In support of the university's mission and objectives, the Associate Vice President for Development serves as a strategic partner to the Executive Vice President (EVP) for Advancement in leading the university's comprehensive fundraising program. This role provides strategic and operational leadership for the Development division while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and donor-centered philanthropy. This position leads fundraising strategy, campaign execution, stewardship, operational excellence, talent development, and cross-campus partnerships while maintaining a select portfolio of leadership-level prospects and advancing institutional priorities.
Provides visionary leadership to the development team by building a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and donor-centered fundraising.
Oversees overall development and philanthropic efforts at PBA including prospect research, gift services, donor relations, donor communications, grants, gifts-in-kind, foundation and corporate relations, major gifts, planned gifts, campaign activities, and donor-supported scholarships.
Monitors goals across all areas and the overall fiscal year fundraising goal.
Establishes clear expectations, measurable goals, dashboards, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for every functional area measuring both fundraising outcomes and leading indicators of success.
Develops team members as leaders and performers through coaching, mentoring, and regular accountability meetings, including by guiding them to meet established goals within their roles and departments.
Evaluates and advances organizational effectiveness regularly and continuously improves systems, workflows, and fundraising strategies.
Identifies areas where goals are not met to develop improvement plans within systems and departments.
Partners across academic and administrative units aligning philanthropic priorities with institutional priorities.
Builds strong relationships and maintains regular communication with the Provost and Deans.
Monitors fundraising performance, strategic plan KPIs, accreditation reporting, budgets, and operational effectiveness; advises team members on the development of reports for EVP and other leadership.
Engages donors in cultivation and stewardship activities and promotes the curation of meaningful donor experiences to be executed by the team.
Leads giving society strategies and collaborates with the team on ideation and execution of strategies.
Manages relationships with scholarship-centric donors ensuring proper accounting of scholarship funds including regular reporting and stewardship.
Partners closely with the EVP to execute God-Sized Dreams Campaign initiatives, translating institutional priorities into measurable fundraising strategies.
Provides strategic leadership in coordination with EVP and campaign consultants for campaign planning, execution, naming opportunities, reporting, and campaign communications.
Ensures campaign reports are regularly updated to track success against goals.
Oversees the production of proposals and donor agreements for top-tier campaign donors, ensuring that all activities are accurately reflected and tracked in the donor CRM.
Oversees campaign prospect research for use by campaign leadership committee, EVP, and other leadership.
Partners closely with marketing to execute on messaging, communications, and storytelling to support the campaign.
Leverages fundraising data and emerging philanthropic trends to strengthen the campaign and large gift strategies.
Provides leadership to the fundraising team in building relationships and making proactive solicitations for university priorities.
Coordinates with cross-campus departments (academic units, business office, President's office) to resolve operational issues and ensure alignment on Advancement initiatives, events, and communications.
Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications, public relations, or related field, required; Master's degree preferred, or equivalent experience.
5+ years of experience working in wide-ranging development capacities, preferably through a fundraising campaign, preferably at an educational institution.
Customer Service Orientation – Keeps internal and/or external key stakeholder(s), students, parents, faculty, staff and community partners in mind at all times.
Professionalism – Displays a high level of professionalism, e.g. timeliness, reliability, communication, and work ethic.
Christ-first Faith – Provides spiritual support to community members, including students, on their Christian faith journey.
Adaptable/Flexibility – Ability to change or adjust to change.
Analytical Thinking & Decision Making – Identifies and understands trends and/or issues, connects data points through analysis and logical conclusions/actionable strategies.
Attention to Detail – Ability to efficiently and accurately focus on a specific task or number of tasks. Reviews details with a critical eye.
Business & Financial/Budget Acumen – Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of financial concepts, accounting, marketing and organizational functions.
Change Management – Ability to drive and implement change both internally and externally.
Confidentiality – Maintains the necessary confidentiality and discretion required for the position.
Conflict Management – Functions professionally and wisely during difficult conversations, while under stress, and while managing challenging situations.
Continuous Improvement – Implement or brainstorm ways to optimize a process.
Develops Others – Ability to promote continuous improvement within teams and/or individuals.
Effective Communication – Expresses ideas and information in a clear and concise manner both verbally and in writing to convey clear, well-articulated messaging across a wide variety of audiences.
Establishes Trust – Gains the confidence of others by actions and words that promote being honest, forthcoming, and vulnerable.
Leadership/Influence – Ability to motivate, coach and develop others, as well as influence a group of people to achieve common goals, and implement university strategies. Strong supervisory skills.
Problem-solving – Anticipates, evaluates, diagnoses, and resolves problems in a systematic and fact-based manner.
Project and Time Management – Effective planning and priority setting. Ability to manage several complex projects simultaneously while working under pressure to meet deadlines.
Results Orientation & Accountability – Takes accountability and identifies, executes and drives actions to consistently achieve desired results.
Self-development – Grow one’s self-awareness, abilities, skills, and/or talent.
Strategic Mindset – Ability to step out of the everyday details, view the situation from above and provide an objective perspective
Teamwork & Collaboration – Creates a climate that fosters commitment to a common vision and shared values that promote cooperation and working together through trust and support of others both departmentally and cross-functionally.
Ability to operate a PBA vehicle, equipment, or transport groups of students, including operating a van, car, golf cart, utility vehicle.
Must possess a valid U.S. driver’s license.
Must have the ability to travel locally using a personal vehicle.
Travels up to 20% of the time.
Ability to work non-routine hours during certain times of the year.
Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time.
Ability to traverse campus and stairs.
Ability to lift/move objects up to 25 pounds.
