Discovery Leadership Giving Officer

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director of Discovery and Leadership Giving, this position will be responsible for initiating relationships with new donor prospects for the University of Arizona by assessing giving capacity, affinity, and inclination through face-to-face visits, virtual visits (by phone or Zoom), phone calls, emails, and regional outreach events as scheduled. The Discovery Leadership Giving Officer (DLGO) will participate as a member of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement in the overall execution of a comprehensive development program with a particular focus on new prospect identification, qualification, solicitation, and college/unit referral.

The DLGO will work with assigned liaison units and their development professionals across campus to strategically cultivate and encourage engagement and conversations with potential major gift prospects. The DLGO will also generate funds for scholarships, faculty research, campus programs, and other initiatives across the university by strategically cultivating and stewarding significant annual gift donors.

The DLGO is responsible for growing the major gift pipeline, cultivating major gift suspects, soliciting and stewarding annual leadership-level gifts (including Giving Day challenges), currently defined as gifts up to $50,000.00, to generate current-use revenue for scholarships, faculty research, campus programs, and other university programs. Each DLGO will have an annual booked goal of at least $250,000. This model ensures comprehensive coverage across all academic and administrative units, strengthening our overall fundraising strategy and alleviating pressure on units lacking dedicated development personnel. The DLGO is a member of the University of Arizona Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement (PAE) team.

Duties And Responsibilities

• Meet directly will prospects/donors either face-to-face or virtually by phone or Zoom to identify their interest(s) in the UA and assess giving capacity, inclination, and affinity.
• 100 visits per year is required.
• Develop post-qualification strategies for each prospect for immediate cultivation and referral to appropriate PAE Development Office or Development Officer.
• Submit contact reports and prospect plans in CRM (Lynx).
• Develop and maintain a working knowledge of university-wide funding priorities and activities, and a general knowledge of school/unit funding priorities and activities.
• Develop and maintain knowledge of fundraising best practices related to fundraising in higher education and leadership giving, current tax laws, investments, and planned giving opportunities.
• Identify, support, and participate in special regional events and programs as appropriate.
• Develop and maintain productive relationships with Prospect Research and Management colleagues. Work with team to identify prospects through research, screening, and ratings meetings. Utilize research information to formulate appropriate prospect lists.
• Participate in short- and long-term strategic planning while devising an effective work plan for the Regional Development Program.
• Manage a portfolio consisting of 30-40 future prospects per liaison unit following an agreed-upon annual cultivation plan created in conjunction with the Development Officer of each unit.
• Achieve agreed-upon performance metrics including but not limited to number of contacts, number of opportunities/asks delivered, number of opportunities/asks secured, dollars raised, and percent of portfolio retained.
• Conduct a high volume of curated daily outreach to cultivate, solicit, and steward leadership-level gifts with the purpose of building a Major Gifts pipeline for each assigned unit. Outreach may include phone calls, virtual meetings, emails/digital tools, direct mail, and events. Such interactions may include introductory and thank-you calls, conversations to discover affinity and inclination to give, and solicitations.
• Working in conjunction with assigned liaison units, develop personalized communications, proposals, reports, and other material to further relationships.
• Collaborate with internal partners to strategically leverage personalized outreach to complement mass solicitation and stewardship activities.
• Engage with constituents at events.
• Contribute to a culture of collegiality and collaboration with development team members across campus, providing positive and effective customer service that supports and enhances campus-wide leadership giving.
• Collaborate with major gift officers including accepting leadership giving referrals.
• Provide customer service to donors.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Commitment to working in a collaborative team environment with shared goals.
• Ability to work efficiently with a wide variety of individuals, including donors, PAE colleagues, deans, faculty, and staff.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate both verbally and written.
• Demonstrated commitment to exceptional customer service with the ability to translate the PAE guiding principles of donor-centricity and collaboration into work practices.
• Ability to recognize and handle highly confidential and sensitive information in a discrete and professional manner.
• Work with excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Be able to work independently with the ability to prioritize multiple projects and meet strict deadlines for deliverables.
• Ability to anticipate and discern work priorities and meet deadlines with little supervision.
• Adept at problem-solving and using judgment in situations requiring initiative, tact, and confidentiality.
• An exceptional work ethic and track record of personal initiative required.
• Openness to new ideas and personal flexibility with the ability to adapt and succeed in a multi-task, fast-paced environment with changing processes and occasional ambiguity.
• Ability to inspire cooperation and participation.
• Proficiency in the use of personal computers and Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
• Proficiency or ability to learn additional software required to perform the essential duties of the position.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and two (2) years of successful experience in charitable gifts fundraising and development programs or in a related occupation (e.g., sales, public relations, communications; OR,
• Any equivalent combination of experience, training and/or education approved by Human Resources.
  
  

Work Environment

• Occasional in-state travel may be required.
• Ability to work evenings and/or weekends as necessary for events.