Associate Athletic Director, Development (Administrator I)

About the role

The Associate Athletic Director, Development at San Diego State University is responsible for managing a portfolio of 150+ major gift prospects, securing major and planned gifts, and developing donor strategies. This role requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, with minimum five years of major gifts fundraising experience. Key responsibilities include major gift fundraising, donor engagement, planned giving, and strategic partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of 150+ major gift prospects and oversee the full donor lifecycle, including identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Secure major and planned gifts in support of SDSU Athletics priorities and initiatives.
• Develop and implement donor strategies in collaboration with Athletics leadership, development professionals, coaches, and volunteers.
• Represent SDSU Athletics and the university in donor meetings, events, and community engagements.

Requirements

• Demonstrated success closing relationship-based commitments of $50,000+ (one-time or cumulative over time), preferably in a philanthropic setting.
• Experience across multiple areas of advancement, including prospect management, annual giving, donor relations, communications, gift administration, and gift acceptance.
• Ability to research, analyze, and interpret biographical, corporate, foundation, and philanthropic information to support fundraising strategies.
• Ability to build and maintain productive relationships with donors, volunteers, campus partners, and external stakeholders while representing the university professionally.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, evolving, and goal-oriented organizational environment.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success as a development professional in a donor-centered fundraising environment.
• Master’s degree in a related field preferred.
• Experience fundraising within a large, complex university or intercollegiate athletics environment.
• Experience managing a large portfolio of major gift prospects and successfully upgrading donors to higher levels of philanthropic support.
• Experience with comprehensive or capital campaigns and fundraising technology platforms such as Salesforce, Paciolan, Ticketmaster, or Ellucian.

Skills

Not specified in the job posting.

Benefits

Not specified in the job posting.

Pay

The expected hiring salary for this position ranges from $105,000 to $115,000 annually.

Schedule

The position is full-time, at-will, with standard SDSU work hours of Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but may vary based on operational needs. Evening, weekend, and other work outside of normal business hours is required to support events and departmental needs.