Assistant Director of Annual Giving
The University of Chicago

Job Info

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Department

Law Annual Giving

About the Department

The University of Chicago Law School occupies a unique niche among this country's premier law schools. Located on a residential campus in one of America's great cities, UChicago Law offers a rigorous and interdisciplinary professional education that blends the study of law with the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Students, faculty, and staff form a small, tightly knit community devoted to the life of the mind.

Job Summary

The Assistant Director of Annual Giving is a key member of the External Affairs team and must have a keen understanding of the principles of fundraising and the mission of the Law School. This position helps develop the Law School's donor pipeline through the identification, qualification, solicitation, and stewardship of prospective donors. The Assistant Director of Annual Giving also leads the Law Firm Challenge, a program that drives significant participation and dollars raised. Responsibilities include developing and executing law firm fundraising strategies, managing volunteers, and maintaining relationships with alumni and staff at law firms. The Assistant Director also participates in planning and program management and is accountable for annual productivity goals.

Responsibilities

• Grows the number of qualified prospects who support the Law School by meeting virtually and in person with alumni, soliciting leadership annual gifts and pledges and developing major gift leads. Helps establish relationships with prospective donors at all levels of giving.
  
• Liaises with other annual giving staff to support and develop annual giving strategies.
  
• Supports efforts to grow and increase Dean's Circle membership, including planning strategy and signature programs.
  
• Manages all aspects of the Law Firm Challenge, a peer-to-peer fundraising program that encourages consistent annual giving by alumni at over sixty law firms through a friendly competition between firms.
  
• Conceptualizes and executes new ways to cultivate alumni at law firms, including planning events.
  
• Recruits, trains, and manages graduates who volunteer as Law Firm Challenge ambassadors at their law firms, developing training materials and other resources to assist with the volunteers' solicitation efforts.
  
• Creates and maintains a positive volunteer experience by offering exceptional support.
  
• Prepares direct mail appeals, email appeals, and other materials and correspondence for volunteers and Law Firm Challenge participants.
  
• Collaborates with colleagues both in the Office of External Affairs and from other departments at the Law School to design and implement a cohesive, long-term strategy for firm engagement and cultivation.
  
• Advises colleagues in the Law School Dean of Students and Career Services offices on the Chicago Law Partners program, which facilitates law firm sponsorship of student activities and events at the Law School.
  
• Supports other areas of annual giving and firm engagement, routinely meeting donor fundraising and participation targets.
  
• Contributes to the development of plans to solicit prospective donors and meet campaign goals. This includes speaking to new prospects persuasively about the case for annual giving support.
  
• Contributes to the planning and implementation of programs to identify, visit, and solicit alumni, parents, and other constituencies within an assigned geographical region for gifts to meet fundraising goal. Does this with a moderate level of guidance and direction.
  
• Performs other related work as needed.
  

Minimum Qualifications

Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
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Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
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Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree.
  

Experience:

• Experience in one or more of the following areas: development, public relations, marketing, volunteer management, alumni relations, events management.
  
• Two years of professional fundraising experience with increased responsibility and project management.
  

Preferred Competencies

• Successful demonstration of initiative, organizational skills, leadership skills, team orientation and commitment to customer service.
  
• Demonstrated ability to design, direct and manage significant program initiatives.
  
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully with volunteers and to direct and promote complex events and projects.
  
• Ability to perform multiple projects simultaneously with attention to detail and deadlines.
  
• Ability to exercise strong interpretive judgment.
  
• Superior written and verbal communication skills.
  
• Professional demeanor and presentation.
  
• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools available to the Office of Alumni Relations and Development, including Phoenix (the University's Donor Relationship Management System), a Microsoft Windows computer environment, Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  

Working Conditions

• Some travel within Chicago and to other regions is required as is occasional work on the weekends.
  
• This position is available for partially remote work based on the business needs of the Law School.
  

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
  
• Cover Letter (required)
  

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

Job Family

Alumni Relations & Development

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Frequency

Monthly

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Benefits Eligible

Yes

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Staff Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at:http://securityreport.uchicago.edu.Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.

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