Assistant Director of Development, Corporate and Foundation Relations (Tulsa, OK Office)

VISION: Transform the university through the power of generosity.

MISSION: Unite donor passions with university priorities to elevate the impact of Oklahoma State University.

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE: The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) at the OSU Foundation develops and manages strategic partnerships with corporations and foundations, focusing on entities with diverse giving interests or requiring high-level coordination across all six OSU System campuses.

PRIMARY PURPOSE: The Assistant Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) at OSU will build and manage strategic, mutually beneficial partnerships with corporations and foundations capable of providing major gifts, fostering collaboration among university leaders, faculty, and community partners to secure funding aligned with institutional strengths, workforce needs, and long-term goals.

Key Areas Of Focus

• Major Gift Fundraising 50%
• Develop and manage a corporate and foundation portfolio of 75-90 prospects in different stages of affinity/relationship with the OSU System.
• Deepen existing and develop new corporate and foundation partnerships with the goal of promoting connections throughout the OSU System
• Successfully submit 18-24 funding request proposals annually.
• Achieve annual fundraising goal (typically between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 annually depending on portfolio assignments).
• Achieve personal visit goal (between 120 and 140 annually) and coordinate on-campus site visits.

• Donor Engagement and Stewardship 30%
• Develop and execute engagement and stewardship plans for assigned prospects.
• Work closely with OSUF Development support staff focused on effectively stewarding corporate and foundation donors of the OSU system.

• Campus Partner Relationship Management 20%
• Work collaboratively with OSU system units leaders, faculty and staff, with a focus on OSU Institute of Technology, OSU-Tulsa, and OSU Polytech
• Develop and maintain subject matter expertise on OSU Institute of Technology
• Promote cross-campus partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations across the OSU System
• Initiate opportunities for faculty and administrators to interact with corporate and foundation prospects and interpret corporate and foundation interest to OSU constituencies.
  
  

Other Duties As Assigned.

JOB COMPETENCIES AND EXPERIENCE:

• Education & Certifications-
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Experience-
• A minimum of 2-4 years corporate and foundation relations experience OR 2-4 years of professional sales experience, preferably in an industry sector with a technically trained workforce.
• Demonstrated outstanding written and oral communications skills.
• Demonstrated understanding of modern workplace technology and ability to interact intelligently with corporate leaders about their workforce needs.
• Demonstrated proficiency in managing a prospect portfolio and developing/executing donor strategy that is both donor-centered and leads to major gifts.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage complex environments, people and situations.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage a donor/prospect portfolio that has multiple interests.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with other officers and faculty to develop successful proposals.
• Proven sense of humor and ability to have fun.

• Organizational Competencies:
• Effective Communication: Listens well and highly persuasive in communications; presents ideas in a manner which actively engages others; takes action to reduce communication barriers, diffuses conflict before it starts and works proactively to create and maintain effective communication across and within the organization; successfully carries out crucial conversations and encourages and coaches others to have crucial conversations to resolve conflict.
• Execution & Initiative: Holds self-accountable for achieving standards of excellence and results for the organization; seeks out understanding of both donor needs and internal processes; continuously pursues improvement of the organization’s performance by enhancing business processes, systems, teams, facilities or equipment; takes charge in a crisis and effectively maneuvers through complex situations and makes tough decisions in a timely manner.
• Teamwork/Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates commitment to employee engagement and leverages programs and tools to build business plans and monitor progress; utilizes employee recognition and reward programs to celebrate individual and team success; looks for opportunities to create cross-functional teams that leverage employee strengths; proactively takes steps to retain colleagues as employees by building trust and developing their skills; builds relationships internally and externally and uses relationships to build consensus and create results; coaches others and is able to message appropriately, maintaining confidentiality; excels in maneuvering in a complex and political environment.
• Problem Solving/Judgment: Understands and reinforces teams’ use of approved policies and procedures to ensure compliance; looks more broadly across multiple lines of business to identify opportunities and pro-actively solve problems and implement solutions; challenges assumptions, bases decisions on the right mixture of data analysis as well as wisdom and experience.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Partners with other colleagues to explore implications of shifting dynamics; communicates in an effort to engage team members and partners in change efforts, explaining the rationale, impacts and benefits of change both vertically and horizontally; involves others in planning and implementing change, keeping them informed of progress; leads with confidence during times of change; drives the implementation and acceptance of change in the workplace, including innovative solutions and alternative approaches for changing circumstances.
• Courage & Conviction: Takes responsibility for team outcomes regardless of success and learns from all results; creates an environment where failure is seen as an opportunity for learning; practices ethical decision making and encourages the same in others; has the courage to hold others accountable for their actions and decisions.
• Donor-Centered: Ensures team understands the importance of donor-centered service in accordance with OSUF standards; explains difficult information while focused on the donor’s perspective and level of knowledge.
  
  

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Must use a computer terminal and view a computer screen for extended periods of time. Must talk in person or by phone (frequently and sometimes for extended periods) to people on campus and across the country. Must constantly use visual acuity to check printed and designed materials of various types. Must be able to navigate within the OSU Foundation. Typical office working conditions.