Director/Senior Director of Advancement Operations January 9th 2025
Tagged: Institutional Advancement
ROLE TITLE: Director/Senior Director of Advancement Operations
POSITION REPORTS TO: VP of Institutional Advancement
Summary of Position
The Senior Director of Advancement Operations is a key member of the senior team in the Institutional Advancement (IA) Division. Reporting to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement (VPIA,) the Senior Director (SDAO) will be a partner for leading a top-tier Advancement Operations team that provides the infrastructure for Allegheny’s Institutional Advancement efforts. The SDAO serves a leadership role for minimizing risk by understanding and applying all regulations and guidelines governing fundraising, gift processing and gift accounting and reporting (IRS, CASE, FASB/GASB, etc.), by accurately recording and reporting fundraising information and by securely managing sensitive data. The SDAO stays current with trends in philanthropy, marketing to constituents, technical developments that apply to these areas within the profession, and educates IA in applying these developments. The SDAO works closely with the Controller’s Office to ensure clarity and translation between accounting standards, donor intent and the language of philanthropy. In partnership with the VPIA and other IA team members, the SDAO maintains and updates policies and procedures for Institutional Advancement, as well as develops training programs to ensure all members of the Division have a solid understanding of resources and tools available to support the work in IA.
As the Director/Senior Director of Advancement Operations, you will:
- The SDAO is responsible for the alignment and implementation of functions and infrastructure that supports IA in achieving its annual fundraising goals and constituent engagement.
- Ensures a robust, rigorous and comprehensive database aligned with industry best practices and implements a series of data clean-up, enhancement, and acquisition efforts to be administered on a regular basis for optimal data integrity.
- Delivers effective information technology tools and services to end-users and builds expertise and trust among those users.
- Provides timely and robust reports for the VPIA, Board of Trustees, and other key College stakeholders.
- The SDAO supervises the functions and team members in Advancement Operations, which includes technology and information services, database management, technology support, gift processing and receipting, biographical records, donor relations, and prospect management and research. This includes hiring, training and developing employees, to include but not limited to holding team and individual meetings, as well as conducting performance evaluations.
- The SDAO serves to build, sustain, encourage, and support productive relationships with and among colleagues in IA and elsewhere at the College.
- Assists other departments within IA to develop and monitor their own metrics as needed.
- Serves as the main liaison to the Finance Office for accounting, reconciliation, and auditing purposes. Works closely with the Finance Office to ensure accounting and donor philanthropy are in tandem; ensures alignment of fundraising and accounting policies and procedures.
- Works with other on-campus information providers including Institutional Research, IT and the Data Governance Working Group to develop and maintain College-wide policies on information storage, data overlap and data use.
- Participates in IA and College committees and task forces, as needed.
- Ensures that the Advancement Services team maintains and follows written procedures on IA policies including: College’s gift acceptance policies (following CASE/FASB/IRS policies); Database Training; Stewardship Policies and Procedures; Reports generated by IA for various stakeholders; and Prospect Management Procedures. This also includes being responsible for IA Information compliance, setting policies on database integrity, use, and information storage after consultation with colleagues, and adhering to information and security regulations.
Experience and Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred, but will consider years experience in high education and advancement operations in lieu of a degree.
- 4-7 years of relative experience to the position’s essential functions required.
- High degree of knowledge and experience with fundraising, donor management, CRM, and crowdfunding systems. Highly developed analytic and planning skills, and demonstrated capacity for implementing well-crafted plans and achieving desired results with the use of data and information effectively in planning and decision-making, and be driven toward setting and achieving goals.
- Practical knowledge of annual giving operations and an understanding of what it takes to expand donor participation. Practical knowledge of major, planned, and principal giving operations and an understanding of what it takes to dramatically increase support to those areas. Practical knowledge of alumni engagement operations and an understanding of data-driven methodologies to increase and improve alumni engagement opportunities that ultimately result in ongoing philanthropic support for the College.
- Proven ability to effectively communicate is essential as the role includes high visibility with all College constituencies. Commitment to treating colleagues kindly with respect and dignity. Stature, credibility, and capacity to build and sustain effective relationships with colleagues at all levels and with partners elsewhere at the College while advocating for and securing resources in support of Institutional Advancement’s agenda.
- Tolerance for and ability to work productively in the context of ambiguity, uncertainty, and ongoing change. Commitment to excellence in all aspects of individual, collective, and organizational performance.
- Deep and abiding commitment to customer service. Contributes and places a high value on trust and teamwork; emphasizes cooperation and collegiality to foster an exceptionally positive and productive work environment.
- Maintain the highest standards of fiscal, ethical, and professional conduct. Contribute to building a culture of philanthropy at Allegheny by taking responsibility for other special tasks as requested.
- Comfortable and competent in quantitative work, possess strong computing skills and have the ability to learn new software.
New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. Adjustment of the ranges can occur based on the offerings of the candidate in relationship to the position. This is an exempt position and the estimated starting pay rate range for this position is:
Director level – $90,000 annually
Executive Director level – $95,500 annually
THE HIRING PROCESS
Please submit a cover letter, resume, and provide contact information for three references to the Office of Human Resources, Allegheny College, 520 N. Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335 or by e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.org. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. An offer of employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a background check.
Allegheny College, founded in 1815, is one of the nation’s oldest and most innovative four-year colleges where multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold. It is one of the few colleges in the United States with a unique requirement to choose both a major and minor for graduation, to provide students with a cross-disciplinary path in the sciences and humanities for educational depth and intellectual growth. Located in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Allegheny College is one of 44 colleges featured in Loren Pope’s “Colleges That Change Lives.” In its 2025 rankings, U.S. News & World Report recognized Allegheny College as one of the country’s 100 top national liberal arts colleges — and including in the top 25 Undergraduate Teaching, Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects, First-Year Experience, and Senior Capstone.
Allegheny’s undergraduate residential education prepares students for successful, meaningful lives by promoting students’ intellectual, moral, and social development and encouraging personal and civic responsibility. Allegheny’s faculty and staff combine high academic standards and a commitment to the exchange of knowledge with a supportive approach to learning. Graduates are equipped to think critically and creatively, write clearly, speak persuasively, and meet challenges in a diverse, interconnected world. Allegheny College is deeply committed to creating an inclusive community that actively challenges racism, sexism, heterosexism, religious bigotry, and other forms of bias (see Allegheny College Statement of Community).
Allegheny College is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. The College does not discriminate, and will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, creed, national/ethnic origin, ancestry, veterans, handicap or disability as those terms are defined under applicable law, or members of other underrepresented groups.
Allegheny College is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation, contact the Director of Human Resources
Visit the Allegheny College Web Site at www.allegheny.edu