Assistant Vice President, Development

Benefits of Being a Lindenwood Employee:

• Upon hire employer-paid tuition benefits for bachelors (employee spouse and dependent) and masters degree programs (employee and spouse only).
• Tuition discounts for doctoral programs (employee only).
• Comprehensive benefits plan: medical dental vision life insurance disability insurance and retirement options.
• Paid holidays: MLK Jr. day Good Friday Memorial Day Juneteenth Independence Day Labor Day Thanksgiving break (Wednesday Friday) and winter break (Dec. 23 Jan. 1).
• Free lunch Fridays: LU employees are eligible for a free meal on Fridays at the Evans Commons Dining Hall or Spellman Dining Hall; Chick-fil-A and Qdoba included.
• Professional development opportunities through the Lindenwood Learning Academy.

Job Title: Assistant Vice President Development

Division: University Advancement

Evaluation Group: Staff Administrator

FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports To: Senior Vice President University Advancement

Positions Supervised: Director Development; Director Leadership Annual Giving; Director Corporate and Foundation Development; Director Athletics Development; Assistant Development Officer Athletics

About Lindenwood University Advancement

Located in historic St. Charles Missouri Lindenwood University is a premier independent comprehensive institution known for student-centric focus and innovation. Lindenwood is committed to providing an exceptional values-driven education that prepares students to thrive in a dynamic world. It is an exciting time to join the Lindenwood Advancement team. As we prepare to launch a comprehensive fundraising campaign we are aligning our operational infrastructure building high-impact philanthropic opportunities and enhancing our engagement with alumni donors and regional constituents to support student success experiential learning and innovative campus spaces. At Lindenwood we benefit from working at a picturesque historic campus located in a thriving micro-urban community thats adjacent to a major metropolitan fact in Business Insider named St. Charles the best college town in Missouri and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recognized Lindenwood University as the Best College/University.

The assistant vice president (AVP) of development provides strategic leadership for Lindenwood Universitys development functions including planned giving corporate and foundation relations major and principal giving and leadership annual giving. This is a centralized position supporting all colleges and units across campus including athletics. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President for Advancement this role serves as a key driver of philanthropic growth and a critical partner in preparing for the universitys upcoming comprehensive campaign.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representation of the types of duties and level of responsibility that will be required of positions given this title. This job description shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Job Responsibilities and Execution

• Provides strategic leadership for university development functions aligning fundraising strategies with the universitys institutional priorities and campaign goals
• Leads the development and execution of strategies to secure philanthropic support from individuals corporations and foundations
• Leads and mentors a growing team of professionals focused on a wide range of development functions including major gifts annual giving athletics giving planned giving and corporate and foundation philanthropy
• Partners with Deans and other academic leaders to advance fundraising initiatives and donor relationships
• Provides leadership for campaigns and other strategic fundraising initiatives
• Maintains a personal portfolio of donor prospects including major principal and planned giving prospects
• Serves as the institutions planned giving officer
• Ensures gift agreements and stewardship plans are properly created reviewed and executed for all major gifts
• Oversees developments use of Raisers Edge NXT ensuring the CRM is utilized for all development work including opportunities substantive engagement tracking reporting portfolio and moves management and performance and productivity tracking
• Builds and oversees clear fundraising metrics performance standards and reporting processes that guarantee accountability and fuel continued revenue expansion

Leadership and Strategic Thinking

• Orchestrates the cross-functional alignment of fundraising strategies with long-term institutional priorities translating high-level vision into actionable campaign milestones
• Collaborates with the AVP of Advancement Operations and the Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations to develop a strategy to steward and engage previous donors requalify and cultivate prior donors and ensure all donors receive stewardship touch points after gift closure
• Pioneers innovative approaches to donor acquisition and pipeline expansion leveraging advanced analytics and market insights to anticipate philanthropic trends and secure transformational support
• Drives institutional agility by designing scalable development frameworks that empower academic leaders and advancement staff to capitalize on emerging opportunities
• Champions a culture of strategic accountability and continuous improvement deploying data-informed decision-making to optimize resource allocation and maximize return on investment across all fundraising verticals.
• Keeps current on tax regulations and planned giving policies to expertly advise development officers and donors on complex tax-wise charitable giving strategies
• Establishes long- and short-term strategic goals based on assessment data and ensures standards for the department and its field are met or exceeded
• Manages budget personnel prospect research and proposal development
• Maintains relationships with current and potential donors

Employee Management and Development

• Supports the mission of the University and serves as an ambassador of the Q2 culture of service excellence
• Models supports and holds others accountable to the Universitys values
• Recruits interviews recommends welcomes observes and monitors performance of department staff
• Sets clear performance expectations and holds employees accountable
• Conducts annual employee evaluations based on evidence observation and feedback
• Manages human resources reporting for the department including time keeping and other personnel matters
• Determines metrics used to evaluate performance of advancement officers

Job may require other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications An equivalent combination of education training and experience will be considered. Additional requirements may be designated by position.

• Bachelors degree in related field
• Minimum of 5 years experience in non-profit fundraising
• Masters degree preferred
• Experience utilizing Raisers Edge NXT or another Advancement CRM for portfolio management reporting etc.
• Proven experience with major and principal giving cultivation solicitation and closure
• Strong communication presentation and negotiation skills
• Campaign experience preferred
• Experience with planned gift and non-cash gift solicitations preferred
• Experience developing strategic fundraising plans and managing donor portfolios and relationships preferred
• Experience in comprehensive fundraising reporting goal setting and performance management preferred

Knowledge Skills and Abilities May be representative but not all inclusive of the knowledge skills and abilities necessary to perform this job competently.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse communities and cultures
• Comprehensive knowledge of comprehensive advancement concepts and principles
• Ability to drive strategic direction
• Management skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills including persuasive communication skills
• Portfolio and moves management skills
• Knowledge of general office hardware and Microsoft Office Suite
• Knowledge of Raisers Edge fundraising software
• Excellent creative interpersonal and organizational skills
• Ability to exercise good judgment think critically and multitask
• Strong professional integrity and ability to maintain strict confidentiality
• Ability to understand and implement general principles of accounting and best practices in gift management
• Ability to establish and maintain effective and collaborative relationships with faculty staff alumni students community and media partners

Work Environment Environmental or atmospheric conditions commonly associated with the performance of this jobs functions. Please click here to view Lindenwood Universitys flexible work designation descriptions.

• General office setting
• Some travel required
• Evening and weekend work required as needed
• Non-Standard Flex

Physical Abilities The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform this jobs essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Ability to work effectively at a computer for extended time daily
• Ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time
• Adequately mobile in order to travel to visit donors as well as to attend events on and off campus
• Ability to carry up to 20 pounds set up work and break down events
• Regular attendance is a necessary and essential function

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lindenwood University is an Equal Opportunity employer. The University complies with appropriate federal state and local laws and provides equal employment opportunities and access to educational programs without regard to race color religion gender age sexual orientation gender identity national origin veteran status disability or any other protected status to all qualified applicants and employees. Lindenwood University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and dedicated to providing a positive discrimination-free educational work environment.