Director of Advancement

St. Thomas More Academy; South Bend (IN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

St. Thomas More Academy seeks a Director of Advancement to build meaningful donor relationships, identify potential donors and grants, and guide annual and long-term support for STMA's mission.

The role involves visiting donors in person, soliciting gifts, managing donor data, and coordinating with leadership on branding and outreach. Grant writing will comprise about a quarter of the time, with a focus on engaging alumni and community partners.

Qualifications

• Experience in fundraising or donor relations
• Excellent communication and writing abilities
• Strong public speaking and interpersonal skills
• Ability to travel for donor visits and events

Responsibilities

• Personally visit donors to cultivate relationships and solicit gifts.
• Identify and pursue grants, foundations, and corporate support.
• Maintain donor interaction records in CRM/database.
• Coordinate with Head of School on donor strategies and events.
• Oversee alumni engagement and giving programs.
• Represent STMA at events and external communications.
• Prepare regular summaries of donor activity and gifts.
• Lead grant proposal development and reporting to funders.

Skills

Donor relations

Grant writing

Public speaking

Communication

Relationship management

Campaign planning

CRM software

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Director of Advancement

Job Description

Role

The Director of Advancement at St. Thomas More Academy (STMA) will build, manage, and further meaningful relationships with STMA's current donors through meaningful interactions, primarily in person and individually, he/she will also help identify potential donors, foundations, and grants to help with STMA's mission.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of School, the Director of Advancement will personally visit donors to identify individuals who would like to be meaningfully involved in STMA's mission and vision, cultivate meaningful relationships between those individuals and STMA, personally solicit meaningful gifts from those individuals, and continue to further involve those individuals in STMA's mission and vision. Grant writing will be approximately 25% of the time commitment.

This includes:

• Collaborate with the Head of School on all strategies and activities for donor cultivation, including individuals and corporations, relational solicitation, and stewardship, for STMA's annual and long-term financial support.
• Creating and implementing meaningful interaction plans for each assigned donor and collaborating with the Head of School, leadership, and volunteers in these efforts.
• Solicit meaningful gifts from each assigned donor.
• Track all donor interactions in database/relationship management software.
• Identify and apply for grants, including researching, applying, and stewarding relationships with foundations, corporations, and community organizations. Provide a regular summary to the Head of the School of meaningful interactions with assigned donors, including past and upcoming interactions, solicitations, and new gifts received.
• Oversee the design and implementation of a comprehensive strategic program to encourage and enhance alumni engagement, support, and giving for STMA.
• Represent STMA at periodic public relations events, speaking opportunities, and system extra-curricular events.
• Manage the research, writing, and submittal of grant proposals to foundations and corporate organizations; ensure the timely reporting and management oversight of each.
• Collaborate with the Head of School on STMA's branding, external communications, and community marketing.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Active Catholic with a commitment to STMA's mission
• Experience in a related field
• Strong passion for people and interacting individually with them
• Strong ability to converse with others of various ages, backgrounds, and viewpoints
• Ability to regularly set and conduct donor visits in a methodical and disciplined manner
• Excellent listening skills
• Excellent writing skills both technical and persuasion
• Excellent public speaking and verbal persuasion
• Energetic self-starter with positive, optimistic attitude, and a strong sense of initiative
• Collaboration, planning and implementation skills