Rockville, Maryland
Posted: 18-Jun-25
Location: Dallas, Texas
Type: Full Time
Salary: based on experience/education
Categories:
Required Education:
Additional Information:
JOB SUMMARY
The Director of Advancement Services is a full-time year round position and reports directly to the Director of Development. Major responsibilities of the position is to support the School's management, identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of constituents capable of, or who have already made, major gifts and/or planned gift intentions.
The overall success of the Advancement Office depends on teamwork and collaboration. This position requires the Director of Advancement Services to work closely with other members of the Advancement Team and the Head of School, responsible for moves management and prospect research, reporting and analysis, stewardship support and overseeing database management.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
- Provides strategic direction and an annual operating plan for meeting advancement services objectives
- In partnership with the Director of Development, develops and ensures appropriate and effective use, in alignment with best practices, of major gift fundraising and moves management protocols
- Prepares and analyzes regular reports on major gifts fundraising and activity and uses them to inform and/or adapt strategy and tactics
- Prepares the Head of School, fundraising volunteers, and Advancement staff colleagues for cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship visits
- Collaborates with Advancement staff colleagues to ensure the effective development of strong relationships between constituents and the school, education of constituents about why philanthropic support is necessary and warranted, and communication of the school’s appreciation for and impact of contributions made by donors
- Oversees moves management of major and planned gifts prospects:
- Schedules, coordinates, and leads pipeline, portfolio review, and prospect strategy meetings
- Generates and analyzes pipeline and prospect manager reports
- Supports prospect managers and helps the Director of Development in holding them accountable for meeting established metrics
- Records and maintains purpose, ask amount, ask date, solicitors, and expected gift for major gift solicitations
- Manages gift acknowledgement and pledge reminder letter generation process for endowment, restricted, and capital gifts
- Writes and maintains prospect profiles
- Identifies and conducts both proactive and on-demand research of prospects
- In partnership with Annual Giving staff, manages the recording of annual giving appeals, ensures the timely and accurate entry and acknowledgement of annual giving contributions, prepares and analyzes regular reports on progress toward annual giving goals and uses them to inform and/or adapt strategy and tactics
- In partnership with the Constituent Engagement staff, ensures the consistent recording of engagement activities and events, and prepares and analyzes regular reports on constituent engagement and uses them to inform and/or adapt strategy and tactics
- Orchestrates annual stewardship reporting for endowed funds, term funds, and named facilities
- Manages stewardship of constituents connected to student awards, including invitations to awards ceremonies and follow-up correspondence about award recipients
- Manages all routine data reporting and analysis for Development Office, including reports for the Annual Report, Fiscal Year Audit, INDEX, CASE/NAIS, etc.
- Leads the development and regular review (no less frequent than every three years) of gift acceptance, gift/campaign counting, recognition, naming, and other policies that guide the work of the Advancement program
- Participates in Advancement Committee and other volunteer committee meetings as requested and appropriate
- Ensures compliance with IRS regulations regarding charitable gifts and CASE Management and Reporting Standards (CMRS)
- Understands and promotes best practices in independent school fundraising, including CASE’s Statement of Ethics and Principals of Practice for Fundraising Professionals at Educational Institutions and AFP’s Code of Ethics and Donor Bill of Rights
- Promotes the School’s statement of mission and philosophy
MARGINAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Marginal duties of this position include the following. Employees in this position perform some or all of the following tasks. Other duties may be assigned.
- Attends Development Meetings
- Attends Data Strategy Meetings
- Attends School Functions as needed
- Attends Conferences
- Attends Chapel
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
Supervises, manages, directs and evaluates the work of the Database Manager. All school employees have some responsibility for supervising students and assisting in maintaining a safe environment.
QUALIFICATIONS
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of three to five years’ experience in a similar position preferred
- Experience in an independent school or college is an asset
- Computer proficiency, including Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Zoom, and Internet tools
- Knowledge of development software (preferably Raiser’s Edge) and broad understanding of the technological tools available to development offices
Job Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- An extremely well organized, detail-oriented individual who has a high energy level together with an accompanying sense of urgency
- Possesses ability to lead, supervise, delegate to and hold accountable direct reports
- Models cooperation, collegiality and teamwork
- Exhibits personal and professional integrity as well as respect for the confidentiality of colleagues and constituents
- Ability to multi-task and balance competing priorities
- Strong analytical, oral and written communication skills
- Exhibits excellent planning, prioritization, organization, efficiency and follow-through
- Demonstrates self-motivation, flexibility, problem solving and commitment to innovation
- Shows dependability, punctuality, high quality, accuracy and timeliness of work produced
- Well-developed interpersonal skills to deal effectively with a wide range of constituents, including those at very senior levels
- Polished and self-confident when interacting with people of power, influence, and wealth
- A person of unquestioned integrity who has an impeccable reputation, who honors commitments, and who deals with people in a straightforward and personal way
- An accessible and approachable people person with a good sense of humor
- Maintains a professional appearance and demeanor
The School believes that each individual is entitled to equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status or any other characteristic protected under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws. The School’s equal employment opportunity practices extend to recruitment, hiring, selection, compensation, benefits, transfer, promotion, training, discipline, and all other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. All Employees are responsible for complying with the School’s equal employment opportunity policy.