Vice President of Philanthropy

Title: Vice President of Philanthropy
Reports to:                 President & CEO, Kean University Foundation
FLSA Status:             Full Time, Exempt
Location:                    Union, New Jersey - Hybrid
Salary Range: $180,000 - $240,000

Summary

The Vice President of Philanthropy will be a key leader within the Kean University Foundation, responsible for designing, implementing, and overseeing comprehensive fundraising strategies and campaigns focused on securing gifts of $25,000 or more, including principal gifts of $1 million+. Reporting directly to the President & CEO, this role will lead a dedicated team encompassing major gift, planned giving, corporate & foundation relations, and prospect development professionals. This individual will play a pivotal role in setting and achieving ambitious principal and major gift goals, ensuring a robust pipeline of donors, and working collaboratively with university leadership, faculty, and board members to advance the mission of Kean University through high-level philanthropic support.

Responsibilities

Develop and Execute Comprehensive Fundraising Strategies: Design, implement, and lead multi-year fundraising campaigns and initiatives for gifts of $25,000+, with an emphasis on securing principal gifts of $1M+. This includes setting ambitious goals, driving team strategy and productivity, and identifying key performance indicators.
Achieve Principal and Major Gift Goals: Be directly responsible for meeting or exceeding annual and campaign fundraising targets for gifts at the principal and major gift levels, and supporting the team in achieving their individual and collective goals.
Lead a High-Performing Team: Recruit, mentor, and lead a team of fundraising professionals focused on securing gifts of $25,000+ from individuals and organizations. Foster a collaborative, results-oriented and growth-focused environment.
Manage and Solicit Prospects: Manage a small, high-level portfolio of top principal gift prospects and provide strategic support as needed to the philanthropy team, directly engaging in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities to cultivate and close gifts.
Integrate Gift Planning into Overall Strategy: Collaborate with the Senior Director of Philanthropy and Gift Planning to integrate planned giving strategies into comprehensive major gift solicitations and donor cultivation plans.
Oversee Corporate and Foundation Relations: Provide strategic oversight and guidance to the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, ensuring effective cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of institutional funders.
Oversee Prospect Development: Provide strategic oversight and guidance to the Director of Prospect Development to identify prospects and build the pipeline, optimize research and portfolio strategies, and utilize data analytics and reporting to track progress, identify trends, and inform strategic decisions related to fundraising efforts.
Collaborate with University Leadership and Board: Work closely with the President & CEO, University leadership, faculty, and Kean University Foundation board members to identify fundraising opportunities, leverage relationships, and ensure alignment of fundraising efforts with institutional priorities.
Represent the Foundation: Act as a passionate ambassador for Kean University and the Kean University Foundation at various internal and external events and meetings, cultivating positive relationships with constituents. Prepare and present fundraising reports to the President & CEO, Board of Directors, and relevant committees.
Manage the Department Budget: Develop and manage the budget for the Philanthropy department, ensuring efficient and effective allocation of resources to maximize fundraising potential.
Other Duties as Assigned

Education and Credentials

Required:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.

Preferred:

Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Non-Profit Management, Business Administration, Philanthropy).
Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification.

Experience

Required:

A minimum of 10-12 years of progressive fundraising experience, with a significant focus on major and principal gifts in a higher education or complex non-profit environment.
Demonstrated track record of successfully closing six and seven-figure gifts.
Proven experience in leading and executing comprehensive fundraising campaigns.
Minimum of 5 years of experience managing and mentoring a team of fundraising professionals.

Preferred:

Experience working within a university foundation structure.

Skills

Required:

Proven leadership and team-building skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire staff.
Excellent organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal), with the ability to articulate a compelling case for support to diverse audiences.
Strong strategic and analytical abilities, with a data-driven approach to fundraising.
High level of discretion, integrity, and ethical conduct.

Preferred:

Ability to work evenings/weekends and travel as required for donor meetings and events.
Proficiency in fundraising CRMs (e.g., Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT).

Candidates: Ardú Advisors is assisting the Kean University Foundation with this search. Interested and qualified candidates should send a cover letter and resume to VPphilanthropyKUF@arduadvisors.com.

Social Media Community Guidelines

The Kean University Foundation manages several social media channels. Through these channels, we aim to facilitate supportive conversations and share informative, engaging content. But please note—if you post to one of our social media channels, send us messages, reply to our tweets or comment on any of our posts, you are agreeing to follow and adhere to these Social Media Community Guidelines.

Additionally, please remember that the comments and responses you read on our channels from other community members come from them, not us. The content of other peoples’ comments, opinions and statements, even if they’re posted on our channels, do not necessarily reflect our views—they are the responsibility of the members of the public who choose to post them.

In order to help us keep our Kean University Foundation and Kean Alumni social media channels as supportive places to discuss shared topics of interest, please abide by the following Social Media Community Guidelines:

Be Respectful
1. Respect is a core part of being a Kean Cougar. Although we welcome your comments and feedback, you must take the responsibility to share both in a way that is respectful to Kean University, our team members and our overall community.
2. We will not tolerate comments, replies, messages or posts that are inappropriate, harassing in nature, or otherwise abusive.
3. We do not welcome comments, replies, messages or posts that are promoting or soliciting a third-party site. This includes third-party products and initiatives.
4. Social media is not the proper forum to send us feedback about our services. Please email kuf@keanfoundation.org for help with those topics.
5. We reserve the right to remove comments/replies/message that do not adhere to our policies, or any content that we believe does not comply.
6. We reserve the right to block or ban anyone who violates our policies.

Comment Moderation and Responses
1. We monitor our social media channels on weekdays, during normal business hours. We try to respond as soon as we are able.
2. Although we are moderating our social media channels to ensure that those commenting are complying with our guidelines, we are not responsible for anything posted by members of the public.

Your Posts May Become Our Future Content
1. When tagging us on social media platforms, please keep in mind that you are consenting to us potentially resharing your content in the future as User Generated Content. By posting on our channels and tagging us in your content, you agree that your posts may be freely used by us on our social media channels, and possibly on our website or in our newsletter.
  1. Knowing this, please do not post any information that you prefer to keep confidential.
  2. Do not share any information from which you expect to receive compensation.
2. When you post on or interact with any of our social media channels, remember that your name, likeness and social media handle will be visible to us and associated with your post/reply/message. If we reshare or use your post/reply/message elsewhere, we may display your name, likeness and social media handle when we do so.

May 2021

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