Director of Philanthropy (Public Relations & Marketing Specialist IV)

About the role

Laurel Ridge Community College seeks an experienced Director of Philanthropy to secure charitable support for the College and its students while raising awareness of the College and its impact in the community. Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Development/Executive Director of the Laurel Ridge Educational Foundation, the Director of Philanthropy is a senior, front-line fundraiser, responsible for developing new prospects and engaging current and lapsed donors throughout Laurel Ridge’s service region. The Director manages a portfolio of donors and prospects and brings strong relationship-building skills and disciplined follow-through. The position requires someone who listens carefully to donors’ interests and motivations, connects those interests with opportunities at the College, and makes philanthropic asks. With a commitment to the College’s mission, the Director collaborates with Laurel Ridge colleagues and community partners and helps build a culture of philanthropy in which gifts at all levels are valued.

Responsibilities

• Manage a donor and prospect pipeline with discipline.
• Identify prospective donors through networking, referrals, community engagement, and research.
• Cultivate prospective donors and steward existing donor relationships.
• Personally solicit and secure philanthropic commitments, including major and planned gifts.
• Develop and implement strategies to retain and deepen donor relationships and re-engage lapsed donors.
• Work closely with the Executive Director and Laurel Ridge colleagues to understand institutional priorities, identify philanthropic opportunities, and connect these opportunities with donor interests.
• Develop donor proposals, presentations, solicitations, stewardship materials, and other philanthropic communications.
• Maintain timely donor and prospect records and document next steps.
• Assess fundraising progress and opportunities and recommend strategies to the Executive Director.
• Work closely with the Marketing and Communications team to promote philanthropy and the role of the educational foundation.
• Participate in planning and supporting Foundation events.
• Represent Laurel Ridge at events on campus and in the community.
• Participate in occasional evening and weekend activities as necessary.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Significant and progressively responsible experience in fundraising, sales, business development, government relations, or another revenue-generating role.
• Significant experience with donor/customer/client acquisition, retention, and stewardship.
• Ability to develop and implement successful strategies to achieve fundraising, sales, business development, or other revenue goals.
• Ability to create persuasive proposals and written materials and deliver effective presentations to external audiences.
• Ability to build successful relationships with external stakeholders through networking, partnerships, and community engagement.
• Experience working in advancement for a nonprofit organization or higher education institution preferred.
• Demonstrated success in personally securing financial commitments preferred.
• Demonstrated experience cultivating, soliciting, and securing charitable gifts preferred.
• Experience using a CRM or fundraising database to maintain donor or prospect records, track interactions and next steps, and support relationship management and fundraising activities preferred.

Benefits

The position is classified staff and as such is eligible for the benefits package offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia for state agencies.

Pay

The hiring range for this position is $69,045.00‑$100,116.00.

Schedule

This position requires on‑site presence, with one day a week telework. The director’s assigned office is at the Middletown Campus. The position requires frequent travel throughout Laurel Ridge’s service region for donor meetings, college activities, and community events. The position requires occasional evening and weekend activities.