What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Advancement position at St Agnes Academy?
Description
Duration: Full-time 12-month position
FLSA: Exempt
Schedule: Monday through Friday (plus scheduled events)
Hours: FT (8:00 to 4:30)
Mission: Rooted in the Catholic, Dominican tradition, St. Agnes Academy challenges young women through exceptional academic preparation and transformational experiences to lead with integrity, joy, and a commitment to social justice.
Job Purpose: The Director of Advancement serves as the chief fundraising professional at the school. The Director of Advancement supports the mission of the school by embracing the Dominican charism, ensuring a strong advancement program, and providing stewardship and planning for the community. The Director of Advancement reports directly to the head of school and has a consultative relationship with other members of the administration.
Faith, Community, and Dominican Charism
· Ensure that the four pillars of a Dominican education (prayer, study, community, preaching) are developed and promoted among the school community.
· Develop an active faith community and model Christian values.
· Support prayer and spiritual formation within the student, faculty/staff, and parent communities.
· Uphold and implement the Dominican charism and the Houston Dominican Sisters’ congregational goals.
· Demonstrate a commitment to equity and inclusion by honoring the dignity of each member of the St. Agnes Academy community.
Key Responsibilities:
Fundraising & Development:
- Design and implement a comprehensive advancement strategy, including annual giving, major gifts, capital campaigns, planned giving, and corporate sponsorships.
- Cultivate and maintain relationships with donors, alumni, and community stakeholders to enhance philanthropic support.
- Oversee grant writing efforts and identify new funding opportunities.
- Manage donor stewardship, ensuring timely recognition and impact reporting.
Alumni Relations & Constituent Engagement:
- Develop and execute strategies to engage and strengthen relationships with alumni, parents, and community members.
- Comfortable and at ease with networking, attending social events, and leading meetings
Marketing & Communications:
- Lead the development of marketing, branding, and communication strategies to enhance the school’s visibility and reputation.
- Oversee the creation of promotional materials, newsletters, social media, and website content.
- Ensure consistent messaging that aligns with the school’s mission and values.
Leadership & Administration:
- Supervise and support advancement team members and volunteers.
- Work closely with the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and other school leaders to align advancement goals with the school’s strategic plan.
- Develop and manage the advancement budget, ensuring financial sustainability.
- Analyze fundraising and engagement data to measure success and inform future strategies.
- Ability to prioritize and multi-task to meet deadlines.
- Strong communication skills (verbal and written)
Requirements
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
- CFRE and/or PMP preferred.
- Minimum of 10 years of experience in fundraising, development, or a related field, preferably in an educational or nonprofit setting.
- Proven track record in major gift solicitation, campaign management, and donor stewardship.
- Strong leadership, strategic planning, and project management skills.
- Excellent interpersonal, communication, and relationship-building abilities.
- Experience with donor management systems and fundraising software.
Work Environment
St. Agnes Academy is committed to hiring, developing, and retaining a diverse and highly competent faculty and staff. This job operates in a professional/educational environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit at desk area, communicate via phone/face to face, manually input data into a computer, walk to different office areas, reach with hands and arms, and lifting a minimum of 25 lbs.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
