Regional Director of Development, Southern California

UO HR Website•Eugene, OR

2d•Remote

About The Position

The University of Oregon is a leading public research university dedicated to academic excellence, innovation, and student success. University Advancement supports the university's mission by connecting alumni, parents, and friends with opportunities to invest in its future through strategic philanthropy and relationship-building. The Regional Director of Development, Southern California, will serve as a frontline major gift fundraiser, responsible for building relationships with alumni, parents, and friends in the California and Hawaii region. Reporting to the Senior Director of Regional Philanthropy, this role involves managing a portfolio of major gift prospects, developing strategies for philanthropic investments, and collaborating with various development teams to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors. Success is measured by donor engagement, portfolio growth, and philanthropic support for the university's priorities.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Three years of professional fundraising experience or five years combined experience in development and in a closely related field such as corporate sales.
Extensive experience in prospect identification, cultivation, and solicitation with a demonstrated ability to build relationships with donors and prospects.
Ability to identify top prospects and strategies for a portfolio, including organizing by potential, connections, and timelines to optimize activity and portfolio makeup.
Ability to establish and maintain strong working relationships with faculty, staff, and others as appropriate.
Ability to represent the university’s history, mission, demographics, faculty, current programs, departments, and culture, and persuasively articulate how the UO distinguishes itself from peer institutions.
Competence in connecting mission and objectives across departments into donor strategies.
Extensive knowledge of best practices, trends, current strategies, and other information relevant to philanthropy in higher education major gifts.
Ability to navigate and lead broader pipeline discussions for a program, including segmented strategy for different donor audiences.
Ability to communicate and articulate how individual initiatives and programmatic direction fit into overall advancement strategy.
Ability to use 12-month and multi-year projections and strategic planning tools to reach goals and anticipate trends, gaps, and priorities.
Commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Ability to interact, communicate, and work effectively with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
Ability to travel.

Nice To Haves

Experience in higher education development and understanding of the nature of a professional school and research university.
Experience working effectively with volunteer boards.

Responsibilities

Manage an active portfolio of major gift prospects through all phases of identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
Personally solicit major and planned gifts while supporting donor strategies led by university leadership and development colleagues.
Build thoughtful cultivation and stewardship plans that strengthen long-term donor relationships.
Identify and qualify new major gift prospects throughout the California and Hawaii region.
Travel extensively throughout the assigned territory to meet with donors and prospects.
Partner with development colleagues across schools, colleges, and central advancement to coordinate fundraising strategies and maximize donor engagement.
Build productive relationships with faculty, administrators, alumni volunteers, and university leadership.
Collaborate with Annual Philanthropy, Gift Planning, Principal Gifts, Prospect Development, and Advancement Analytics to strengthen fundraising outcomes and maintain accurate donor records.
Partner with advancement leadership to establish fundraising goals and regional strategies.
Help develop and manage regional budgets and fundraising initiatives.
Collaborate with university and alumni association partners to maximize donor engagement opportunities.
Recognize and steward gifts in partnership with donor relations colleagues.
Participate in development meetings, strategic planning, and regional initiatives.
Maintain sound fiscal oversight while ensuring compliance with university policies.
Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and service-oriented culture with colleagues, alumni, volunteers, and donors.
Support additional advancement initiatives as needed.