Associate Vice President for Foundation and Corporate Relations: Drexel University

Bryn Mawr College; Wales; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious university in the UK is seeking an Associate Vice President for Foundation and Corporate Relations. This senior leadership position is responsible for developing and executing fundraising strategies to enhance philanthropic support from private foundations and corporations. The ideal candidate will cultivate high-level relationships and collaborate closely with university leadership to align funding opportunities with institutional priorities. This role offers an opportunity to lead a centralized team, expanding the prospect pool, and ensuring successful stewardship throughout the grant lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in fundraising strategies and relations.
• Proficiency in building long-term relationships with donors.
• Ability to communicate effectively and create tailored outreach.
• Experience tracking and measuring fundraising outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Implement fundraising strategies aligned with university priorities.
• Expand the prospect pool for corporate and foundation funding.
• Oversee the development of a robust fundraising pipeline.
• Coach and mentor the Foundation and Corporate Relations team.
• Ensure timely and professional submission of all proposals.

Job description

The Associate Vice President (AVP) for Foundation and Corporate Relations is a senior leader in Drexel University’s Office of Institutional Advancement (IA) and has primary responsibility to develop and execute strategies to increase philanthropic support across the university from private foundations and corporations. They will lead an effective centralized team in identifying funding opportunities that match the institution’s strengths and aspirations. The AVP will cultivate high-level relationships with current and prospective private funders, as well as constituents throughout the Drexel community, including the president, provost, deans and directors, faculty and IA fundraising units.

Essential Functions

Essential Functions

• Implement focused fundraising strategies to secure financial philanthropic support from foundations and corporations in alignment with university priorities.
• Expand the prospect pool of potential foundation and corporate funders.
• Oversee pipeline development to ensure a robust approach to fundraising growth.
• Work in a collaborative and proactive manner with deans, program directors, faculty, staff and administrators.
• Create a culture of philanthropy among this cohort for seeking support from foundations and corporations.
• Develop tailored communications to foundations, in partnership with the development communications and marketing team.
• Leverage the assets of Drexel’s research community, develop opportunities for cross-functional and interdisciplinary proposals.
• Serve as a coach and mentor, providing direct managerial oversight for a centralized Foundation and Corporate Relations team.
• Set annual revenue targets in collaboration with team members and track progress against goals.
• Ensure that all proposals and grant reports to potential funders are accurate, compelling, professionally presented and completed in a timely fashion.
• Proactively steward funder relationships throughout the grant lifecycle, from proposal through final reporting.
• Ensure that resources allocated to the office of FCR, both human capital and operating funds, are well stewarded.
• Serve as an active participant of the Institutional Advancement Leadership Team.
• Serve as an active participant on the Principal Gifts team, submitting materials on a timely basis, effectively managing all projects and assignments, and accompanying the President, Provost and other academic leaders on visits when appropriate.
• Work in a consultative and cooperative manner in support of the President’s Office, the Provost Office and University and Community Partnerships.
• Work closely with the Office of Research and Innovation to coordinate all fundraising efforts as they pertain to multi-tiered funding opportunities for philanthropic and sponsored research.
• Develop and maintain a metrics-based system for tracking and measuring Foundation and Corporate Relations goals and activities.
• Annually develop a comprehensive strategic operating plan for FCR across all units.
• Keep abreast of new trends in the field of institutional fundraising with an emphasis on using data-driven decision-making models.