Laboratory Schools: Philanthropy Officer, Major Gifts

Department

Lab School Alumni Relations & Development

About the Department

At the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, students in Nursery through Grade 12 experience a world-class educational journey. Founded in 1896 by John Dewey as a place for educators to develop and explore novel approaches to pedagogy and curriculum, Lab continues to provide excitement and imagination in learning to this day. Academic rigor, experiential learning, and intellectual discourse are hallmarks of a Lab education. Lab educators are recognized for excellence in teaching and pride themselves on innovation in the classroom. Students in every grade have access to unparalleled resources, and all members of the Lab community benefit by partnerships and connections with the University of Chicago. Families who choose Lab care deeply about curiosity, inquiry, and creativity.

No less than scholarship, Lab’s mission prioritizes honoring diversity and exhibiting kindness. We are committed to building and supporting a teaching and learning community where young people see aspects of their backgrounds and identities reflected around them, where they feel a deep sense of belonging, and where they discover and use their voices to full effect. Today, 53-59 percent of Lab’s student body are students of color. Families report speaking nearly 40 different languages in their homes. Approximately 60 percent of Lab families are also affiliated with the University of Chicago. Half of our families live in Hyde Park, and the rest come from across Chicago, the suburbs, and northwestern Indiana. Inclusion is a fundamental value at Lab, such that we celebrate every facet of community members’ identities, and even where we disagree, we emphasize respect, civility, and maintaining a spirit of community.

Lab seeks the finest employees to join our vibrant learning community. We employ people with a wide range of skills and training in many different disciplines, who have in common a love of learning and the wish to inspire that same love of learning in young people. We seek candidates for employment who thrive in an educational environment. We provide a great professional home for those committed to collaboration, ongoing personal and professional growth, and cultivating positive relationships. In turn, we strive to ensure that Lab is a joyful, welcoming, and inspiring place to work. Through our connection to the University, faculty, staff, and administrators enjoy benefits and opportunities that would be nearly impossible to match in any other environment.

Job Summary

The Alumni Relations and Development department at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (Lab) is recruiting talented and energetic advancement professionals in preparation for the schools’ next campaign. During the University’s Inquiry and Impact campaign and through its Lab+ initiative, the Schools secured more than $97 million in charitable contributions. The Philanthropy Officer for Major Gifts (MGO) will play an important revenue-generating role for annual giving and for priorities in the next comprehensive capital and endowment campaign.

Reporting to the Director of Development/Campaign Manager (DOD), the MGO will be a part of a fundraising team’s efforts to seek Leadership Family five-figure annual gifts and major gifts of $100,000 or more for capital, endowment, operational (Fund for Fund) or special projects. The MGO will collaborate with the Director of Development and the Associate Director of Schools for ARD to establish ambitious but achievable annual fundraising, proposal/solicitation and visit goals.

Responsibilities

• Identifies, cultivates, solicits, and maintains a portfolio of current Lab parents who have the capacity to contribute $10,000, $25,000, and more to the Fund for Lab or other budget-relieving priorities. 
• Identifies, cultivates, solicits, and maintains a portfolio of parents, alumni, alumni parents, grandparents, and others who have the capacity to contribute $100,000 or more to Lab. 
• Creates a robust schedule of qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship visits, in-person and virtual, with donors and donor prospects. A key component of this role is the qualification, via discovery visits, with individuals to expand Lab’s major gift pool, particularly among Chicagoland alumni.
• Develops and implements compelling engagement strategies to inspire high net worth individuals to maximize their philanthropic engagement with Lab.
• Raises donor sights, articulates aspirational goals and ideas, presents philanthropic opportunities in a compelling manner and closes gifts.
• Promotes gift planning techniques via major gift visits and other outreach.
• Builds knowledge and communic