Executive Director, Alumni Affairs and Individual Giving

The Executive Director, Alumni Affairs and Individual Giving leads strategy and implementation of alumni, engagement, and individual donor programs that produce positive relationship and giving outcomes for The Cooper Union. The Executive Director will be a high-producing frontline fundraiser who manages a team of individual giving officers focused on in-person, virtual, and direct mail solicitation; in-person and virtual events and programs; volunteer engagement, and case statement and affinity campaign development.  In addition to retaining a majority of prior-year donors, the Executive Director will identify and advance strategy to secure new individual donors annually. This critical role reports to the Vice President of Alumni Affairs and Development, liaises closely with the Cooper Union Alumni Association, regularly interacts with and supports the Office of the President, serves as a member of the department’s Senior Development Team (SDT), and engages across a broad array of internal and external constituents.

This position supports, through actions and conduct, The Cooper Union mission and vision, and helps to build and maintain a productive departmental culture and performance outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Discover, cultivate, engage, solicit, and steward individual donors with the capacity to award major ($50,000+) and principal ($500,000) gifts, exceeding $2 million in new commitments annually. In general, at least one new principal gift is expected each fiscal year. Fundraising work to meet this performance metric should be performed independently or in direct partnership with College faculty, staff, or administration.
• Oversee or personally produce project proposals, strategy documents, and budgets that align with donor expectations and drive successful solicitations and stewardship, in collaboration with the Business Office, principal investigators/program leads, and senior leadership.
• Identify and advance funders capable of committing multi-year principal gift-level grants of $2.5 million or greater.
• Ensure compliance with financial reporting and donor stewardship expectations.
• Mentor staff in proposal writing, budget discipline, volunteer recruitment, and donor engagement, and develop a team culture of continuous and active professional learning.
• Liaise with the Cooper Union Alumni Association and other key constituency groups that drive engagement from alumni, parents, and other individual donors.
• Demonstrate excellent skill in persuasion through written and spoken communication skills.
• Other duties as assigned.

SKILLS/REQUIREMENTS

• 7-plus years of non-profit, education, or fundraising experience
• 3 years of experience as a fundraising or non-profit manager
• Experience in securing major ($50,000+) gift or grant commitments from individual donors and family foundations, with an annual yield of at least $1,000,000.
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills with sharp attention to detail.
• Excellent persuasive writing, proofreading, and editing skills.
• Fluency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook.
• Comfort in database research activities (Tessitura, Slate, Raiser’s Edge, Tableau, etc.)
• Propriety, thoughtfulness, and discretion.
• Understanding of fundraising and relationship management in a higher education context.
• Appreciation for The Cooper Union mission and ethos.

EDUCATION

Bachelor’s degree required.

Master’s degree preferred.