Job Summary

The University of Utah announced the public phase of their current fundraising campaign, Imagine New Heights in September 2018. As part of this effort the university’s central Annual Giving team, within Alumni Relations and Constituent Engagement, is expanding to meet the growing needs of the university and individual colleges and units.

As a part of the University of Utah, the University Advancement division is deeply committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion ( EDI ). We embrace this commitment to grow and maintain a diverse, safe, and inclusive workplace culture for all employees in University Advancement. With an increasingly diverse population of alumni and donors, we recognize that nationally the most successful advancement offices employ individuals who can connect with these diverse communities and understand approaches that mirror a broad perspective of cultures, values, and experiences. The long-term strength and viability of the University of Utah stem from the ongoing EDI practices, and we work intentionally to ensure these efforts are reflected in all aspects of our fundraising and advancement work. We highly encourage applications from historically underrepresented minority groups, persons with disabilities, persons who have served in the military, and others who would bring additional dimensions of education and experience to our team.

Reporting to the Director of Annual Giving, the Parent and Family Advancement Officer will be a critical member of the Annual Giving team. This person will provide leadership to and execution of university-wide parent and family giving solicitation and stewardship plans, help develop an encompassing engagement/solicitation strategy, oversee solicitation data requests for parents and families, and track and report results.

The Parent and Family Advancement Officer will be charged with sustaining and improving current efforts and creating new strategies to influence the team’s overall success in the areas of parent and family giving. The Officer will also maintain a portfolio of 75 – 100 higher-level annual giving parents to cultivate, renew, and steward.

Responsibilities

• In partnership with the Annual Giving team, lead and execute a parent solicitation plan consisting of direct mail, phonathon, email, and other digital efforts, such as crowdfunding and Giving Day project.
• Develop and execute a parent and family giving engagement plan including events, touchpoints, and a leadership parent gift society.
• Collaborate with the entire Annual Giving Team to coordinate annual giving communications and share these transparently with campus partners.
• Direct, manage, and oversee the creative content for all appeals, including parent’s U Giving Day project, mail pieces, phone campaign, and other efforts. Determine timelines and set appropriate expectations for results.
• Responsible for fundraising for the general Parent Fund in Undergraduate Studies and Student Affairs, approximately: $100k – 150k per fiscal year.
• Collaborate and help provide data/segmentation for academic partners. Create a cohesive parent strategy across the U.
• Manage partnerships with external vendors to ensure desired and agreed upon expectations are met.
• Help create an parent giving stewardship program with tools such as ThankView, handwritten student notes, Marketing Cloud, on-campus events, etc..
• Analyze back-end results and responses and provide strategy for tracking and reporting on results.
• Work with the Student Support Initiatives team to build a parent and family major gift pipeline and support Student Affairs and Undergraduate Studies opportunities.
• Help direct and oversee some sections of the Annual and Parent Giving fiscal year budget.
• Maintain the highest level of discretion and confidentiality with sensitive donor information.
• Responsible for a portfolio of 75 – 100 annual giving parents who are giving above $500 each fiscal year. Collaborate with the Annual Giving Leadership Gift Officer to provide leads and move donors into their portfolio.
• Use professional development resources responsibly and stay current on best practices and trends within annual giving and parent/family fundraising.
• Manage the portfolio and move parents either in or out, working with Research Team for prospecting and wealth screening parents each academic year.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, related field, or equivalency; three years of fund-raising experience which includes direct solicitation of contributions, volunteer leadership support, written and verbal presentations, and strategy and market development are required. Demonstrated human relations and effective communication skills required. Demonstrated negotiating skills are also preferred.

Applicants must demonstrate the potential ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined in the position description.

Preferences

• Experience working within higher education parent giving or fundraising
• Experience with or an understanding of the organizational structure of a large public university
• Experience coordinating a broad-based marketing program, digital marketing experience highly desired.
• Experience closing leadership gifts
• Proven ability to motivate, engage, and work with parents, volunteers, and colleagues.
• Knowledge of Salesforce, complex database systems, automated calling software, and market research practices is highly desired.

Additional Information

The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students from diverse backgrounds and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education for historically underrepresented students.

Individuals from historically underrepresented groups, such as minorities, women, qualified persons with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.

The University of Utah is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer and does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran’s status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.