Vice President for University Advancement

Representative Duties

• Provide strategic leadership for the University’s comprehensive advancement program, including major gifts, annual giving, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, alumni and family engagement, advancement services, and campaign initiatives.
• Develop and implement comprehensive advancement strategies that support the University’s strategic priorities, long-term sustainability, and institutional growth.
• Partner with the President, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Provost, and executive leadership to identify philanthropic opportunities that advance academic excellence, student success, institutional innovation, and strategic priorities.
• Foster a university-wide culture of philanthropy by engaging academic and administrative leadership, faculty, staff, alumni, volunteers, and donors in advancing institutional priorities.
• Provide visionary leadership for the University Advancement division while promoting innovation, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Philanthropic Leadership and Fundraising

• Develop and execute comprehensive fundraising strategies that increase annual giving, major gifts, principal gifts, planned giving, corporate support, foundation grants, and endowment growth.
• Personally manage a portfolio of major and principal gift prospects and maintain responsibility for cultivating, soliciting, closing, and stewarding transformational philanthropic investments.
• Partner with the President and Board of Regents to cultivate strategic donor relationships and secure major philanthropic commitments.
• Lead the planning, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive and capital campaigns.
• Strengthen donor stewardship and constituent engagement strategies that increase donor retention, lifetime giving, and philanthropic participation.
• Identify emerging philanthropic opportunities and develop innovative fundraising approaches that expand the University’s base of support.

Strategic Partnerships and Constituent Engagement

• Provide executive leadership for alumni and family engagement, corporate and foundation relations, community partnerships, donor relations, and constituent engagement strategies.
• Develop strategic relationships with corporations, foundations, community organizations, alumni, and other external partners that support institutional priorities and long-term growth.
• Collaborate with University leadership to develop philanthropic partnerships that support scholarships, academic initiatives, experiential learning, workforce development, and student success.
• Represent the University in advancement-related activities, professional organizations, community events, and donor engagement opportunities to strengthen institutional visibility and philanthropic support.
• Collaborate with University leadership to identify and develop philanthropic partnerships that support strategic initiatives and institutional priorities.

Institutional Collaboration and Strategic Growth

• Collaborate with executive leadership to align advancement initiatives, philanthropic investments, and constituent engagement strategies with the University’s strategic priorities and long-term growth objectives.
• Partner with academic and administrative leaders to identify philanthropic opportunities that support new academic programs, strategic initiatives, capital projects, student success initiatives, and institutional innovation.
• Utilize data, analytics, and constituent insights to inform advancement strategies, evaluate organizational performance, and identify opportunities for growth and continuous improvement.
• Advance enterprise-wide strategic initiatives by leveraging philanthropy, constituent engagement, and external partnerships to support institutional priorities and long-term organizational growth.
• Provide strategic advancement counsel to executive leadership regarding philanthropic opportunities that support institutional priorities.

Advancement Operations and Organizational Effectiveness

• Provide executive oversight for advancement services, prospect research, donor relations, gift administration, advancement communications, fundraising analytics, and campaign operations.
• Establish fundraising goals, key performance indicators, and accountability measures to evaluate organizational performance and advancement effectiveness.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, ethical fundraising standards, University policies, and gift administration requirements.
• Develop and administer the division’s operating budget and ensure effective stewardship of University resources.

Leadership and Administration

• Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a high-performing advancement team while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and professional development opportunities that strengthen organizational capacity and succession planning.
• Prepare and present advancement reports, campaign updates, fundraising analyses, and strategic recommendations to the President, Board of Regents, Cabinet, and other University leadership.
• Serve as a member of the University’s executive leadership team, contributing advancement expertise to institutional planning, policy development, and strategic initiatives.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.