Careers

Title: Director of Parent and Family Giving

Department: Institutional Advancement Mgmt.

Duration: Indefinite

Employment Status: Full Time (40 hours/week)

Job Summary

Under the direction of the Associate Vice President of Individual Giving, the Director of Parent & Family Giving partners with the Director of the Oxy Fund; develops the vision and leads the strategy for a comprehensive parent and family fundraising program as part of Occidental’s annual fundraising efforts and in support of the College’s mission. The incumbent builds on existing momentum and implements new fundraising strategies focused on increasing philanthropic support from parents and families, including oversight of the Parents Council, the principal parent fundraising body for Oxy Fund support. Additionally, the Director maintains a portfolio of key leadership and major gift rated parent and family donors, conducts discovery visits, and collaborates with colleagues to develop campaigns by mail, phone, and digitally for parent donor constituencies. The incumbent is assigned and responsible for soliciting and closing annual gifts to the Oxy Fund, as well as major gifts of $100,000 or more, partnering with offices across Occidental to cultivate, solicit and steward current and incoming parents, as well as partner closely with parents of alumni and parent volunteers. Through customized solicitations, events, volunteer outreach, and targeted stewardship, they will serve as a resource for their colleagues on parent giving strategies that will lead to the growth of Oxy’s parent donor base and strengthen the major and principal gift pipelines. Face-to-face visits with prospects and travel are required.

Job Duties

• 75% - Parent and Family Philanthropy - Build and implement a comprehensive development plan for parent and family philanthropy at Oxy. In partnership with Individual Giving, Principal Giving, Alumni & Parent Engagement, Donor Engagement and Events, and Advancement Services, create collaborative strategies that encourage engagement, sustained leadership-level support ($1,000 and above), and major gift support ($100,000 and above) amongst the Oxy parent and family community. Strategically coordinate strategies for parent solicitations with internal partners, involving college administration, department chairs, faculty, and other key campus partners in the process as appropriate. Work in close partnership with the Associate Vice President of Principal Giving and the Office of the President to develop and inform the strategy for identifying, engaging, cultivating and soliciting ultra-high net-worth and high net-worth families. Identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of parent and family donors and prospects. Build relationships and solicit annual gifts, major gifts, principal gifts, and multi-year commitments to achieve annual fundraising goals and performance metrics. Metrics around a target number of total gifts closed, annual donor visits, written proposals, portfolio coverage, commitment upgrades, and other work plan goals will be set based on the Director level. Establish annual fundraising goals, objectives, and projections for all parent and family donors, with the goal of increasing donors and dollars from this key constituency. Monitor and analyze parent giving patterns, and use these metrics to inform projections, goals, and strategies. Create content for parent appeals, from concept to delivery. Develop and execute strategy to engage parents of incoming students, in partnership with the Director of Prospect Research. Develop and execute strategy to engage parents of alumni, and to re-engage lapsed parent donors. Build a customized work plan to determine effectiveness of parent solicitation strategies and measure success year over year. Prepare and distribute reports on a regular basis to update staff and volunteers on results of parent fundraising activities. Collaborate with members of Gift Planning and Principal Gifts to develop and inform the strategy for engaging parents and families rated $10M+ who will be focused on wealth preservation and inter generational wealth transfer. - (Essential)
• 10% - Parent Events and the Day For Oxy - Partner with Alumni & Parent Engagement, Donor Relations & Stewardship, and Individual Giving to design and implement annual parent events, both on campus and regionally, including Orientation, Homecoming & Family Weekend, and Commencement. Oversee parent fundraising efforts during Oxy’s annual giving day, the Day For Oxy, including securing challenge gifts from Parents Council and other parent prospects. - (Essential)
• 15% - Parent Volunteer Management - Manage the Parents Council, Occidental’s primary parent fundraising body. Identify, recruit and serve as the key staff contact for the Council and its members. Engage all Council members via in-person visits, conference calls and newsletter distributions. Refine and build upon the council's activities to maximize its impact and increase membership and giving, and work closely with council members on parent communications and involvement initiatives. Develop a plan for engaging former Parents Council members and Board of Trustee emeriti members. In partnership with Alumni & Parent Engagement, develop meaningful ways to engage parents and families in other volunteer activities, programming and connection opportunities that are aligned both to the College’s priorities and parents’ interests. - (Essential)

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in liberal arts, philanthropic studies, fund-raising, public relations, communications, journalism, marketing, or a related field to position responsibilities.
• Seven years of progressively responsible experience in development/fundraising/parent and/or alumni relations.
• Proven record of initiating and securing a high volume of development visits and personally soliciting and securing gifts from individual donors, including at the major gift level of $100,000 and above.
• Experience working in a performance-based environment with tracking of meeting goals, contacts and dollars raised.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of development and fundraising with a seasoned understanding of individual giving programs, including parent relations, annual giving, major giving, planned giving, and overall best practices across advancement.
• Facility for fundraising databases and evidence of an ability to master these resources.
• Ability to analyze, synthesize and organize data, and present findings in a comprehensible manner for different audiences.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Google drives/folders/forms, Adobe Acrobat, Web Editing, and social media applications or any combination of productivity programs applicable to position responsibilities.
• Demonstrated ability to be detail-oriented and thorough; skilled at anticipating and preventing potential problems and handling a wide variety of tasks with efficiency and accuracy.
• Strong commitment to a quality work product.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate verbally, in writing and electronically.
• Effective interpersonal skills as evidenced in the ability to collaborate with a variety of constituencies. Demonstrated commitment to justice, equity, inclusion & diversity.
• Demonstrated skill in adapting to and performing work effectively in high-volume, high accountability, confidential environment with multiple and changing priorities.
• Effective organizational, logistical, time management and planning skills with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks/projects simultaneously, prioritize and fulfill the functions of an office in a timely manner.
• Ability to self-motivate and work independently.
• Ability to provide effective leadership and training, and to work effectively and professionally across functions, disciplines, levels, and with diverse groups.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in higher education development.
• Experience managing a volunteer board/s.

EXPECTED HIRING RANGE:  $105,000 - $113,000/yr

If you are offered this position at Occidental College, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills, education, experience, and/or geographic location. In addition to those factors, Occidental complies with applicable pay equity laws and considers internal equity among current employees when developing the final offer. Please keep in mind that the range mentioned above is the base salary range for the role. Hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical in order to allow for future and continued salary growth.  We also offer a generous compensation and benefits package.