"Associate Vice President for Development"

Job Description Summary:

The Associate Vice President for Development is a senior advancement leader responsible for designing, leading, and executing comprehensive fundraising strategies across annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and corporate and foundation relations in support of the university’s strategic priorities. Reporting to the Vice President for University Advancement (VPUA), the AVP serves as both strategic architect and working fundraiser—driving revenue growth and organizational capacity while maintaining a personal portfolio of high-capacity donors and providing day-to-day leadership to frontline development staff. The AVP partners closely with the President, Vice President for Advancement, deans, faculty, and trustees to align fundraising priorities with institutional goals and to build a culture of philanthropic excellence across the university.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Seven years of development experience with demonstrated success managing comprehensive fundraising programs and securing major and planned gifts, preferably in higher education or a comparably complex nonprofit environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, interpersonal and organizational skills; be detail, goal and results oriented; be self motivated with the ability to make independent decisions; be collaborative and a team player; demonstrate sound judgment when dealing with a wide range of personalities, relationships and situations; possess the ability to maintain enthusiasm for hard work, changing priorities, and multiple deadlines, as well as the ability to interact well with a diverse community of faculty, students, and constituents.
• Strong financial acumen with budget development, resource allocation, and ROI analysis capabilities. Data-driven decision-making using analytics, metrics, and predictive modeling. Visionary thinking with ability to develop long-range plans and translate strategy into executable action. Proven ability to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors at the six-and seven-figure level. Performance management expertise including goal-setting, metrics tracking, and accountability systems. Expertise coaching others in frontline fundraising and building organizational capacity.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing annual giving, major gifts, planned giving and corporate and foundation relations programs, including strategy development and performance management.
• Deep knowledge of donor-centered fundraising, gift planning vehicles and complex gift structures. Comprehensive capital campaign experience.
• Experience with advancement CRM systems (Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce, etc.) and analytics platforms.
• Candidates must demonstrate commitment to the University’s core values of Ethical Reasoning, Civic and Community Engagement, Lifelong Learning and Diversity and Inclusivity.

Specific Duties:

Duty: Strategic leadership:

• Collaborate with the VPUA and senior leadership to set clear, measurable fundraising targets, campaign priorities, and performance metrics for development staff and programs.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive 3-5 year advancement strategic plan that aligns fundraising priorities with institutional goals and delivers year-over-year revenue growth of 8-12%.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) including donor retention rates, pipeline velocity, average gift size, portfolio productivity, and return on investment through developing and implementing a plan that encompasses annual giving, major and leadership gifts, planned giving and corporate and foundation relations to meet or exceed annual and multi-year fundraising goals.
• Provide direct mentorship to the development team, including a willingness to delegate and empower others to find innovative solutions to strengthen fundraising effectiveness.
• Lead quarterly strategic reviews with the VPUA to assess progress against multi-year fundraising targets.

Percentage of Time: 25%

Duty: Program oversight (annual, major, planned, CFR):

Duty: Provide day‑to‑day leadership and direction for:

• Annual Giving: Direct a comprehensive annual giving program that includes multi‑channel outreach, leadership annual giving, and alumni, parent, and faculty/staff participation initiatives.
• Major and Leadership Gifts: Plan and execute strategies to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major and leadership gift prospects, including individuals, families, and privately held entities. The conversion rate for qualified prospects to solicitation to be 30%.
• Planned Giving: Oversee a robust planned giving program, including marketing, prospect identification, donor engagement, and gift structuring in collaboration with internal and external experts.
• Corporate and Foundation Relations: Lead a coordinated approach to securing philanthropic support from corporations and private foundations, working with faculty and administrators to develop competitive proposals and partnerships.
• Supervise and mentor development directors and other advancement staff responsible for annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and corporate and foundation relations.
• Establish performance expectations, manage budgets, and use data and analytics to track progress, evaluate effectiveness, inform staffing, resource allocation, and program improvements.

Percentage of Time: 30%

Duty: Portfolio management and frontline fundraising:

• Maintain a personal portfolio of high-capacity prospects and donors, with clear goals for visits, proposals, solicitations, and closed gifts at the major and planned gift levels.
• Lead by example in all phases of the donor cycle—identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship—often in partnership with the president, vice president, deans, and trustees.

Percentage of Time: 30%

Duty: Collaboration and institutional engagement:

• Identify resources, policies, and procedures with the deans and athletic director to empower them to fundraise in conjunction with the Advancement Office.
• Serve as a key liaison to academic and administrative units to align fundraising priorities with institutional plans and to support deans, faculty, and senior leaders in their donor engagement activities.

Percentage of Time: 10%

Duty: Compliance, policy, and best practices:

• Ensure 100% adherence to institutional policies, ethical guidelines, and relevant regulations governing fundraising, ULV gift acceptance policies, and donor confidentiality.
• Champion best practices in prospect management, gift documentation, stewardship, and the use of fundraising technology and data systems.

Percentage of Time: 5%

Salary Range

Maximum: $169,838.15
Minimum: $150,460.87

Benefits Summary:

Applicants, please note that actual compensation is determined by several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, certifications, relevant education or training, and specific work location, among others. The offered wage or salary is only one aspect of an employee’s total compensation.

Benefits include a comprehensive health and wellness plan, tuition remission program for employee, spouse, and dependent children, a generous contribution to the University’s 403B retirement plan, and a generous time off plan.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion and clearance of a background check and employment verification.

Location:

La Verne Main Campus

Close Date:

Open Until Filled:

No