Director, Development Athletics

Lindenwood; United States; Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employer-paid tuition

Tuition discounts

Benefits plan

Paid holidays

Free lunch Fridays

Professional development

Job summary

Lindenwood University Advancement is seeking a Director of Development Athletics to secure private philanthropic support and align donor interests with athletics priorities. The role identifies, qualifies, cultivates, and solicits donors capable of $25,000+ gifts, focusing on donors at $100,000+ and building a robust donor pipeline across alumni, foundations, and friends of the university.

Collaborative leadership, strategic engagement, and data-driven fundraising practices will be central, with

Qualifications

• Proven track record of securing major gifts in higher education.
• Experience writing compelling donor proposals and gift agreements.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Manages portfolio of major donor prospects and secures gifts of $25,000+.
• Coordinates with university leadership to develop fundraising strategies.
• Meets with donors and donor prospects 25-50% time via travel and on-campus visits.
• Prepares donor proposals, reports, draft agreements, and donor communications tailored to donor interests.
• Develops and executes strategies to increase major gift support.
• Collaborates with advancement and athletics leadership on donor engagement.
• Utilizes Raiser's Edge to document all activities.
• Participates in advancement meetings and events to meet goals.

Skills

Fundraising

Donor relations

Major gifts

Proposal writing

Donor stewardship

Communication

Team leadership

MS Office

Tools

Raiser's Edge

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Benefits of Being a Lindenwood Employee:

• Upon hire, employer-paid tuition benefits for bachelor’s (employee, spouse, and dependent) and master’s degree programs (employee and spouse only).
• Tuition discounts for doctoral programs (employee only).
• Comprehensive benefits plan: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement options.
• Paid holidays: MLK Jr. day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving break (Wednesday – Friday), and winter break (Dec. 23 – Jan. 1).
• Free lunch Fridays: LU employees are eligible for a free meal on Fridays at the Evans Commons Dining Hall or Spellman Dining Hall; Chick-fil-A and Qdoba included.
• Professional development opportunities through the Lindenwood Learning Academy.

About Lindenwood University Advancement

Located in historic St. Charles, Missouri, Lindenwood University is a premier, independent comprehensive institution known for student-centric focus and innovation. Lindenwood is committed to providing an exceptional, values-driven education that prepares students to thrive in a dynamic world. It is an exciting time to join the Lindenwood Advancement team. As we prepare to launch a comprehensive fundraising campaign, we are aligning our operational infrastructure, building high-impact philanthropic opportunities, and enhancing our engagement with alumni, donors, and regional constituents to support student success, experiential learning, and innovative campus spaces. At Lindenwood, we benefit from working at a picturesque, historic campus, located in a thriving micro-urban community that’s adjacent to a major metropolitan city. In fact, in Business Insider named St. Charles the best college town in Missouri, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recognized Lindenwood University as the Best College/University.

JOB TITLE SUMMARY

Job Title: Director, Development Athletics Division: University Advancement
Evaluation Group: Staff FLSA Status: Exempt
Reports To: Assistant Vice President, Development
Positions Supervised: Assistant Development Officer, Athletics

Job Summary

The director, development athletics secures private philanthropic support, aligning donor interests with athletics institutional priorities. This position will identify, qualify, cultivate, and solicit donor prospects capable of making gifts of $25,000 or more, with an emphasis on donors of $100,000+. Constituents served include individual donors, alumni, foundations, corporations, fans, and friends of the university. The successful candidate will be collaborative and innovative team member who, through strategic work and relationship building, will help Lindenwood to grow our donor pipelines and philanthropic landscape.

Essential Job Functions and Performance Indicators

The intent of this job description is to provide a representation of the types of duties and level of responsibility that will be required of positions given this title. This job description shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Job Responsibilities and Execution

• Manages a portfolio of major donor prospects capable of making gifts of $25,000 or more, with a focus on qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and gift closure.
• Coordinates with Assistant Vice President of Development, the Vice President for Athletics, development colleagues, and prospect researcher to develop and implement strategies to meet annual and campaign fundraising goals.
• Meets with donors and donor prospects 25-50% time via travel, on-campus visits, phone, and video conferencing, including some evenings and weekends.
• Prepares donor proposals, reports, draft agreements, and donor communications tailored to donor interests.
• Develops and executes strategies for assigned unit(s) that will support unit philanthropic priorities and successfully increase major gift support, in partnership with advancement and athletics leadership and advancement colleagues.
• Develops and maintains close collaborative partnerships with athletics leadership and staff to gain a strong understanding of programs and initiatives to identify and define opportunities for private support.
• Maintains expertise in major gift best practices, contemporary philanthropic trends, and evolving giving vehicles, translating industry insights into innovative strategies for prospect engagement and complex gift structuring.
• Collaborates with advancement stewardship and engagement colleagues on developing strategic engagement plans for key alumni and donors.
• Supervises the work of the assistant development officer, athletics advancement, which includes donation-based giving societies, alumni groups, donor suites, and fundraising events like the annual Black and Gold Benefit.
• Utilizes Raiser’s Edge to document all activities, interactions and other relevant data.
• Participates in advancement meetings and events, assisting colleagues and providing support for all ongoing programs and operations as needed to help meet institutional engagement and fundraising goals.

Service Excellence

• Supports the mission of the University and serves as an ambassador of the Q2 culture of service excellence.
• Conducts meaningful and authentic donor acknowledgement and stewardship activities; cultivates strong relationships with individual donors, alumni, and friends of the University.

Communication, Teamwork, and Collaboration

• Advises advancement and athletics leaders on internal and external constituency relations.
• Provides leadership to campus colleagues on current, effective fundraising techniques.
• Mentors other members of the advancement team in industry best practices.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities – May be representative, but not all inclusive, of the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform this job competently.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse communities and cultures.
• Deep understanding of the principles that drive fundraising success, including prospect discovery, donor lifecycle, storytelling, and pipeline segmentation and analysis.
• Experience in writing proposals and gift agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively build relationships and alliances with internal and external audiences.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Knowledge of the field’s best and current concepts, practices, and procedures.
• Proven track record of securing major gifts of $25,000 and above OR comparable results within a business-to-business (B2B) or inside sales setting.
• Knowledge of planned giving techniques and vehicles.
• Skilled in providing attention to detail.
• Empathetic listener with corresponding excellence in verbal and written communication.
• Ability to maintain accuracy under time pressure with multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to provide discretion with confidential information.

Work Environment

Environmental or atmospheric conditions commonly associated with the performance of this job’s functions. Flexible work environment consisting of regular in-office and remote workdays as assigned by supervisor; occasional night and weekend work; serves as regional representative for Lindenwood Advancement; regular travel to assigned region to conduct donor visits and alumni engagement events. Standard Flex.

Physical Abilities

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
• Ability to work effectively at a computer for up to eight hours daily.
• Ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift/carry items commonly found in an office setting including, but not limited to, documents, laptops, etc.
• Adequately mobile to attend events on- and off-campus.
• Regular attendance is a necessary and essential function.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lindenwood University is an Equal Opportunity employer. The University complies with appropriate federal, state, and local laws and provides equal employment opportunities and access to educational programs without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other protected status to all qualified applicants and employees. Lindenwood University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and dedicated to providing a positive discrimination-free educational work environment. The Human Resources Division's purpose is to support the University's efforts in providing a quality education and experience for all Lindenwood students. We achieve this by facilitating and supporting the selection and retention of highly qualified and diverse employees to serve our students and by providing for the professional success and the personal wellness of our employees.