Senior Development Director

The Sr. Development Director supporting the College of Letters & Science (L&S) is a member of the professional staff in the Office for Development and Alumni Relations and reports to a Director, Major & Planned Gifts.

Primary functions include:

• Overall responsibility for the L&S development program, supervise work of L&S Assistant Development Director (ADD); 
• Manage a portfolio of approximately 100 prospects/donors; 
• Execute qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship activities to benefit L&S as well as the University; 
• Build academic partnerships to strengthen fundraising opportunities; and 
• Collaborate with other development staff to implement annual fundraising strategies.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Recognized as one of the nation’s 115 top research universities, UW-Milwaukee provides a world-class education to 26,000 students from 89 countries on a budget of $667 million. Its 14 schools and colleges include Wisconsin’s only schools of architecture, freshwater sciences and public health, and it is a leading educator of nurses and teachers. UW-Milwaukee partners with leading companies to conduct joint research, offer student internships and serve as an economic engine for southeastern Wisconsin. The Princeton Review named UW-Milwaukee a 2018 “Best Midwestern” university based on overall academic excellence and student reviews, and the Sierra Club has recognized it as Wisconsin’s leading sustainable university.

The vibrant and talented professional development team in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Office for Development & Alumni Relations seeks to fill the full-time position for the Senior Development Director supporting the College of Letters & Science.

As the need for private funding increases to support university priorities, fund development for the College of Letters & Science is critical. It is an exciting time be at UWM with a wide array of philanthropic opportunities to support student success, research excellence, and community engagement through a comprehensive university campaign that announced its public phase in fall 2017. The Senior Development Director will manage a portfolio of 100 - 150 prospects/donors; execute qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship activities; build academic partnerships to strengthen fundraising opportunities and support from alumni; and collaborate with other development staff to implement annual fundraising strategies. This positions reports to the Director of Major & Planned Giving.

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Develop and execute an Annual Plan that outlines overall fund development efforts and goals specific to L&S, its alumni/donor base, as well as other external donors. 
• Develop and strategically manage a portfolio of approximately 100 prospects/donors, plan and execute qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship actions to meet established metrics and realize short term (fiscal year) and long-term (special funding initiatives) philanthropic goals of L&S. 
• Develop strong working relationships with and engage the Dean, senior leadership, faculty and staff in development efforts to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors/prospects, and provide training, advice, assistance and support to faculty and staff around securing philanthropic support. 
• Serve as a member of the L&S senior leadership staff to promote and develop a culture of philanthropy, and to identify, qualify and quantify short and long-term fundraising priorities for the school. 
• Supervise the work of an L&S Assistant Development Director who will develop and manage his/her own donor/prospect portfolio, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors/prospect, and execute annual UWM Gives to UWM campaign. 
• Develop materials necessary to execute fundraising strategies, i.e. case documents, project summaries, proposals, gift agreements, etc. 
• Manage work of ADD with central Annual Giving staff to coordinate and contribute to planning and execution of annual gift fundraising strategy for L&S. 
• Manage work of ADD with central Stewardship staff to coordinate stewardship and acknowledgement process, adhering to department and UWM Foundation procedures and guidelines. 
• Work collaboratively with Alumni Relations staff on initiatives/events that promote connection and engagement L&S alumni with intention that efforts will impact fund development. 
• Meet performance metrics established by the department which include but are not limited to funds raised, substantive contacts, requests in pipeline, planned gifts and qualification calls. 
• Use donor data base systems to document contacts, connections with alumni, donors and prospects. 
• Acquire a high level of expertise about L&S and university. 
• Coordinate communications between the L&S, the Department of Financial Aid and UWM Foundation to promote scholarship availability and meet donor criteria expectations. 
• Represent L&S at university, alumni and development functions as appropriate. 
• Ability to work nights and weekends and to travel as needed. 
• Complete other duties as assigned 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree 
• Experience with progressively responsible fund development, or related, experience
• Demonstrated track record of successful major gift solicitation, or equivalent achievement
• Supervisory experience

• Master’s degree 
• Broad-based fundraising experience in direct mail, annual giving, proposal preparation, corporate and foundation solicitation, major and planned gifts 
• Fund development campaign experience 
• Superior verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills 
• Academic fundraising experience 
• Experience utilizing donor data base systems 
• Evidence of success working effectively in a team environment with diverse constituencies 
• Certified Fund-Raising Executive

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has a competative benefits package. Please refer to the link below to learn more: https://uwm.edu/hr/benefits/new-employee-benefits/

Compensation will be based on experience.