Job Abstract

Special Instructions to Applicants:

To be considered for the Campaign Director opportunity at Rice University, please submit your resume and cover letter in confidence to WittKieffer at RiceCampaignDirector@wittkieffer.com with the subject line: Campaign Director at Rice University.

Position Summary:

Reporting to the Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, and serving as a member of the senior leadership team, the Campaign Director will work in close concert with strategic partners across the university and beyond – including the university’s schools and units, and its athletics department – to develop the next strategic campaign plan for Rice University. The strategic campaign plan will be comprised of all streams of fundraising including annual giving, corporate and foundation giving, and individual giving and will also include strategies to expand and sustain the overall base of support. To achieve these goals, the campaign director will be a key contributor in achieving advancement integration, focusing colleagues on campaign-specific outcomes and metrics. Central to this end will be the Campaign Director's work in building the campaign’s messages, programs, and fundraising strategies to promote a clearer sense, internally and externally, of Rice's mission and vision, building pride and ownership among Rice's stakeholders and supporters.

The ideal candidate will be: a collegial, self-assured, and collaborative leader who is passionate about Rice's mission and embodies its core values; a strategic leader able to inspire entrepreneurial and creative initiatives; a professional of exceptional skill and experience with an open and accessible style, an unrelenting commitment to a team approach, and a compelling personality that lends itself to strong, lasting personal bonds; and a leader who possesses considerable analytical skills and the ability to translate data and analysis into a compelling case for action.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 5+ years of professional experience, including significant leadership experience in a comprehensive capital campaign of substantial size; outstanding and successful experience as a fundraiser, including comprehensive management of major and principal gifts prospects, as well as knowledge and understanding of the qualities and attributes of corporate and foundation relations, and prospect research programs; and effective experience in enlisting and interacting with senior level leadership volunteers and committees
  • In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted

Skills:

• Strong leadership and strategic management skills
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills
• Ability to lead and motivate others
• Ability to manage a large number of fundraising activities simultaneously
• Ability to engage and motivate groups of diverse individuals
• Excellent ability to understand constituent needs and show good judgment and diplomacy
• Demonstrated fundraising and/or project experience
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to quickly understand and remember details about alumni/donors and projects to which they are assigned
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Superb judgment and the sensibility to adjudicate wisely among competing priorities
• A disposition to listen and circulate widely
• Exceptional reasoning, problem-solving, and analytical skills, including an ability to translate ideas and concepts into clear, actionable steps
• Superb organizational skills and the ability to multi-task
• Ability to work independently as well collaboratively with team members
• Energy and stamina, self-confidence and humility, a strong sense of purpose, and tolerance for ambiguity

Preferences:

• 10+ years of professional experience, including significant leadership experience in a comprehensive capital campaign of substantial size; outstanding and successful experience as a fundraiser, including comprehensive management of major and principal gifts prospects, as well as knowledge and understanding of the qualities and attributes of corporate and foundation relations, and prospect research programs; and effective experience in enlisting and interacting with senior level leadership volunteers and committees
• Advanced degree
• Experience in higher education
• Experience with one or more institutions as comprehensive and complex as Rice
• Substantial knowledge of fundraising database software
• Certified Fundraising Executive certification (CFRE)

Essential Functions:

• Working in close concert with strategic partners across the university and beyond – including the university’s schools and units, and its athletics department – to develop the next strategic campaign plan for Rice University, which will be comprised of all streams of fundraising including annual giving, corporate and foundation giving, and individual giving and will also include strategies to expand and sustain the overall base of support
• Leading and directing day-to-day ongoing operations of the comprehensive campaign
• Strategic planning for the Development and Alumni Relations Division to reach campaign goals and targets
• Leading the trajectory of the campaign, ensuring successful completion of the effort
• Setting component campaign goals in collaboration with the President and Vice President
• Working closely with the University’s campaign consultant to build the architecture to engage the eight school deans and other senior leaders
• Coordinating and leading the efforts with trustee and other senior leadership engagement with the campaign
• Collaborating with others in Development and Alumni Relations to manage the development and implementation of campaign communications
• Working in partnership with Development and Alumni Relations staff to implement strategic relationship management
• Building alliances within the Rice community to achieve campaign goals
• Analyzing campaign data, synthesizing data into coherent reporting formats, and presenting to senior leadership and the Board of Trustees on campaign progress and initiatives.
• Serving as the point person for staffing the campaign steering committee and key campaign volunteer leadership, including managing communication with volunteers, assisting volunteers with fulfillment of their assignments, and leveraging volunteer time to ensure effectiveness
• Working closely with the President, Provost, and Deans to focus their campaign efforts
• Working with the staff to track campaign progress and adjusting campaign strategy as appropriate
• Creating and implementing a stewardship program for all campaign donors
• Overseeing logistics for all campaign cultivation events
• Performs all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions

• Some travel may be required for this position
• Positioning the upcoming comprehensive campaign to expand fundraising and friend-raising for Rice University so that it is poised for continued growth

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits-overview

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity at all levels. It considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.