Leadership Annual Giving Officer

Position Primary Purpose and General Duties :

The Leadership Annual Giving Officer is a front-line fundraising professional responsible for the management of a pool of prospects composed of School of Business alumni, donors, volunteers, and community partners with the giving potential of up to $50,000.

Under the leadership of the Director of Development, the Leadership Annual Giving Officer holds chief responsibility for and provides oversight of annual giving efforts. The incumbent will extend and amplify general annual giving efforts by cultivating relationships with prospects and donors and building consistent base support for the School. The Leadership Annual Giving Officer applies knowledge of the School to the annual giving process, equipping units in VCU Development and Alumni Relations to more broadly ask for gifts to the School and create a pipeline of prospects for future leadership annual giving and major gifts.

Annual giving for the School of Business provides essential and indispensable funding for programming, academic events, staff development, and student engagement at many levels. It builds the base for capital and targeted giving that helps create and operate high-quality student learning experiences to aid their ability to engage, discover and innovate in a global environment. Annual giving and annual donors set the stage to expand crucial support for research, scholarship, creative expression and laboratory experience to advance knowledge and enhance the quality of life. A strong, supported School of Business will help VCU become a national model for community engagement and regional impact.

Responsibilities :

• Acquire, cultivate and retain annual donors in support of the VCU School of Business.
• Assist the University’s departments of Annual Giving and University Development in developing annual giving efforts, including face-to-face solicitations.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for direct mail and special marketing projects provided by the VCU Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
• Manage a portfolio of leadership annual fund prospects (donors of $500 and above) and solicit gifts through personal appointments, calls and correspondence in order to obtain and/or increase donor contributions for the School.
• Conduct research to identify individual donors in order to increase donor response and develop/track metrics for accountability and evaluation in the database of record.
• Recruit, organize and train volunteers for annual giving efforts.
• Coordinate stewardship efforts in collaboration with internal team members and with the University’s department of Strategic Marketing and Engagement.

Minimum hiring standards :

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent training and work experience.
• 3-5 years of professional fundraising experiences in a higher education or nonprofit setting
  Experience with fundraising databases.
• A strong command of fundraising principles and a familiarity with the objectives of annual and unrestricted-gift fundraising.
• A self-starter who can work effectively as a team member and independently.
• Ability to draw correlations between engagement and giving levels then make appropriate solicitation.
• An outgoing and positive personality, strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative working style.
• Proven ability to motivate, engage, solicit and steward a range of prospects.
• Organized and detail-oriented with proven ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced and goal-oriented environment.
• Must be willing to travel via automobile as part of duties.
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU.

Preferred hiring standards :

• Advanced degree or training and work experience at a level that equates to an advanced degree.
• Experience in higher education.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating annual fund, direct gift solicitation and closure rate of gifts up to $50,000, working knowledge of tax laws affecting charitable giving.

Department: VCU School of Business
Employment type: University Employee
Restricted status: Not Restricted
FTE: 100%
Exemption status: Exempt
VCU job title: Sr. Gifts Officer, DV 1-3
Hiring range: Commensurate with experience up to $65,000