Human Resources

Job Description Summary

The Director for Charitable Giving is responsible for securing gifts of $25,000 and greater to support the university’s programs, priorities, and initiatives. This position will spend 40% of their time serving as the liaison for Athletics and Recreation and 60% fundraising for university-wide priorities as assigned by the Executive Director for Charitable Giving. The Director will utilize a moves management system to identify, strategize, and document all gifts. Through collaborative efforts with the fundraising team and strategic actions to advance donor portfolios, their focus is meeting and exceeding yearly metrics to attain campaign goals. The Director will travel to interact with alumni and friends of the university and professionally represent the mission and vision of Michigan Tech. Ideal candidates will possess excellent written and oral communication skills to support collaborative efforts between university partners to advance the impact-giving donor pipeline for Michigan Tech.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities (other duties may be assigned)

1. Advance the University’s mission, vision, and short and long-term goals in collaboration with the Executive Director for Charitable Giving, the Vice President for Athletics and Recreation, advancement colleagues, and other unit leaders.
2. Identify, secure appointments, and develop relationships with alumni and friends of Michigan Tech.
3. Ask alumni and friends of the University for gifts of $25,000 or more.
4. Be an excellent listener and exhibit a modest, professional demeanor when meeting with donors.
5. Collaborate with administration and unit partners to accurately communicate impact-giving opportunities to donors.
6. Participate in quarterly strategy meetings on campus to assess metric goals, plan travel, and review proposals for individual, corporate, and foundation giving in collaboration with the advancement team.
7. Attend and participate in regularly scheduled weekly departmental meetings in person or via Zoom.
8. Work with the Office of Charitable Gift Planning to develop proposals.
9. Submit timely contact reports for all donor communication with accurate, concise content and a clear follow-up action plan.
10. Continually assess and manage a portfolio of donors, creating strategic plans for the best potential outcome.
11. Exercise travel and calendar “best practices” for University fundraising to maximize travel resources and communication with other fundraising colleagues.
12. Perform all work to the outlined guidelines and expectations to drive the success of individual members and the team.
13. Provide weekly communication of progress to the supervisor for administrative reporting and to ensure information sharing.
14. Collaborate with alumni engagement, admissions department, career services, and other administrative university units as necessary.
15. Coordinate with unit Directors, deans, faculty, and staff.
16. Commit to learning and applying continuous improvement strategies to everyday work. Actively engage in continuous improvement.

Required Education, Certifications, Licensures (minimum requirements)

● Bachelor’s degree
● Possess a valid driver’s license and meet Michigan Tech University’s vehicle use requirements.

Required Experience (minimum requirements)

● Three years of successful experience in major gifts fundraising or experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired such as university admissions, financial services, or management.

Desirable Education and/or Experience

● Advanced degree
● Experience working in higher education
● Fundraising training or certification
● Alumni of Michigan Tech Athletics

Required Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities (minimum requirements)

• Candidates must understand and articulate the importance of athletics in student development at an academically challenging STEM institution.

• Willingness for frequent travel that may range between 25% and 40% of the position on any given month.
• Demonstrated exceptional interpersonal, oral, written skills with a strong customer/alumni service orientation.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, organize, coordinate, prioritize and direct multiple projects and activities with varied deadlines while multi-tasking in a fast paced travel environment.
• Demonstrated ability to be a strategic and innovative thinker and effective in moving projects/assignments along.
• A self-starter with strong organizational abilities, integrity and confidence.
• Team player with the ability to work in a cooperative/dynamic environment (e.g. with administrators, staff, faculty, and students) and external community (e.g. with business leaders, donors and volunteers) environment.
• Ability to analyze and interpret data and make strategic business decisions.
• Demonstrated high standard of professional ethics, honesty and the ability to work with the confidential nature of donor information and university matters.
• Must be highly proficient with the Microsoft software suite, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
•Demonstrated time management and organizational skills with the ability to manage and meet multiple deadlines.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

● Knowledge of fundraising in a university advancement environment.
● Understanding of donor stewardship and alumni engagement.
● Knowledge of major and planned giving.

● Demonstrated success in, or potential future contributions to, working with persons from diverse backgrounds, creating a sense of belonging, and fostering a fair, objective, welcoming place to work for persons with a wide variety of personal characteristics and viewpoints. **

Work Environment and/or Physical Demands

The work environment characteristics and physical demands described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close, distance and peripheral vision; depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Work occasional non-traditional hours, including weekends.

Work requires travel.

The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.

Required Training and Other Conditions of Employment

Every employee at Michigan Technological University will receive the following 4 required trainings; additional training may be required by the department.

Required University Training:

• Employee Safety Overview

• Anti-Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation Training

• Annual Data Security Training 

• Annual Title IX Training

Background Check:

Offers of employment are contingent upon and not considered finalized until the required background check has been performed and the results received and assessed.

Other Conditions of Employment:

The successful applicant will be responsible for ensuring eligibility for employment in the United States on or before the effective date of the appointment. Visa sponsorship is unavailable at this time. This is not an E-Verified Position.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities

1.00

FLSA Status

Exempt

Appointment Term

Shift

Pay Rate/Salary

Negotiable, No less than $75,000

Title of Position Supervisor

Executive Director for Charitable Giving

Posting Type

Dependent on Funding

Special Instructions to Applicants (if applicable)

Additional Information