Associate Vice President of Development, Athletics

Oklahoma State University Foundation•Stillwater, OK

About The Position

VISION: Transform the University through the power of generosity. MISSION: Unite donor and alumni passions and expertise with university priorities to elevate the impact of Oklahoma State University. DEPARTMENT PURPOSE: Advance the university’s athletic programs by aligning new revenue generating opportunities and fundraising efforts with institutional priorities, securing philanthropic support and fostering donor engagement. PRIMARY PURPOSE: Lead and execute comprehensive, sport-specific revenue strategies to maximize financial support for OSU Athletics and OSU student-athletes, ensuring alignment with university goals, donor interests, and the strategic vision for the university. KEY AREAS OF FOCUS: Lead the development team by designing and executing a comprehensive development strategy for OSU Athletics with key initiatives on Principal Gift level donors ($1M and above), and the implementation of sport-specific funding strategies. (80%) Develop and implement funding strategies for OSU Athletics, including non-traditional funding, major philanthropic gifts, and capital campaigns. Oversee and mentor development staff, providing leadership, training, and performance management, to continually grow the donor base by identifying new prospective supporters, elevate donor participation among current donors and implement strategic principal gift strategies. Coordinate efforts of the traditional philanthropic fundraising methods with existing business partners and connect businesses with new funding opportunities supporting OSU Athletics. Foster a culture of role clarity, consistency, accountability, collaboration, and donor-centered service. Establish consistent funding goals and metrics for all major gift development officers dedicated to fundraising for OSU Athletics. Cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with alumni, donors, and prospects, leveraging best practices in donor pipeline development and major gift cultivation ensuring fundraising success and that best practices in overall donor experience are consistent at all giving levels. Serve as a member of the OSU Foundation’s Development Leadership Team (DLT). Collaborate with university and athletic leadership to identify fundraising priorities and opportunities, including innovative or non-traditional support opportunities, naming opportunities for athletic facilities, and capital projects. Partner with coaches, staff, and campus stakeholders to advance development initiatives and ensure buy-in for new processes and procedures. Help major gift development officers adopt a holistic perspective when working with prospective donors who can provide charitable support through the OSU Foundation as well as NIL support through separate avenues. The end goal is to work with the outside NIL team so that proposals optimize both streams of revenue for OSU Athletics while ensuring a positive donor experience. Coordinate fundraising activities with the Cowboy Athletics Board in alignment with the Athletic Director as the President of Cowboy Athletics, Inc. (CAI) by collaborating with OSU Athletics on CAI fundraising meetings, activities, and communication with the board of directors. (20%) Present to the CAI Board of Directors any new fundraising opportunities and possible methods of implementation and execution. Update the CAI Board of Directors on progress in executing new fundraising opportunities. Inform the CAI Board of Directors of performance metrics related to fundraising. Ensure communication with the CAI Board of Directors is consistent with OSU Foundation initiatives. Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Sports Management, Public Administration, Communications, or a related discipline.
7–10+ years of progressive experience in fundraising, development, or advancement, preferably within higher education or athletics.
Demonstrated success in major gift fundraising (including principal gifts of $1M+), capital campaigns, and donor stewardship.
Leadership experience managing teams, developing staff, and driving organizational change.
Experience collaborating with boards, senior university leadership, and external stakeholders.
Track record of designing and executing comprehensive development strategies and working with sport-specific funding initiatives.
Experience with donor relations, alumni engagement, and business partnerships in a university or nonprofit setting.
Effective Communication: Able to present effectively to large groups of individuals; is clear, articulate and direct in sharing and providing feedback; develops communication plans to ensure effective transparency and involvement throughout the organization; able to present complex issues appropriately for a target audience; maintains communication with all staff and stakeholders.
Execution & Initiative: Drives a high performance culture, having the ability to differentiate performance and demonstrate managerial courage; maintains focus on organizational priorities and sets challenging performance goals for units; invest personal energy and time in building buy-in among key influencers in advance of critical decisions; seeks to ensure that strategic initiatives are effectively executed and communicated to relevant audiences within the organization; encourages an environment in which results surpass activity and teamwork surpasses results; able to remain focused on only mission-related initiatives.
Teamwork/Interpersonal Skills: Builds cohesive teams of people across OSUF based on strong personal trust and relationships; motivates the organization to increase employee engagement levels; constantly assesses and builds team morale; seeks out relationships with experts as a means of obtaining information about best practices and skills vital to departmental and organizational success; maximizes personal networks in different parts of the organization, campus & community partners, and effectively uses contacts to achieve unit results.
Problem Solving/Judgment: Oversees the development of guidelines, principles and approaches; appropriately applies risk management practices, including the escalation of risk issues, and recognizes and undertakes opportunities for others to learn from inevitable mistakes, and incorporates experience in future decisions; able to anticipate problems/challenges and required strategy for a situation; makes connections among previously unrelated ideas and looks beyond the first right answer.
Adaptability/Flexibility: Plays an active role in implementing change; encourages others to challenge the status quo; able to quickly adapt and lead during changing circumstances; foresees potential breakdown in the establishment/development of change and proactively recommends modifications to maintain standards of deliverables; anticipates specific reasons underlying resistance to change and proactively implements approaches to address potential concerns; remains active, visible and engaged throughout all stages of change management.
Courage & Conviction: Takes responsibility for departmental outcomes regardless of success and learns from all results; creates a departmental environment where failure is seen as an opportunity for learning.
Donor Centered: Uses donor and university feedback to improve service and feed into the business planning; builds performance-based business relationships by identifying and meeting donor needs rather than simply relying on social or affiliated relationships.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Sports Administration, Nonprofit Management, or Higher Education Leadership. Advanced degrees signal readiness for strategic leadership and complex organizational management - Preferred
Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) - Preferred

Responsibilities

Lead the development team by designing and executing a comprehensive development strategy for OSU Athletics with key initiatives on Principal Gift level donors ($1M and above), and the implementation of sport-specific funding strategies.
Develop and implement funding strategies for OSU Athletics, including non-traditional funding, major philanthropic gifts, and capital campaigns.
Oversee and mentor development staff, providing leadership, training, and performance management, to continually grow the donor base by identifying new prospective supporters, elevate donor participation among current donors and implement strategic principal gift strategies.
Coordinate efforts of the traditional philanthropic fundraising methods with existing business partners and connect businesses with new funding opportunities supporting OSU Athletics.
Foster a culture of role clarity, consistency, accountability, collaboration, and donor-centered service.
Establish consistent funding goals and metrics for all major gift development officers dedicated to fundraising for OSU Athletics.
Cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with alumni, donors, and prospects, leveraging best practices in donor pipeline development and major gift cultivation ensuring fundraising success and that best practices in overall donor experience are consistent at all giving levels.
Serve as a member of the OSU Foundation’s Development Leadership Team (DLT).
Collaborate with university and athletic leadership to identify fundraising priorities and opportunities, including innovative or non-traditional support opportunities, naming opportunities for athletic facilities, and capital projects.
Partner with coaches, staff, and campus stakeholders to advance development initiatives and ensure buy-in for new processes and procedures.
Help major gift development officers adopt a holistic perspective when working with prospective donors who can provide charitable support through the OSU Foundation as well as NIL support through separate avenues.
Coordinate fundraising activities with the Cowboy Athletics Board in alignment with the Athletic Director as the President of Cowboy Athletics, Inc. (CAI) by collaborating with OSU Athletics on CAI fundraising meetings, activities, and communication with the board of directors.
Present to the CAI Board of Directors any new fundraising opportunities and possible methods of implementation and execution.
Update the CAI Board of Directors on progress in executing new fundraising opportunities.
Inform the CAI Board of Directors of performance metrics related to fundraising.
Ensure communication with the CAI Board of Directors is consistent with OSU Foundation initiatives.
Other duties as assigned.