Director, Major Gifts – Athletics/Associate Athletic Director

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Director, Major Gifts – Athletics/Associate Athletic Director at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier, public, urban research university located in the heart of Detroit, Michigan where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich, high-quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity, diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities which prepare students for success in a global society.

Essential functions (job duties):

Job Purpose

  Provide leadership and direction for the Wayne State University Athletics Development Office. Develop and manage fundraising strategies and initiatives for Athletics; manage staff and office operations; cultivate, solicit and steward major and planned individual, corporate and foundation donors to meet established fundraising goals within the allocated expense budget. This position will be part of the Athletic Department Senior Staff. This position reports to the Associate Vice President, Major Gifts and Planned Giving (with a dotted line reporting to the WSU Athletic Director).

 

Essential Functions

(Essential functions are the primary duties/major job responsibilities that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation. The essential functions are listed in order of importance.) 

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Director, Major Gifts – Athletics/Associate Athletic Director

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Director, Major Gifts – Athletics/Associate Athletic Director at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier, public, urban research university located in the heart of Detroit, Michigan where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich, high-quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity, diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities which prepare students for success in a global society.

Essential functions (job duties):

Job Purpose

  Provide leadership and direction for the Wayne State University Athletics Development Office. Develop and manage fundraising strategies and initiatives for Athletics; manage staff and office operations; cultivate, solicit and steward major and planned individual, corporate and foundation donors to meet established fundraising goals within the allocated expense budget. This position will be part of the Athletic Department Senior Staff. This position reports to the Associate Vice President, Major Gifts and Planned Giving (with a dotted line reporting to the WSU Athletic Director).

 

Essential Functions

(Essential functions are the primary duties/major job responsibilities that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation. The essential functions are listed in order of importance.) 

Collaborate with the Athletic Director, Associate VP for Major Gifts and Planned Giving, Athletics coaches and teams to identify fundraising needs and priorities.

 

Collaborate with direct reports to develop fundraising plans and strategies; establish realistic and achievable timelines; remain current with fundraising trends in intercollegiate athletics and serve as a resource on successful development activities, techniques and methods.

 20%

 

Oversee the cultivation and solicitation of major and planned giving individual donors; manage portfolio of prospects and conduct one-on-one visits to qualify, cultivate and solicit donors and prospects to increase donor giving.

20%

Responsible for achieving annual fundraising goal and assisting in meeting unit goals; allocating and prioritizing time and resources to achieve the greatest return on investment. Performance and productivity will be measured on the following core metrics as determined annually:

    Dollars raised for campaign gifts

    Dollars raised for cash and in-kind gifts

    Number of Major Gift solicitations of $25,000+

    Number of Major Gifts closed at $25,000+

    Number of face to face meetings (visits)

    Number of meaningful contacts each month

20%

 

Collaborate with division units (e.g. Alumni Relations, Foundation Relations, Annual Campaigns, Planned Giving, Donor Experience, Prospect Development and Corporate Engagement) as well as other university units to ensure operational efficiencies within the Athletics Development unit.

10%

 

Supervise a diverse staff, effectively managing performance to meet individual and team initiatives; foster a collegial and highly productive work environment. Recruit, interview, hire, train, coach, evaluate, and discipline staff. Establish and communicate performance expectations in a manner that motivates and empowers staff to fulfill job duties. Encourage, support, and ensure employee participation in training and development programs.

10%

Manage unit's annual expenditure budget. Develop revenue and expense projections, approve expenditures at unit level and monitor transactions for compliance with university policies and procedures.

5%

Identify and recruit prospects to participate on volunteer committees for specific projects and campaign; train volunteers on appropriate cultivation and solicitation methods, techniques and processes; provide oversight of volunteers to ensure unit and university missions are attained.

 5%

 

Draft and negotiate gift and pledge documentation ranging from moderate to high complexity. Engage university leadership and unit-based colleagues to support prospect strategies, as appropriate. Oversee the routing of donor contributions to central development for processing. Comply with all applicable National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules and policies. 5%

Network with outside professional groups and organizations to keep abreast of current industry trends and best practices related to fundraising. Represent the WSU Athletics at industry or community meetings at the request of leadership. Special projects and other duties as assigned.

 5%

 

WORK CONTEXT

This grid characterizes the position scope.

Job Reports to:  Vice President/AVP/Dean

Leadership Accountability: Develops policy and strategic plans

Supervisory Accountability: Supervises professionals and non-managers

Organizational Accountability: Manages department

Financial Accountability: Manages operating budget

Customer Accountability: Interfaces with officials and executives

Freedom to Act: Operates with significant autonomy

 

 

Unique duties:

N/A

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education   Bachelor's degree

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in marketing, public relations, business administration or related field.

Reasonable knowledge and understanding of university policies and procedures.

Experience   Specialist (minimum 5 years of job-related experience)

Minimum of five (5) year's experience working as a fundraising professional in direct major donor solicitations in excess of $25,000 or equivalent experience as a fundraising professional at another institution operating in a similar capacity. Minimum of three (3) year's experience managing personnel, developing and implementing policies and procedures.

Direct experience with creating development fundraising plans and conducting major gift solicitations required.

Higher education development and professional experience in intercollegiate athletics preferred.

Passionate for the role that athletics plays in the cultural development of a university and a community.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

ANALYTICAL AND PRESENTATION SKILLS: Ability to evaluate, interpret, and present complex information effectively in professionally prepared documents or presentations. Must possess a demonstrated attention to detail in order to achieve a high degree of accuracy.

COLLABORATION: Exhibits a willingness to partner with diverse units across the university with integrity and high character to reach unified goals. Possesses the ability to navigate difficult situations with grace and understanding while being respectful and accepting of individual differences. 

COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS: Ability to communicate clearly, concisely and professionally both orally and in writing. Strong interpersonal skills are a must. Ability to work successfully with persons from diverse backgrounds.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION: Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors and proactively managing implicit bias.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Demonstrated strong leadership skills that can influence and motivate individuals and groups to achieve results. 

LEARNING AGILITY: Independent and innovative self-starter who displays an ability to learn quickly and easily adapts to changing situations. Experience researching topics to gain knowledge and understanding when information gaps exist.

PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION: Ability to manage several projects simultaneously, prioritize and plan work activities while meeting respective deadlines. Strong organizational and time-management skills required. Maturity, sound judgment and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a deadline-oriented environment.

TEAMWORK: Ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues within the division and other units to gain full understanding of the project and desired outcome; ability to produce high quality and consistent results with assistance of team members; provide support to teammates when tackling complex projects.

TECHNICAL SKILLS: Proficient in the use of complex administrative systems software, preferrably in the higher education environment. Proficient with Microsoft Office suite, especially Word, Excel and Teams. Ability to understand and translate complex concepts into lay terms.

Working Conditions

Normal office environment.

Adhere to confidentiality and data usage policy for the division.

Due to evening and weekend athletic events, candidate must be willing to work extended hours as needed.

Preferred qualifications:

School/College/Division:

H86 - Development & Alumni Affairs

Primary department:

H8605-Developmnt office

Employment type:

• Regular Employee
• Job type: Full Time
• Job category: Staff/Administrative

Funding/salary information:

• Compensation type: Annual Salary
• Hourly rate:
• Salary minimum: $93,000
• Salary hire maximum: $100,000

Working conditions:

normal working conditions

Job openings:

• Number of openings: 1
• Reposted position: No
• Reposted reason: None (New Requisition)
• Prior posting/requisition number:

Background check requirements:

University policy requires certain persons who are offered employment to undergo a background check, including a criminal history check, before starting work. If you are offered employment, the university will inform you if a background check is required.

Equal employment opportunity statement:

Wayne State University provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. The university encourages applications from women, people of color and other underrepresented people. Wayne State is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

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