Senior Director, Principal Gifts - University of San Francisco

Job Summary:

The University of San Francisco is in the second year of its most ambitious fundraising campaign. The Elevate USF Campaign has a $500M goal that will vastly enhance the University’s presence and scholarship in the arts, health and life sciences, and entrepreneurism, as well as continue to provide access and opportunity for our highly diverse population of students.

The Senior Director, Principal Gifts will play a critical role in actively leading the Principal Gift team toward immediate revenue targets focused on gifts of $500K+ while building the Principal donor pipeline over the long term. The Senior Director, Principal Gifts will be responsible for developing, managing, and evaluating the day-to-day activities of the Principal Gift team.

Full Job Description:

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

50% Principal Gifts Fundraising

• Build and carry an active portfolio of approximately 50 prospective donors.
• Develop principal gift priorities and increase engagement with high-net worth individuals, with a special focus on international giving.

35% Leadership, Management and Collaboration

• Lead in the following areas: goal setting, customized proposal development, setting agendas for and facilitating cross-team strategy meetings, and implementing stewardship plans for principal level donors.
• Managerial responsibilities: mentor, direct and evaluate principal gift position.
• Ensure that fundraising dollar goals and deadlines are met for all principal gifts the university solicits.
• Collaborate, coordinate and communicate with faculty, deans and other university leaders, as well as development staff to develop cases for support for funding across campus and reaching campaign goals.

15% Volunteer Management

• Work with members of the Board of Trustees and other volunteer leaders to build and sustain a pipeline of principal-level donors.
• Manage key quarterly meetings, solicitation and development of the Campaign Committee alongside the AVP for Campaign and Engagement.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 10 years of progressive and successful development experience in major gifts, preferably in higher education.
• Experience in health care, research and/or science-related fundraising is a plus.
• Flexible and nimble attitude reflecting the spirit of experimentation in a role that is new to the university and will be dynamic in focus.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including proposal writing and the ability to deliver a compelling case for support.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in working with high-net worth individuals, including prospect identification, relationship building, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Superior interpersonal and listening skills and the proven ability to collaborate as well as build strong working relationships with colleagues across the campus to achieve fundraising results.
• Commitment to appropriate use of sensitive, confidential constituent data and familiarity with relevant privacy laws.
• Willingness to travel and work weekend/evening hours.