Position Overview

The Associate Director, Development is responsible for increasing philanthropic support for the Ivey Business School by qualifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding individual major and leadership gifts to support the School’s funding priorities. The Associate Director, Development will manage a portfolio of approximately 50-60 prospective major gift donors with an annual major gift fundraising goal of $1-$3 million. In addition, this position will be responsible for annual and leadership giving strategy and program management. This includes growing membership and giving levels in the leadership giving program, the Ivey Society; supervising the Manager, Annual Giving and the Senior Development Officer; developing and executing reunion class gift campaigns; and supporting Annual Fund volunteer groups.

Key Responsibilities

1. Donor Portfolio & Activity

• Manage a portfolio of assigned major gift and leadership giving prospects, providing strategic and tactical direction to the definition and successful pursuit of projected gift targets. Assume responsibility for cultivating and soliciting support from them, both individually and/or in collaboration with the Dean, Associate Dean, senior faculty and campaign volunteers.
• Develop and maintain a good working knowledge of the Faculty, and Ivey’s activities, priorities and needs in education, research, and outreach.
• Nurture and develop sustainable long-term relationships with alumni, key stakeholders and members of the Ivey community.
• Research and analyze the giving potential and propensity of major gift prospects. Develop thoughtfully conceived and personally tailored strategies to engage and guide their involvement and eventual investment in the School’s development program.
• Collaborate with appropriate School administrative officers and faculty in identifying attractive opportunities for donor investment and fashion presentations and/or proposals to secure support for these investments.
• Guide and support volunteers in the tasks of cultivating and soliciting assigned major gift prospects and, as appropriate, participating in the execution of these initiatives.
• Analyze data and prepare written materials including tailored proposals, correspondence, briefing notes, progress reports, and planning documents as appropriate.
• Collaborate with the Associate Director, Stewardship to engage in stewardship activities as appropriate.

 

2. Annual and Leadership Giving Strategy & Program Management

• Develop and implement an overall strategy for the Annual Fund to attract unrestricted gifts from each of the School’s constituencies to build a sustainable resource base and increased financial support for the School’s annual operations.
• Manage the program budget for annual giving and Ivey Society activity, including maintaining and updated financial spreadsheets and forecasting.
• In collaboration with the Senior Development Officer, Philanthropy, develop strategies to retain and upgrade high-end Ivey Society donors and identify other Annual Fund donors who have the potential to become major gift prospects.
• Manage the reunion class giving program by identifying key classes to be managed and ensuring classes are managed by appropriate development colleagues, key volunteers are solicited and recruited, and effective reporting and communications between Ivey and volunteer groups.

 

3. Management Responsibilities

• Provide oversight and supervision to Manager, Annual Giving in their execution of the Ivey Annual Fund’s direct marketing campaigns.
• Provide oversight and supervision to Senior Development Officer, Development in their execution of the Ivey Society program and cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of their donor portfolio.
• Evaluation and assessment of Ivey’s Annual Fund program on an on-going basis and the development of alternate and additional strategies as appropriate.

 

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• A University degree in business, communications, arts or a related field.
• Five to seven years of progressive fundraising experience in securing major gifts and experience with the full scope of development activities including discovery, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, recognition and stewardship at the major gift level.
• Successful track record of developing and implementing strategies for major gift solicitations with demonstrated success in personally securing and closing major gifts.
• Understanding of annual fund programs and their significance to the outcomes of the overall development program and donor cycle.

 Skills & Abilities

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to inspire confidence and trust in alumni, friends and corporate and foundation stakeholders.
• Superior listening skills and the ability to interpret the concerns and interests of potential stakeholders and translate them into attractive opportunities for investment in the School’s development priorities.
• Ability to organize and manage a diverse range of assignments and projects with high efficiency, yet thorough attention to detail and follow through.
• Resourceful and independent, and comfortable working within the framework of an integrated development program and team-oriented environment.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and writing skills, including the expertise to create fundraising materials and proposals.
• Appreciation of the mission, purpose and values of a comprehensive university and, more particularly, a teaching business school and its responsiveness to the educational and research requirements of a sophisticated international business community.
• Demonstrated ability to handle multiple priorities and be self-motivated in a very high pressure, fast paced and demanding work environment is required.
• Political acumen and problem solving skills are required.