American University · 11 hours ago
Assistant Dean of Development, SPA
Washington, DC
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$150K/yr - $170K/yr
8+ years expAmerican University is a student-centered research institution located in Washington, DC, with highly-ranked schools and colleges. The Assistant Dean of Development for the School of Public Affairs is responsible for leading major gift fundraising efforts and collaborating with the Dean to shape and execute fundraising strategies to meet the school's financial needs.
Higher Education
Responsibilities
With the Dean and independently, aggressively work major gifts portfolio under the prospect development guidelines, actively setting and executing strategies on assigned major gift prospects, meeting or exceeding established benchmarks for visits, contacts, and solicitations, and securing gifts that support the academic priorities of the Dean, other units, or the University as a whole
Develop, execute, manage, fundraising strategies, priorities, schedules and tactics for the Dean of the School of Public Affairs, including but not limited to:
Identifying and engaging prospects around the Dean’s academic priorities for the School
Planning travel and individual meetings
Managing regular communication with key prospects
Adding a development perspective to relevant matters that emerge in the School or on the Dean’s leadership team
Managing all aspects of the Dean’s Advocacy Council, including developing strategy to cultivate and solicit council members for leadership giving at SPA
Management and strategy development of a pool of 150 assigned, rated, and staged prospects generally rated $100,000-$1,000,000+
Meaningful contact or consistently demonstrated attempted contact of 100% of the assigned portfolio during any six month period
Regular maintenance of prospect pipeline (i.e., planned and executed solicitations) to reflect a minimum of 15 major gift solicitations per year
Varying by stage of cultivation, consistent movement of prospects in assigned portfolio in prescribed time frame. (As an example, it is expected that prospects will only be in qualification and early cultivation mode for 6 months, regular cultivation for 12 months, and pre-solicitation cultivation and consideration mode for 6 months)
A minimum of 10 planned, strategic visits per month with many other interactions, meetings, events, and unplanned visits
Regular updates to contacts, staging, ratings so that all reports are current for supervision meetings and monthly progress reports
Work in concert with University Advancement colleagues, including particularly close collaboration with the Planned Giving Team, and Office of Prospect Development to conduct entrepreneurial prospect identification and qualification work equal to approximately 10-20% of all activity. (More if Assistant Dean of Development meets expectations of progress with assigned portfolio)
The Assistant Dean of Development’s financial objectives will be established collaboratively and with close review of the capacity and readiness indicators of the Assistant Dean of Development’s prospect portfolio
Manage, motivate, and evaluate the School of Public Affairs Development team: Director of Development, SPA and Development Coordinator, SPA
Develop major gift strategies and revenue expectations, donor stewardship initiatives, and special event plans
Delegate and assign tasks, including creation and design of related publications
Work with AU’s Annual Giving team to effectively manage annual giving techniques and messages utilized in AU’s direct marketing and phone programs, assuming responsibility for making sure the information about the School of Public Affairs used in these programs is accurate, up to date, and in line with the School’s current fundraising objectives
Work closely with the Director of Development, Annual Giving, on annual Dean’s letter or other equivalent solicitation pieces, insuring that they occupy a reasonable and productive spot in AU’s direct marketing calendar
Other Duties As Assigned
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited educational institution
8-10 years of relevant experience
Eight or more years progressively responsible development experience required, with at least four years in demonstrated success in securing major gifts of $100,000+
Familiarity with and experience following guidelines of an established Prospect Development system; computer literacy with MS Office suite or equivalent and familiarity with fundraising systems; superior written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
Preferred
Master's degree or equivalent
8-10 years of relevant experience
Experience in higher education, working with high-level executives/academics/leaders, managing volunteers, major gift solicitation and closure at the $500,000+ level
Attention to detail, ability to analyze and articulate reasons for giving, strong priority setting, ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously in a deadline-oriented environment
Maturity and diplomacy
Analytical, research, and project management skills
Benefits
AU offers a competitive benefits package.
Company
American University
American University's historic academic strengths are rooted in social responsibility and our dedication to cultural and intellectual diversity.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
American University has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
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Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (13)
2024 (20)
2023 (7)
2022 (17)
2021 (9)
2020 (18)
Funding
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