Director of Development, Campaign Initiatives

About the role

The Director of Development for Campaign Initiatives is a front-line fundraising professional responsible for developing and executing strategies to secure philanthropic support for select campaign priorities, multi-disciplinary projects, and non-college specific initiatives across San José State University.

Responsibilities

• Manage an assigned portfolio of key prospects and individuals whose capacity and interests align with university-wide strategic initiatives and campaign priorities
• Coordinate with Advancement Research and Prospect Research to proactively build and qualify a robust prospect pipeline
• Develop and execute complex strategies to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward major gift prospects/donors, including joint solicitations on multi-unit projects
• Present and regularly review top prospect strategies with immediate supervisor and other key team members as appropriate
• Work collaboratively with university administrators, academic leadership and other stakeholders to gain counsel and offer expertise on donor-centric cultivation and solicitation strategy
• Work collaboratively with peers across all development units (Major Gifts, Annual Giving, Planned Giving, Corporate & Foundation Relations) and serve as a key horizontal partner on multi-unit projects
• Work with volunteer leadership of university boards, councils and committees to maximize cultivation and solicitation efforts
• Focus on securing funding for designated priorities including but not limited to academic programs, endowed chairs and professorships, scholarships, unrestricted support, facility renovations, new facilities and other specified priorities
• Collaborate with donor relations colleagues with stewardship efforts to promote a culture of gratitude among internal and external constituents
• Develop comprehensive, persuasive proposals for complex, multi-unit funding opportunities, gathering data and buy-in from various campus stakeholder
• Effectively utilize campus data management systems and enter prospect/donor contact reports and their relevant data in a timely fashion
• Participate in staff, functional and strategy meetings including prospect review sessions, and attend conferences, seminars and other development training as feasible and appropriate

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
• Minimum of three to five years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising
• Evidence of superior written communication skills; ability to articulate and draft persuasive proposals
• Ability to identify donors and close gifts of six and seven figures
• Ability to navigate the complexity of a large, dynamic university and establish consensus among varied stakeholders to make the appropriate match for donor interests
• Superior ability to successfully manage multiple, large-scale projects with evolving priorities on tight deadlines and under pressure in a dynamic, politically complex and open environment
• Exceptional verbal communication and persuasive writing skills
• Exceptional initiative, attention to detail, and organization skills
• Proficient in Google Suite and Microsoft Office Suite, and ability to utilize fundraising database programs and learn new tech platforms for project management
• Communicate with constituents in a professional and respectful manner

Qualifications

• Advanced degree
• Experience in identifying, qualifying, and building strategies for new prospects, particularly those with capacity for seven-figure gifts or higher
• Fundraising experience within a comprehensive campaign setting at a research or public institution of higher education, specifically managing non-college or cross-disciplinary campaign priorities
• Experience serving as a strategic partner to campus administrators and academic leaders