The University of Tennessee Foundation seeks a Director of Advancement for the College of Arts & Sciences on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus. Reporting to the college’s Executive Director of Advancement, the Director is part of a team that seeks and closes major gifts that advance funding priorities for the college and their twenty-one departments and additional programs and centers. The Director’s primary focus is to build relationships with prospective and current donors and move those relationships toward gift support, as is appropriate, to each specific relationship. The Director will have an assigned area within the college and is expected to develop a working relationship with the Department Heads or Program Directors. The Director is expected to set and achieve annual base metrics toward the number of personal visits and written proposals, and the amount of funds raised. The minimum levels on these once fully trained and acquainted with a portfolio of prospective donors is 180 visits, 30 proposals delivered and $2 million in dollars raised.

Currently, the college receives approximately $10-12 million annually in dollars raised and $6-8 million annually in cash gifts received from an average of 5,000 donors.  The college has set aspirational goals to increase private gift support to $16 million annually in dollars raised and $8 million in cash gifts from 5,800 donors each year over the next five years.

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree with five plus years of development, sales, or related experience is required.
• The person in this position needs an aggressive sales mentality with the ability to secure significant funding.
• Background knowledge or experience in higher ed fundraising preferable.
• Must have donor/customer centered orientation; excellent oral and written communications skills, willingness to travel overnight and work weekends, as needed, experience in tracking data and using databases.
• The ideal candidate will be highly supportive of and committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In order to be considered for this opportunity, submit a cover letter and resume in addition to completing the online application.