Senior Associate Athletic Director of Development

About the role

The Senior Associate Athletic Director of Development is the lead fundraising officer for Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) and is responsible for all development-focused programs, initiatives, and strategies designed to increase philanthropic support aligned with ICA and University goals and objectives.

Responsibilities

• Maintain Personal Portfolio and Supporting and Managing Comprehensive Fundraising Program
• Identify, qualify, steward, and solicit a portfolio of 75-90 major gift prospects and donors, emphasizing new gifts and pledges of $25,000 and above totaling upwards of $1-$2 million annually;
• Engages each prospect in their portfolio to ensure prospect movement and portfolio penetration annually;
• Meets or exceeds all metrics and expectations set by Central Advancement;
• Supports successful execution of a comprehensive fundraising program that appropriately partners with and leverages resources from the central advancement team to accomplish objectives;
• Gather data, assess prospects, and develop strategies designed to realize individual prospects' current and lifetime giving potential;
• Develops strategies and implementation of major and principal gifts for corporate prospects for ICA, in concert with the central Advancement Corporate & Foundations team;
• As appropriate, is personally responsible for the direct solicitation of gifts and for preparing the Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics, Head Coaches, and other members of the ICA fundraising team and/or University to make solicitations;
• Coordinates the efforts of those who can assist in fundraising; tracks contacts, asks, and funds raised; drafts proposals and pledge agreements for potential donors; and proposes and coordinates appropriate cultivation and stewardship activities;
• Maintains consistent and appropriate contact with prospects, facilitate or make solicitations, and ensure effective stewardship;
• Completes contact reports for both the ICA database and the central development contact reporting system;
• Assists in overseeing ICA’s portfolio of donors and potential donors individually and through the team's management to maximize unit revenue from philanthropic giving;
• Administer a comprehensive annual plan focused on generating $1.5 to $3 million in annual revenue for the department;
• Directly solicits gifts and prepares the Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics, Head Coaches, and other members of the ICA fundraising team and/or University to make solicitations for annual fund and sports-specific giving opportunities;
• Builds and maintains volunteer leadership through engagement with the Patriot Club Advisory Board and other alumni or external constituencies key to the department’s fundraising success;
• Identifies and/or develops creative engagement opportunities with donors, alumni, and the local community to broaden the base of support for the Athletics department and amplify its mission, vision, and overall brand;
• Displays good judgment and confidentiality;
• Travels as necessary for donor outreach and cultivation.

Supervision of Staff

• Set goals for performance and deadlines in ways that comply with the university’s plans and vision and communicate them to subordinates;
• Organize workflow and ensure that employees understand their duties or delegated tasks;
• Monitor employee productivity and provide constructive feedback and coaching;
• Receive complaints and resolve problems;
• Maintain timekeeping and personnel records;
• Pass on information from upper management to employees and vice versa;
• Prepare and submit performance evaluations;
• Hire and train new employees;
• Ensure adherence to legal and university policies and procedures and undertake disciplinary actions if the need arises.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a related field and demonstrated successful professional advancement and/or fundraising-related experience, preferably in higher education;
• Demonstrated record of successful major gift solicitations and experience designing and executing donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies;
• Successful experience in planning, coordinating and conducting major capital or comprehensive campaign efforts.
• Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously and meeting continuous deadlines;
• Demonstrated ability to identify, qualify, solicit, and steward major and principal gift donors;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including demonstrated writing and editing skills in preparing proposals and drafting related correspondence;
• Stellar relationship-building skills and ability to build rapport with internal and external stakeholders around innovative ideas and programs;
• A creative approach to involve and solicit major donor prospects and possess the ability to motivate;
• Demonstrated experience with personnel management;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite and experience with documenting appropriate information in a donor management database system;
• Valid driver's license: must currently possess an appropriate, active, valid motor vehicle operator’s license that meets all of GMU’s requirements for operating state vehicles and equipment under Mason’s Vehicle Use Policy 1411 https://universitypolicy.gmu.edu/policies/vehicle-use/.