Associate Director, Major Gifts, Arts and Culture

Department
ADV Arts 1

Job Summary
As the lead for promoting and fostering relationships for the Arts and Culture units within the division, the Associate Director supports the Arts and Humanities Advancement team and Arts colleagues, and provides peer leadership for the entire team by serving as a key front-line fundraiser. This role supports the study, presentation, and experience of the arts across academic departments and programs in the Division of Arts and Humanities, the College, and the Library; public-facing arts organizations, including Arts + Public Life, the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, the Logan Center for the Arts, and University of Chicago Presents; and student-facing initiatives, such as the Arts, Science + Culture Initiative and the Arts Labs in the Media Arts, Data, and Design Center, as well as more than 60 student arts organizations.

This position plays a key role in contributing significantly to the overall fundraising strategy, pipeline development, and fundraising activity for the division. The Associate Director also leads results-oriented projects, shapes critical engagement and fundraising events, and demonstrates exceptional resourcefulness, leadership, and service to colleagues in Advancement, the Arts and Culture units, the University, and among prospects. This role manages programs designed to meet University fundraising goals for contributed income. Serves as strategist of efforts to secure gifts and build relationships with alumni, faculty, administrators and organizations with potential to make gifts. Develops communication strategies for projects.

This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Responsibilities

• Participates in the qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major gifts ($100K+), with a focus on the Arts and Culture units within the division and in collaboration with colleagues across Advancement, as appropriate. Solicits gifts totaling $1M-$2M+ annually.
• Develops and maintains a portfolio of approximately 100 prospects.
• Secures, renews, upgrades, and stewards leadership annual gifts for UChicago Arts through personal outreach and visits. Achieves personal fundraising activity goals monthly, quarterly, and annually.
• Maintains an active and regular local travel schedule to meet with prospective donors as needed.
• Collaborates with Arts leadership, the Dean's Office, Alumni Experience, and Strategic Events teams to identify and spearhead impactful donor engagement opportunities for qualification, cultivation, and stewardship.
• Works with Regional teams to expand UChicago Arts' presence in key cities through visits and events.
• Works with UChicago Arts colleagues to develop and hone exceptional major and leadership annual gift opportunities.
• Has a deep understanding of fundraising operations for UChicago Arts and Culture units and the division. Participates in the development of fundraising goals, policies, and short- and long-term strategies. Assesses, analyzes, and evaluates fundraising programs, specialized projects, and major events.
• Provides peer leadership among members of the Arts and Humanities team and other arts units, serving as a resource, advisor, and project manager for shared projects, such as data improvement, resource sharing, and shared gift opportunities.
• Serves as an internal Arts and Culture representative within Advancement to maximize visibility and seek opportunities to collaborate on data strategy, discovery and prospect qualification, shared gift opportunities, travel, and more.
• Establishes and maintains effective communication with Advancement colleagues, as well as colleagues on arts, culture, and related academic area development teams, UChicago Arts, and University colleagues, to ensure a coordinated approach to prospects and the implementation of fundraising best practices.
• Creates, manages, and delivers important development projects with complex budgets, such as travel events.
• Seeks opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance, including attending webinars, seminars, and building networks within the University and with colleagues at peer institutions.
• Establishes fundraising goals and priorities based on department objectives, designs strategies to meet those goals, and monitors progress against goals.
• Identifies, analyzes, and qualifies donor interest to maximize giving. Helps with overall planning efforts for the University's most important prospects. Works independently to develop communication strategies for projects, including publications and public presentations.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of five years of professional experience in nonprofit management, development, alumni relations, fundraising, sales, or a related field, including at least two years of frontline fundraising or comparable relationship-based sales experience.
• Minimum of one year of experience developing and monitoring budgets.
• Demonstrated experience managing a portfolio of donors or prospects, including developing and executing strategies for qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Demonstrated track record of cultivating, soliciting, and securing significant philanthropic commitments.
• Developing and implementing donor engagement and stewardship strategies in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Managing cross-functional projects and coordinating initiatives across multiple teams.
• Background in arts administration, arts and culture fundraising, or a related field.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools available to Advancement, including Phoenix, the University's Donor Relationship Management Salesforce System.
• Proficient in a Microsoft Windows computer environment, especially with Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.

Preferred Competencies

• Manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
• Act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Prioritize multiple projects and independently follow through with detail.
• Outstanding interpersonal and communications skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, and write effectively.
• Self-motivated and take initiative.

Working Conditions

• This position has a hybrid work schedule which includes weekly in office presence.
• Standard office environment.
• Travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business.
• Work evenings and weekends as needed.

• This position is located in Hyde Park at 5235 South Harper Court.
• This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter, addressed to Hiring Committee (required)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
Alumni Relations & Development

Role Impact
Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5

Drug Test Required
No

Health Screen Required
No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No

Pay Rate Type
Salary

FLSA Status
Exempt

Pay Range
$80,750.00 - $95,000.00
The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible
Yes
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.