Director, University Development
University of Victoria
Salary: $108,256 - $135,320
(Salary is negotiable based on experience and education)
Location: Victoria, BC
UVic is one of Canada’s best universities, a gem located in the thriving city of Victoria, BC. The University is in an exciting period of change and growth bolstered by a strengthened Alumni and Development program, and is making plans for a comprehensive campaign. With world-leading programs in essential areas like climate change, Indigenous knowledge, fine arts and culture, and health and wellness, UVic is poised to go from a well-kept secret to an acclaimed institution.
The Alumni and Development Office advances the vision of the University by securing and increasing philanthropic and private support for university priorities, as well as fostering lifelong relationships between the university and its alumni, friends, and community members.
To enable the next steps in its growth, the University seeks a new Director of University Development to lead its crucial central fundraising units. Recently restructured to allow for a concentrated focus on these units, the Director is responsible for the vision, strategic leadership, and management of Planned Giving, Annual Giving, Leadership Giving, and Corporate and Foundation relations. The central programs currently raise about $14 million, or approximately 35%-40% of the development’s total annual revenue. Importantly, these programs lay the foundation for success for all UVIC fundraising. The Director reports to the Associate Vice-President, Alumni and Development (AVP, A&D), and leads a team of 13, including four direct reports.
This is a compelling opportunity for an experienced fundraiser to:
• Create a vision and plan that builds on the unit’s history of success
• Bring best practices and novel ideas from the broader world of philanthropy
• Position the central units as essential leaders and partners in all aspects of the University’s external relations efforts
• Elevate the sights and abilities of an exceptionally talented group of staff, bringing their expertise to bear in bridging gaps and enabling innovation across the portfolio area
• Help lay the foundation for effective campaign fundraising and play a key role in building the University’s culture of philanthropy broadly
• Join a dynamic and ambitious Director group working to take UVic and its fundraising program from one of Canada’s best kept secrets to a destination of choice for donors and staff alike
While the longer-term needs of the role are to be determined, in the short-term the Director will be tasked with the following priority needs:
• Build a collaborative model for working with the major gift/faculty development portfolio to optimize fundraising efforts
• Develop a new plan for an effective central Corporate and Foundation Relations Fundraising unit
• Work with the Advancement Services leaders, particularly its new Director, to ensure Annual Giving’s needs are met in the context of the pending IT system refresh
• Work to understand and leverage University-wide priorities, and specific unit priorities, for the university’s fundraising success.
SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES
• Reporting to the AVP, Alumni & Development, the Director, University Development leads the strategy, the resource plan, and budget for centralized specialist fundraising programs supporting institutional development.
• Leads a team of central fundraisers comprising the following units:
o Planned Giving: Responsible for maximizing legacy giving financial support through planned legacy gifts and administers realized legacy gifts. These gifts include gifts through wills, life insurance, retirement plan assets, gifts in-kind, and gifts of securities. The team of two identifies 35-40 expectancies per year, and last fiscal year estates through probate totaled $8.7 million. UVic recently adopted the CASEcounting guidelines for planned gifts, emphasizing our focus on proactive identification and solicitation of planned gifts.
o Leadership Giving: This relatively new area seeks to develop relationships with donors giving or capable of giving $1,000 – $25,000. The team raised just under $500,000 from 164 donors in 2020/21. During the past year the leadership giving team has found new collaborative ways of working with the faculty-based development officers, and is on track to exceed $900,000 in funds raised from over 220 donors.
o Annual Giving: the five staff work collaboratively with faculties and units to implement fundraising programs and execute university wide appeals. Programs include student calling, direct response initiatives (both email and mail), monthly giving, and special events (Giving Tuesday, Impact Day, Stocktober, Orange Shirt Day, etc.). The Annual Giving team is on track to raise $1.45M from approximately 4,400 donors this fiscal year.
o Corporate & Foundation Giving: The Director will lead the development of a refreshed corporate and foundations strategy with the goal of adding resources in support of the plan. The focus will be on donors and prospective donors with pan-institutional affinity and particularly complex donations.
• Provides strategic direction and oversees the day-to-day operations of their team towards their annual fundraising goals
• Provides mentorship and coaching to their direct reports to develop creative and robust program plans, and cultivation and solicitation strategies
• Ensures the success of central specialized fundraising teams in the in the achievement of their goals and targets
• Identifies and develops opportunities for future program development in support of institutional fundraising goals
• Manages a portfolio of major gift donors that have pan-institutional affinity, which will include especially complex donations and with a focus on Corporate and Foundation prospect
• Serves as a member of the AVP, A&D’s management team, and assist in developing, implementing, and advancing the mission of Alumni and Development and the strategic initiatives of the Division of External Relations
• Contributes to the promotion of the reputation and profile of the University with external partners and communities, engaging selected alumni worldwide to develop and sustain relationships with the University
For a more comprehensive and detailed list of responsibilities, please see the Appendices.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Significant experience in a senior fundraising position, ideally developing and successfully executing a similar program in a post-secondary environment.
• Experience with Planned Giving, Leadership and Annual Giving, and/or Corporate and Foundation fundraising programs will be considered a significant asset.
• Exceptional team leadership skills, including leading teams in a fundraising environment (ie: staff management and setting goals and priorities).
• Demonstrated ability and success in setting up and executing fundraising and relationship building strategy through others, particularly senior executives.
• Ability to balance multiple interests from diverse stakeholders.
• Skilled in strategic planning and long-term visioning.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and effective presentation skills that demonstrate tact and diplomacy to a variety of internal and external contacts.
• Knowledge of project management best practices.
• Fluent understanding of the research enterprise with a large academic institution is ideal.
• Ability to effectively administer, organize, plan, and manage time.
• University degree (graduate degree preferred) or equivalent education and experience.
• CFRE designation an asset.
• After hours work required (6-12 times a year) for donor and community events.
Please visit the website to find out more: https://uvic.mua.hrdepartment.com/hr/ats/Posting/view/8146