Director of Philanthropy, Southwestern Law School

Southwestern Law School is actively recruiting for a Director of Philanthropy. The Director of Philanthropy will be responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding philanthropic funding from constituents including, but not limited to, alumni, friends, faculty, foundations and corporations. The Director of Philanthropy is responsible for prospect identification, solicitation strategy, cultivation, donor outreach, gift proposal development, reporting and stewardship as well as making direct gift solicitations.  The Director of Philanthropy will report to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Identifies, cultivates and solicits philanthropic prospects and donors. Focus is on major gifts.
• Recommends and implements cultivation, solicitation and stewardship strategies for philanthropic prospects and donors.
• Meets and works with prospects, donors, faculty and volunteers to secure philanthropic funding for Southwestern Law School.
• Assists faculty in the recognition and prioritization of philanthropic funding needs as needed.
• Cultivates and presents proposals to prospects and donors to secure philanthropic funding.
• Writes or assists in drafting proposals, grants, letters, newsletters, brochures, pamphlets and other materials as necessary.
• Prepares strategy documents, proposals, gift agreements, briefing materials and other materials as needed. 
• Assists with publicity arrangements on important major gifts.
• Builds and manages a portfolio of approximately 100 major gift donors and prospects and develops cultivation and solicitation strategies for each in line with Southwestern Law School priorities and the donors’ passion.
• Develops annual and maintains ongoing major gift solicitation plan for portfolio.
• Tracks and updates major gift solicitations and progress on current tracking platform.
• Inputs contact reports regularly and participate in moves management and prospect management systems.
• Meets or exceeds fundraising metrics and goals assigned.
• Assists with planning and/or directing donor and prospect cultivation and stewardship events or programs. Provides leadership on specific fundraising events or programs as needed.
• Other Duties as assigned by the Vice President of Institutional Advancement.

Minimum Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 2-3 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience and a proven record of successful cultivation and solicitation of major gifts.
• Higher Education and/or Law School fundraising experience preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required

• Demonstrated working knowledge of all areas of fundraising including identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, with a particular emphasis on major gift acquisition.
• Ability to set goals strategically and proven record of achieving these goals.
• Familiarity with fundraising analytics.
• Proven success in fundraising proposal writing - including correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Knowledge of office procedures and records management as it pertains to prospect management.
• High level of judgment, discretion, integrity, and confidentiality.
• Accuracy and meticulous attention to detail.
• Excellent critical thinking and listening skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment, meet concurrent deadlines, organize time and priorities, and to do so in collaboration with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to apply creative problem-solving skills to develop solutions within established policies and guidelines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications especially Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, and constituent relationship management systems.
• Ability to work independently, to be flexible, and to work as a positive team member.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively and diplomatically with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
• Must be willing and available to work evenings and weekends according to event-related scheduling.

To be considered for this position, please email a cover letter and resume to jobs4@swlaw.edu. Additional information about the law school may also be obtained by visiting www.swlaw.edu.