Assistant Director of Development

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is a global membership organization dedicated to advancing the vitality and democratic purposes of undergraduate liberal education. Through our programs and events, publications and research, public advocacy and campus-based projects, AAC&U serves as a catalyst and facilitator for innovations that improve educational quality and equity andthat support the success of all students. In addition to accredited public and private, two-year and four-year colleges and universities and state higher education systems and agencies throughout the United States, our membership includes degree-granting higher education institutions in more than twenty-five countries as well as other organizations and individuals. To learn more visit www.aacu.org.

The Assistant Director of Development works collaboratively with the Assistant Director of Partnerships to execute activities affiliated with AAC&U’s advancement portfolio. The Assistant Director of Development has primary responsibility for all aspects of new and existing fundraising for AAC&U. The Assistant Director of Development also liaises with internal offices to engage new and potential donors. This position is critical for ensuring donor satisfaction and retention, as well as cultivation of new relationships through attention to detail, delivery of high-quality experiences, thoughtful communication, and trust-building. This position reports to the Office of the President.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• In collaboration with the Senior Advisor for Leadership, Strategy, & Governance, provide vision and direction to build and manage a robust fundraising program for AAC&U that includes the active participation of the president, the Board of Directors, and other AAC&U leaders in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual donors, public and private foundations, and corporate partners
• Set annual goals related to fundraising and develop and execute strategies to meet those goals, in collaboration with staff across the association; establish well-defined metrics for success and work collaboratively to meet goals
• Develop the portfolio for donor support of AAC&U and our programming, coordinating with the Office of Communications and Public Affairs and leaders across AAC&U
• Research, cultivate, steward, and solicit gifts from individual donors, public and private foundations, and corporate partners, maintaining and growing the database of current and prospective donors
• Collaborate with the Senior Advisor for Leadership, Strategy, & Governance to create a comprehensive gift proposal for prospective donors, and develop gift agreements
• Collaborate with the Senior Advisor for Leadership, Strategy to Develop and execute giving campaigns (for example, Giving Tuesday and end-of-fiscal-year campaigns), coordinating with the Office of Communications and Public Affairs and leaders across AAC&U
• Vet prospective donors with relevant leaders across AAC&U, to ensure that prospective donors support the needs and goals of AAC&U’s programming across offices
• Establish protocols for seeking, recording, reporting, and acknowledging gifts and grants
• Track and manage communication flow with donors and prospective donors; process gifts and grants
• Serve as the main point of contact for donors and prospective donors, lead prospective donor meetings, and respond to all messages promptly and professionally
• Serve as the main point o contact for donor solicitations and profiles in AAC&U News and Liberal Education, coordinating with the Office of Communications and Public Affairs
• Manage data input and data integrity related to fundraising, including collaboration with database and finance staff to ensure advancement’s financial processing procedures are up-to-date, accurate, and representative of what cross-functional teams need 
• Keep abreast of developments in fundraising, and report on opportunities, changes, and trends
• Assist the Assistant Director of Partnerships as an onsite and virtual point of contact for details and logistics for selected events where partners are present or their content is featured (for example, Annual Meeting, conferences, institutes, workshops, forums, and webinars)
• Other duties as assigned

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree; master’s degree preferred
• 3-5 years’ of relevant experience in non-profit fundraising and/or donor relations
• Proven track record of success in leadership roles, project management, relationship stewardship, and creative goal setting
• Advanced proficiency and extensive experience with Microsoft Office applications, project management software (e.g., Asana, Basecamp), and file sharing platforms (e.g., Box, Google)
• Superior communication skills, written and oral
• Ability to work both autonomously and collaboratively, while maintaining high quality and accountability
• Strong organizational skills and demonstrated ability to prioritize among multiple tasks
• Experience with very detailed work; attention to detail and accuracy
• High ethical standards and respect for confidentiality

Please submit a resume cover letter describing relevant work and educational experience, and salary requirements to AAC&U, Box HR, 1818 R Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, or to jobs@aacu.org. Review of applications will begin on June 4, 2024.  AAC&U believes that a broadly diverse staff is critical to achieving excellence as a national higher education association. We seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. We are fully committed to equal employment opportunity and compliance with the full range of fair employment practices and non-discrimination laws.