Assistant Director, Leadership Annual Giving

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

14h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Assistant Director, Leadership Annual Giving plans and executes the institution’s campaign for annual gift support from all constituents, including alumni. The role identifies, solicits, and stewards prospective donors capable of making financial commitments from $2,500 to $100K+, while building a pipeline of future major-gift donors. The Assistant Director manages a portfolio of at least 200–300 prospects and donors and works toward an annual fundraising goal of $500,000–$1.5 million, including multi-year commitments and third-party event revenue. The position develops and implements fundraising strategies, qualifies prospects, assesses their giving capacity, inclination, and interests, and uses engagement and stewardship opportunities to build donor relationships. It works collaboratively with staff across Medicine and Biological Sciences Development, the University, and related teams to advance leadership annual giving, prepare proposals and stewardship reports, and track fundraising and donor activity. The role includes prospect calls and visits, solicitation, and travel as needed to meet donors. The position requires a college or university degree in a related field and 2–5 years of related work experience. Preferred experience includes nonprofit management, development, alumni relations, marketing, public relations, sales, managing gift prospects and fundraising volunteers, and soliciting and closing gifts of $2,500 or more. The work is performed in an office environment on a hybrid schedule of three days in-office and two days remote.

Requirements

College or university degree in a related field.
2–5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Strong verbal and writing skills, attention to detail and follow-up, and excellent organizational skills.
Strong commitment to customer service.
Ability to manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
Ability to learn quickly the internal workings of the University.
Ability to work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting; demonstrated leadership qualities, including the ability to delegate and execute.
Strong work ethic, personal initiative, interpersonal skills, and communication skills, including listening, speaking, and writing.
Flexibility and adaptability to new programs in an emerging and changing environment.

Nice To Haves

Professional work experience in nonprofit management, development, alumni relations, marketing, public relations, sales, or a similar field.
Knowledge of managing gift prospects and fundraising volunteers.
Experience soliciting and closing gifts of $2,500 or more.

Responsibilities

Identify, solicit, and steward prospective donors with capacity to make financial commitments of $2,500 to $100K+ and build a pipeline of future major-gift donors.
Build and manage a portfolio of at least 200–300 individual prospects and donors and work toward an annual fundraising goal of $500,000–$1.5 million.
Use engagement opportunities, events, phone calls, and visits to secure annual gifts and begin stewardship that can lead to future major gifts.
Plan and implement coordinated fundraising strategies and activities for leadership-gift prospects.
Qualify newly identified prospects and assess their giving capacity, inclination, and areas of interest.
Use stewardship programs and available resources to keep prospects and donors informed and involved in University of Chicago Medicine projects and developments.
Collaborate with staff throughout Medicine and Biological Sciences Development to increase leadership annual-gift activity for the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences.
Plan and execute a target of 150 prospect calls and visits and 75 solicitations, traveling as necessary to meet prospective donors.
Develop solicitation strategies and write fundraising proposals; collaborate with Development Marketing and Communications on proposal content or format as needed.
Ensure individual prospects receive timely, personalized acknowledgments.
Research and prepare stewardship reports for donors making expendable gifts and coordinate stewardship with the Donor Relations team.
Identify reports needed to track and analyze stewardship activity, appeal results, donor movement through giving levels, donor retention, and fundraising projections.
Contribute to plans for soliciting prospective donors and meeting campaign goals, including persuasively presenting the case for annual giving support to new prospects.
Collaborate with divisions and schools and relay information about donor capacity and inclination to appropriate University channels.
Perform other related work as needed.