Senior Director of Development, School of Law
About The Position
This is an exciting opportunity for a strategic, relationship-driven fundraising professional to advance the mission and future of Quinnipiac University School of Law through transformational philanthropy. Reporting to University Advancement leadership, the Senior Director of Development for Law will lead the development and execution of a comprehensive fundraising and donor engagement strategy focused on securing major and principal gifts in support of the School of Law's strategic priorities. Partnering closely with the Dean, faculty, alumni, and University leadership, this individual will cultivate meaningful relationships with alumni, parents, friends, and philanthropic partners to inspire investments that expand student opportunity, strengthen academic excellence, and elevate the School's impact. As a key member of the University Advancement team, the Senior Director will manage a portfolio of high-capacity donors and prospects, identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individuals capable of making gifts of $50,000 or more. The successful candidate will develop compelling, customized proposals aligned with donors' philanthropic interests and financial capacity while collaborating across the University to deliver a highly personalized donor experience and achieve ambitious fundraising goals.
Requirements
- Seven to ten years of progressively responsible fundraising experience, with demonstrated success securing major gifts of $50,000+, preferably in higher education, legal education, healthcare, or another complex nonprofit environment.
- Proven ability to cultivate, solicit, negotiate, and steward major and principal gift donors through all stages of the donor cycle.
- Experience partnering effectively with deans, faculty, senior leaders, volunteers, and advisory boards to advance fundraising priorities.
- Exceptional relationship-building, interpersonal, and communication skills, with the ability to engage and inspire diverse constituencies.
- Demonstrated strategic thinking with the ability to develop and execute comprehensive fundraising plans that achieve measurable results.
- Strong proposal writing, presentation, and storytelling skills with the ability to translate institutional priorities into compelling philanthropic opportunities.
- Experience using constituent relationship management (CRM) systems, such as Blackbaud CRM, Raiser's Edge NXT, Salesforce, or a comparable donor database.
- Willingness and ability to travel and work occasional evenings and weekends to support donor engagement and University events.
- Proven ability to collaborate effectively with individuals from varied backgrounds.
Responsibilities
- Works collaboratively with the Dean of the School of Law to engage major prospects to secure philanthropic support for the School’s funding priorities and strategic initiatives. Provide counsel, coaching and briefing to Dean prior to and after donor meetings. Engages with School of Law faculty and staff and educates them about development at the School
- Conducts a minimum of 120 intentional personal visits with current and prospective donors. Promptly documents all contacts with donor in CRM to build the donor’s story and history with the University.
- Creatively cultivates, solicits, and stewards, prospects and donors, and conducts meaningful discovery work to build the major gift pipeline
- Plans and executes personalized donor strategy plans and well-written proposals
- Connects highly qualified benefactors to the President, Dean and faculty to deepen their relationship with the University and increase their philanthropic commitment
- Maintains a portfolio of major prospects for the purpose of supporting the University
- Provides timely and accurate reports to management regarding prospect activity as needed
- Leverages available resources to maximize alumni support and collaborates with colleagues in Planned Giving, Parent Development, Annual Giving, Alumni Affairs, and Advancement Services in support of divisional and institutional goals. Develops new programs and initiatives to provide opportunities for meaningful prospect engagement with the School
- Crafts strategy for School of Law around annual giving activities, Bobcats Unite, and other crowdfunding opportunities as may arise from time to time
- Utilizes events within the School of Law and at the University to highlight the work of our students and faculty to engage major prospects based on their unique interests
- Collaborates with School of Law and Alumni Affairs on alumni event strategies and attends events as appropriate
- Willingness to adapt to shifting priorities and accept new responsibilities as requested
- Utilizes institutional knowledge and experience to build a culture of philanthropy at the University
- Capitalizes on network to identify/enlist alumni to serve on boards, committees, and leadership roles at the University
- Maintains knowledge of other unit and institutional priorities and university events to align donor interests and passions with meaningful areas of support and engagement
- Sustains collegial and collaborative relationships with colleagues and campus partners and responds to inquiries in a timely manner
- Adept at relating to constituents of diverse backgrounds and engaging them with the University.
- Manages University resources and budget judiciously
- Effectively works remotely and ability to work independently, while collaborating with colleagues as needed
Benefits
- tuition remission
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
