Executive Director of Advancement Services

Overview

Providence College is seeking an accomplished advancement operations leader to join its senior advancement team at a transformational moment. The Executive Director of Advancement Services will play a central leadership role as the College executes Beyond Limits: The Campaign for Providence College—a historic $300 million comprehensive campaign and the largest in the institution’s history. With strong momentum, institutional alignment, and a culture of collaboration, this role offers the opportunity to steward a highly successful campaign while shaping the future of advancement infrastructure and strategy.

Reporting to senior advancement leadership, the Executive Director provides strategic oversight of advancement services, including data governance, CRM strategy, analytics, reporting, gift processing, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. A trusted advisor and collaborative thought partner, this leader translates complex technical concepts into actionable insight, supports data-informed decision-making, and ensures the systems and structures are in place to sustain fundraising excellence well beyond the campaign.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide executive leadership for advancement services team, its systems, analytics, automation, and AI strategy. Represent Advancement in senior-level discussions with Finance, Legal, IT, and campus partners. Develop, continually monitor, and enhance a business analytics program providing data driven intelligence in determining fundraising goals and forecasting and tracking progress towards goals. Promote data-informed and insight-driven decision making throughout the division. Actively seek and collect benchmarking data that supports business processes and outcomes of the college's fundraising, and engagement efforts. Provide leadership in the responsible evaluation, adoption, and governance of AI and automation tools in support of advancement operations, analytics, and engagement strategies. (35%)
2. Direct and oversee all aspects of the Affinaquest CRM including continual improvement of usage, vendor relationships, contract details, training, integrations with other campus technology strings, and assessment of all potential future technology add-ons. Manage the CRM staff. (25%)
3. Oversee the gift processing and records management team to ensure timely and accurate handling of gifts and pledges in compliance with IRS regulations and CASE reporting standards and maintain accurate biographical data on constituents. Work closely with Finance to reconcile monthly and year-end giving. Prepare documentation as needed for the auditors and respond to questions/needs as they arise from the finance team. Maintain compliance with data security. (20%)
4. Supervise and manage the reporting and data analysis function and develop, monitor, and share data and reporting needs for all Advancement areas. Understand annual cycles and anticipate needs. Leverage analytics, automation, and AI-assisted tools to enhance fundraising performance analysis, donor behavior insights, engagement trends, and forecasting. Oversee the creation, production, and distribution of reports, exports, and outputs from the CRM, as determined by the needs of the user base, including the Sr. Vice President, President, campaign leadership, and the Board of Trustees. (20%)

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution required
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in advancement services or related technical field preferred or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• High level of understanding of Advancement Services, including technical fluency and user-knowledge of donor/constituent management database systems, gift processing, information security, data maintenance, and customer service.
• Strong experience and ability in data analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of information.
• Excellent time management skills and ability to prioritize tasks related to broader departmental and institutional priorities.
• Experience leading and building a team and managing staff
• Strong project management experience with a track record of leading technology and business process improvement initiatives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to bridge both technical and non-technical staff.
• Experience with CRMs, assessment, and data management best practices.
• Familiarity with gift acceptance policies, relevant state and federal laws, including IRS rules and regulations, and the Council of Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) standards and guidelines.
• Knowledge of and prior use of Affinaquest and/or Salesforce preferred.