Assistant Vice President of Development

The Assistant Vice President of Development (AVP) will be a supportive leader and fundraiser who thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. They are passionate about leading a matrixed team to do their best work and to meet and exceed fundraising goals. They are an innovator, a high-level thinker, a team player, and decision-maker who can keep their finger on the pulse of internal operations while managing teams towards a higher-level strategy and vision that aligns with the goals of the Foundation.  

Reporting to the Vice President of Development, the AVP is a key member of the development leadership team that sets the strategic direction, delivers on the fundraising goals of the organization and manages multiple teams. The AVP serves on the organization's Senior Management Team. In partnership with the Vice President for Development, they will be responsible for planning, leading and executing, Serve the City, the upcoming comprehensive campaign for PSU. In doing this, the AVP will be formulating fundraising goals and objectives, leading and coaching staff, engaging academic and volunteer leaders, and collaboratively building the infrastructure needed to strengthen and expand the organization’s donor base.   

 The AVP will bring experience leading high-performing fundraising teams and managing large scale, multi-channel fundraising operations. They will pair an approach that is data-driven and results-oriented with an appetite for evolving new, creative approaches to donor engagement and cultivation at scale, including the use of technology.   

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and partner on important components of Serve the City, a multi-year comprehensive capital campaign.   

• Develop campaign goals, priorities and accountability for units across PSU to build a culture of philanthropy.   

• Be a thought partner to the development leadership team on innovative best practices in the field of philanthropy.  

• Lead multiple teams with care and accountability to meet PSU Foundations fundraising and organizational goals.   

• Oversee and manage frontline gift officers, providing the strategic execution of annual and multi-year plans for individual prospects and donors.  

• Establish the annual measurements of success for all front-line fundraisers, in collaboration with the VP for Development.    

• Produce, disseminate and act upon regular reports on productivity calibrated against performance goals to be shared with key internal and volunteer leaders, with intent to improve efficiency and effectiveness.   

• Develop and advance proposals in support of fundraising priorities and maximize opportunities to positively position the University with key constituencies, in partnership with university executives and academic leaders and faculty.  

• Participate, often in concert with others, in principal ($1M ) and major gift ($50K ) solicitations.   

• Provide high level support, as appropriate, for Trustees, University executives, and senior colleagues, in their development activities.  
  
• Attend development-related events in the region.  

• Interact with internal contacts such as Deans, Directors, Faculty, Officers, and other Development staff to consult on University needs, to formulate strategies to promote prospect engagement and to identify potential high level donors.  

• Ensure development operations and procedures (e.g. managing prospect pipelines, contact reporting, and prospect reporting) are followed to the highest standard.  

• Meet or exceed personal fundraising metrics, which include visits, qualifications, opportunities submitted and closed and total dollars raised.  

• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Minimum Qualifications 

• 10 years relevant and progressive fundraising experience, with demonstrated success in multiple 7 figure and/or transformational gifts  

• Master’s degree or an equivalent Bachelor’s degree combined with experience.   

• Demonstrated supervisory experience including the ability to train, motivate and manage staff in a fast-paced, high-performing environment. 

• Outstanding relationship-building and collaboration skills, with the ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies and collaborate across a matrix organization  

• Demonstrated ability to analyze processes and information to identify trends, challenges, opportunities, solutions and strategies. 

• Ability to make strong decisions that are organization-focused, and have a positive impact.   

• Successful supervisory experience that demonstrates the ability to lead, coach, mentor, develop and retain professional fundraising staff.  

• Understand the importance of confidentiality and know when information of the highest level requires the utmost care and discretion.   

• Proven experience managing and leading projects from start to finish and can handle managing and coordinating people to deliver effectively.   

• Self-motivated and require little guidance to tackle projects, tasks and priorities. 

• Knowledge of Portland’s donor community preferred. 

Compensation & Benefits 

The hiring range for this position is $130,000 – $150,000/year. You can find detailed information about our benefits offerings on our Careers website.

How to Apply 

Interested in applying? Submit your application through our company jobs page: PSUF Job Opportunities  

Don’t meet every requirement? We’d still like to hear from you! Studies have shown that individuals with marginalized identities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every qualification in the job description. Our priority is finding the best candidate for the role, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds. PSU Foundation is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. 

Salary : $130,000 - $150,000