & Foundation Relations team is organized around campus strength areas, or themes. This senior position will lead foundation strategy and fundraising for a specific theme area for the CU Boulder campus. The Senior Director, Foundation Relations will provide leadership within the university community and act as the strategic partner who is responsible for developing, managing, and sustaining the university’s relationship with key external foundation partners in this theme. With an increased campus emphasis on foundation giving, it will be the Senior Director’s priority to identify the greatest areas of opportunity for funding to support the university’s mission.
The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to contributing to an inclusive campus environment. We are an Equal Opportunity employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the nation’s leading research universities, with world-class facilities, personnel and capabilities. CU Boulder’s Office of Industry Collaboration (OIC) is intended to be the identifiable entry point into CU Boulder and is a part of the Research & Innovation Office. OIC was formed in July 2013 to improve the connection between CU Boulder and local, national and international companies to the people, services, projects and resources they need to support business growth and development.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Individual Fundraising

• Portfolio Management: Manage portfolio consisting of 30-50 foundation prospects. Develop strategies for each foundation in portfolio. Maintain an active portfolio, engaging in qualification and discovery work in partnership with research team. Goals relating to personal contacts, number of proposed gifts, grants, and prospect identification to be set with and approved by manager. Portfolio includes foundation prospects capable of providing funding in excess of $100,000.
• Develop cultivation and solicitation strategies for all foundations in portfolio. Proactively develop relationships with program officers through phone calls, travel to visit, and invitations to campus. Plan and execute funder site visits. As a representative of the university, travel to meet prospects on one’s own for the purpose of effective cultivation, solicitation and stewardship; when needed, coordinate travel with colleagues, faculty, and university leadership.
• Through external engagement, develop and maintain awareness of funding opportunities. Elevate high priority initiatives to the attention of appropriate administrators and other leaders to further campus goal of securing groundbreaking foundation partnerships which support our world-class research and impact.
• Ensure prospect strategies and donor intent agreements are detailed, contact reports are filed, and stewardship plans are carried out. Develop letters of intent, white papers, proposals, and other documents to grow relationships with prospects. Coordinate with appropriate university partners to ensure that documents align with policies and procedures set by the university. Work to ensure timely, accurate completion of proposals, pledges and fund agreements.

Theme Leadership & Strategy Development

• Represent the Industry & Foundation Relations team to key internal leaders in assigned theme. Understand higher education environment, working at a sophisticated level to identify and partner with key internal partners, including faculty, unit leaders, and administration. Develop trust, operating as campus leader for developing and implementing campus foundation strategy in theme area. Develop internal collaborations which propel external engagement.
• Develop strategy for the assigned theme area and collaborate with other foundation team members who have portfolios for which the theme strategy is relevant.
• Partner with the Managing Sr. Director, Foundation Relations, in developing, refining, and implementing the foundation relations team strategic plan that includes measurable targets for each fiscal year. Maintain current pipeline projections and tracks strategic activity across theme area.
• Share knowledge and opportunities with colleagues on the Foundation Relations team. May provide mentoring and coaching to less experienced team members in designing outreach and engagement plans within the theme, in coordination with the Managing Sr. Director.
• Coordinate within the Industry & Foundation Relations team to ensure effective use of administrator and faculty time. In coordination with IFR team leadership, will collaborate closely to unit-level advancement leaders. Promote a congenial campus advancement culture, sharing assets and making referrals as appropriate to colleagues within the team and across the CU system.

Other Duties

• Represent the Advancement unit at campus and external events, in order to support the University and cultivate/steward donors.

What You Should Know

Schedule is Monday-Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm with occasional evenings or weekend hours. Travel is expected both in-state and out-of-state. This is not a remote position.

What We Can Offer

The salary range is $93,000- $110,000 annually. Relocation assistance is available for qualified applicants.

Benefits

The University of Colorado offers excellent benefits , including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass. The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. Learn more about the University of Colorado Boulder .

Be Statements
Be collaborative. Be impactful. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in higher education corporate and foundation fundraising or non-profit management.
• Proven success in an area related to foundation and corporate relations.

What You Will Need

• Expert knowledge of foundation focused fundraising techniques.
• Solid knowledge of fundraising climate and issues, and giving climate for foundation partners.
• Expert knowledge in grant writing.
• Solid knowledge of applicable laws, regulations, and professional standards governing foundation grant making.
• Expert ability to communicate verbally and in writing.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong ability to analyze information/situations and solve problems.
• Solid ability to handle sensitive information discretely and maintain confidentiality.
• Solid ability to organize and manage multiple projects/tasks simultaneously (project management experience a plus - specifically in technical arenas such as engineering or science).
• Solid ability to work independently and collaboratively and adapt to changing priorities.
• Solid knowledge of current issues facing public universities and interests/projects of assigned school, students, faculty, and alumni.
• Personal computer proficiency required especially as it relates to Microsoft Office Products (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook), Ellucian Advance, Salesforce, infoEd and other research databases.

What We Would Like You To Have

• Advanced degree.
• Demonstrated experience in securing philanthropic gifts and sponsored research at a minimum gift level of $100,000 or greater.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. A current resume.
2. A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.

We may request references at a later time.

Please apply by October 4, 2021 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs .

Posting Contact Information

Posting Contact Name: Boulder Campus Human Resources

Posting Contact Email: Recruiting@colorado.edu