Job  Board

Associate Director/Director of Development College of Liberal Arts & Sciences University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Based in Urbana-Champaign with hybrid opportunities The Office of Advancement within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) invites applications and nominations for one full-time major gift officer to secure private support for department funding priorities in LAS. The Associate Director/Director of Development will play a critical role to maximize overall support and opportunities for collaborative giving. The successful candidate will serve as a member of the advancement team in the College. The scope of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences spans the breadth of human endeavor. Within its more than 70 academic units, faculty and students are pursuing knowledge on scales that stretch from the subatomic to the cosmic and from the individual to the global. In June of 2022, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign closed its With Illinois campaign, its most successful fundraising initiative ever. Publicly launched in 2017 with an ambitious $2.25 billion goal, the campaign recorded more than $2.65 billion in gifts and commitments and reached its initial goal fifteen months ahead of schedule. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences exceeded its $200 million With Illinois goal by 17%.  Fundraising efforts will continue and, in addition to the respective priorities within each of the colleges and units, the University remains resolute in its commitment to secure additional private resources towards student scholarships, faculty and staff support, capital projects, and other life-changing programmatic initiatives. The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit http://go.illinois.edu/EEO. Organizational Relationship The Associate Director/Director of Development reports to the Senior Director of Development and will work closely with advancement colleagues, the Heads of the departments and members of the faculty. Job Summary This position will assist the College and its departments in designing strategies to broaden and strengthen development activities and will require travel of varying durations, up to 30-50%, including some evenings and weekends. The successful candidate will be a collaborative team member who values inclusion and is skilled at building strong internal and external collaborative relationships. This position will be responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gift prospects and donors to increase private giving in support of the college and the philanthropic interests of donors. Duties and Responsibilities Identify, assess, analyze, and design appropriate strategies for approaching prospects and donors and making the vitally important match between donors’ philanthropic interests and the departments’ programmatic and curricular needs. Plan and implement effective outreach and cultivation activities to enhance prospect identification and move solicitation and stewardship processes forward. Qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of major gift prospects, with an emphasis on gifts of $100,000 or more, determining frequency of contact needed. Document all activities and interactions in the alumni/donor database (65%) Develop and maintain close collaborative partnerships with faculty and staff to gain a strong knowledge of the academic and research programs in order to identify and define priorities to be funded through private support. Partner closely with other advancement professionals, including gift officers and corporate relations professionals. (15%) Determine and prioritize lists of donor prospects, alumni, and other stakeholders to be contacted for personal visits. (10%) Prepare faculty and other volunteers to participate in cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of major gifts as needed. (10%) Impact in Your First Year At Advancement at Illinois, we value our employees and provide resources to help you continually learn and grow. We foster a strong, collaborative community of people who are driven by their ability to make a difference. Within 3 months, you’ll:

• Become familiar with the strategic vision and priorities of the College/specific departments
• Meet your assigned Prospect Development Analyst and begin to dig into your portfolio
• Attend professional development and networking activities for newcomers within Advancement
• Be introduced to fundraising fundamentals terminology adopted from Plus Delta Partners

Within 6 months, you’ll:

• Begin cultivating relationships with key prospects/donors/alumni in an effort to create and implement solicitation strategies
• Partner with stewardship and donor relations, events, alumni relations, and communications colleagues on department and College-wide initiatives
• Be able to share multiple meaningful impact stories of transformative gifts

By the end of the first year, you’ll:

• Cooperatively set annual goals with your supervisor and portfolio management team
• Continue portfolio growth of qualified prospects and successful solicitation strategies
• Receive one-on-one coaching from Talent Management to help transition to your new role
• Build a robust network of colleagues across campus

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• For the title of Associate Director, a minimum of three years of successful advancement experience or more than six years of experience in a closely related field which requires strong relationship-building and outcome driven components. For the title of Director, a minimum of five years of successful experience or ten years of experience in a closely related field which requires strong relationship-building and outcome driven components.
• Demonstrated understanding of major donor prospect qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, preferably in a higher education environment.
• Superb oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, with an emphasis on engaged, active listening.
• Experience working in a collaborative, team-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated ability to represent an organization in visits with key constituents.
• Strong relationship management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Documented success as a major gift fundraiser.
• Advancement experience in an academic unit that produces degrees and conducts rigorous academic research.
• Experience working with faculty leaders.
• Experience managing alumni and/or student programs and devising innovative programs to engage alumni and/or donors to support academic priorities.

Salary Competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience, while also considering internal equity. The salary range for this position starts at $70,000 for the title of Associate Director, and $85,000 for the title of Director. To Apply To ensure full consideration, application materials must be received by February 22, 2023. Please complete your candidate profile at http://jobs.illinois.edu and upload a letter of application, resume, and the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of three professional references. For more information regarding application procedures, contact Katie Walker at walker74@illinois.edu. The proposed starting date is as soon as possible after the closing date. Please note: Immigration sponsorship is not available for this position. University of Illinois faculty, staff and students are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are not able to receive the vaccine for medical or religious reasons, you may seek approval for an exemption in accordance with applicable University processes. The University of Illinois conducts criminal background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer. As a qualifying federal contractor, the University of Illinois System uses E-Verify to verify employment eligibility. The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit For more information, visit Policy on Consideration of Sexual Misconduct in Prior Employment. The Illinois Advancement community is committed to an ongoing, proactive process to foster and achieve diversity and inclusion in its development, alumni relations and communication activities. We will respect and encourage different voices, perspectives and ideas as we strive to represent individuals of all backgrounds and cultures which includes but are not limited to the following: nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, spirituality, age and ability who represent our alumni, donors and friends of the University of Illinois.