Associate Vice President, Development

Department

ARD Development

About the Department

Alumni Relations and Development (ARD) engages alumni (~220k), current students, parents, and friends of the University through intellectual, professional and social activities on campus, around the world and online. ARD raises $600 Million annually to support faculty and researchers, practitioners and patients, and students and programs across the University. Our work supports priorities in every division, school, department, and institute.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Senior Associate Vice President of Alumni Relations and Development, the Associate Vice President (AVP) will oversee the University’s centralized regional individual giving teams, including generalist fundraising teams working on major and principal gifts and representing the University in key philanthropic markets. This role will work collaboratively with individual giving teams, ARD colleagues, and academic leaders to build the structures to grow and sustain the university’s pipeline of major and principal gift donors in preparation for the University’s next comprehensive campaign. The AVP will direct activity on behalf of the University in key markets aimed at strengthening regional fundraising, building engaged donor communities, and cultivating a culture of philanthropy across the university’s community of alumni, parents, and friends. In addition to meeting team and regional revenue targets, the AVP will also maintain a personal portfolio of principal-level prospects and contribute meaningfully to a shared culture of fundraising excellence and best practices at the University.

Responsibilities

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Senior Associate Vice President of Alumni Relations and Development, the Associate Vice President (AVP) of Development will oversee the University’s centralized regional individual giving teams, including generalist fundraising teams working on major and principal gifts and representing the University in key philanthropic markets. This role will work collaboratively with individual giving teams, ARD colleagues, and academic leaders to build the structures to grow and sustain the University’s pipeline of major and principal gift donors in preparation for the University’s next comprehensive campaign.

The AVP will direct activity on behalf of the University in key markets aimed at strengthening regional fundraising, building engaged donor communities, and cultivating a culture of philanthropy across the University’s community of alumni, parents, and friends. In addition to meeting team and regional revenue targets, the AVP will also maintain a personal portfolio of principal-level prospects and contribute meaningfully to a shared culture of fundraising excellence and best practices at the University.

Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction to ARD’s central major and principal gifts fundraisers with a focus on strategically qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding University prospects at the major and principal gift level and growing the University’s collective pipeline for its next comprehensive campaign.
• Develop and lead regional fundraising strategies that maximize philanthropy in key domestic and international markets and on behalf of all schools, units, and priorities.
• Serve as an adviser to academic leaders and staff to lead the development and execution of advancing priorities and meeting fundraising goals.
• Ensure that fundraisers’ work is prioritized appropriately, including partnering with Strategic Information to assess portfolio health and define and implement best-practice portfolio management strategies.
• Set fundraising goals and guide planning and strategy to achieve those goals, both annually and within the context of a University-wide campaign.
• Work with other ARD leaders to optimize interactions among generalist and unit-based teams in order to maximize the growth of UChicago’s prospect base while securing gifts for key institutional and campaign priorities.
• Serve as a lead strategist for a pool of top prospective donors on behalf of and for the benefit of the entire University.
• Actively participate in prospect strategy meetings; partner with colleagues to develop and implement strategies to move prospects through the fundraising cycle.
• As a senior member of ARD, model behavior, mentor staff and develop leaders, and participate in strategic planning and policy decisions as appropriate; actively encourage staff members’ professional growth, development, and participation in the life of the University.
• Manage staff and budget to execute responsibilities in an efficient, timely, and cost-effective manner.
• Seek opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance, including building networks