Advisor, Annual and Leadership Giving, VP Advancement

Description

Annual and Leadership Giving within VP Advancement is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Advisor, Annual and Leadership Giving.

Development and Alumni at the University of Calgary are a team of professionals dedicated to amplifying the impact of the University in our communities. The unit features a number of major functions including Development, Alumni, and Advancement Services. We work in partnership with our academic and administrative colleagues across the University and with a wide variety of community members. These partnerships, along with a deeply integrated approach within Development and Alumni, expand our collective ability to advance the University of Calgary in its mission to make a transformative contribution to the city, the region, the country, and the world.

Reporting to the Associate Director, Annual Giving, the Advisor, Annual and Leadership Giving, supports the goals of the Annual and Leadership Giving portfolio. This includes communications with donors, community members and alumni; advancing campus engagement in philanthropy; and the stewardship of annual and leadership giving-level donors.

As the first point of contact for the Annual and Leadership Giving team, the Advisor projects a positive and professional image and responds promptly to online and telephone inquiries from the general public. Further to this, the Advisor is responsible for supporting a variety of programs and initiatives directed at annual and leadership giving-level donors, which may include: the commemorative giving program, crowdfunding, and Giving Day. They are also responsible for coordinating donor engagement projects and special events and providing support and advice on the execution of the Annual and Leadership Giving strategy. The Advisor is responsible for ensuring the day-to-day administrative functions and planned activities within the Annual and Leadership Giving portfolio are completed in a timely, accurate and professional manner to support the effectiveness of the office.

The successful candidate requires significant knowledge of university-wide development practices and the complexities of the university organizational structure. This position deals with highly confidential materials, and requires the ability to exercise considerable discrimination, judgment, and independent thought concerning the effective management of information, both internally and externally. The successful candidate will possess strong time management skills, and must have the ability to set their own priorities, while managing multiple tasks to deadline. The successful candidate will be a self-starter and possess maturity, self-confidence and poise to deal appropriately with a wide variety of people from the student level to high-profile community leaders and display a strong work ethic in all assignments which may vary from routine tasks to complex projects.

The overall goal of this portfolio is to support the Annual and Leadership Giving team in timely execution of donor strategies and to ensure the integrity of donor information in the institutional donor database.

The work of the Advisor, Annual and Leadership Giving, helps to guide decision making, generate philanthropic contributions to the portfolio and institution, and connect donors to the impact of their gifts. This requires working closely with internal stakeholders, community members and Development Office colleagues.

The Advisor will support the Annual and Leadership Giving team in strategy development and execution, and will be a champion for best practices in annual and leadership giving.

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

• Manage donor requests and work with prospective annual and leadership-level donors to help them make their gift and answer questions regarding their donations.
• Act as an initial point of contact and representative of the Annual and Leadership Giving team.
• Act as a liaison by proactively and confidently collaborating with internal teams such as Gift Processing, Gift Compliance, Legacy Giving, and faculty development units to accomplish institutional annual and leadership giving goals.
• Identify and resolve complex and confidential problems efficiently and independently while interacting with Development colleagues across campus, Advancement Data, Alumni and Community Engagement, and Student Awards.
• Ensure accurate and timely data capture of donor information, including biographical and contact notes.
• Support annual and leadership giving direct mail and e-solicitation appeals.
• Research and advise on annual and leadership giving engagement best practices and support the development of necessary tools and processes to connect donors with the impact of their gifts; develop and implement selected engagement opportunities for annual and leadership-level giving donors.
• Develop and implement special events that promote a spirit of philanthropy through use of support tools including creation of event brief, timelines, VIP booking and handling, promotion, theming, catering, entertainment, event flow, signage, budget and speaking notes for speakers.
• Support the implementation of the department's stewardship strategy and provide critical thought to areas for growth in annual and leadership giving donor stewardship.
• Support the execution of various annual and leadership giving priority projects in coordination with the Associate Director, Annual Giving and Director, Annual and Leadership Giving, including commemorative giving, crowdfunding, stewardship events, and other projects as they arise.
• Effectively provide support to the Annual and Leadership Giving team, ensuring the day-to-day activities within the portfolio are completed in a timely, accurate and professional manner to support the effectiveness of the office.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• Minimum of three years progressive work experience in post-secondary or non-profit sector and the completion of post-secondary education is required.
• Experience with direct mail and e-solicitations is an asset.
• A strong in-depth knowledge and experience of university environment, policies, procedures and core business systems is an asset.
• Proven advanced skills in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and Blackbaud CRM (or equivalent database) required.
• Knowledge in development practices and processes as well as systems used for day-to-day business is an asset.
• Proven experience in project management within a large, complex institution is an asset.
• Proven experience with video conferencing, marketing automation tools like Marketo and ThankView, and/or website development is an asset.
• Experience in higher-level data functions including queries, exports, imports and mail merge; efficient data-entry skills, accuracy and attention to detail is required.
• Demonstrated maturity, self-confidence and poise to deal appropriately with a wide variety of people and situations.
• Ability to work well under pressure, making key decisions and demonstrating good judgment in a fast-paced environment with many conflicting priorities, meeting internal and external deadlines.
• Ability to use discretion with confidential material, a high level of tact and professionalism and a strong work ethic are required.
• Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills, and ability to work with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Ability to deal with frequent interruptions in a cooperative and professional manner.
• Open to learning and development, and willing to accept new challenges and assignments.

Application Deadline:  June 24, 2024.

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Specialist / Advisor Job Family, Phase 2.

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website. 

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada’s entrepreneurial university, located in Canada’s most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada’s leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role. 

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.