Summary

The Vice President of Advancement serves as The Seattle School’s strategic and operational lead in fundraising, enrollment, branding, marketing, and communications. The VP’s work is focused on enabling the School to accelerate its institutional transformation by stewarding and extending its mission and impact. The VP will define a compelling vision for advancement and transform the existing program into one of unsurpassed effectiveness through leadership, capacity building, and best practices. Their success will be defined by their ability to build new and leverage existing relationships in the region and around the world; positioning institutional leaders to connect with philanthropists, foundations, tech leaders, entrepreneurs, faith communities, and organizations. The VP ensures the quality of the School’s varied and integrated marketing and communications programs and services, including: brand building; owned and earned media; print publications; social media; web; podcasts; print and digital communications; media and public relations. The VP will direct the work of the following realms: advancement, enrollment, marketing and communications, media, and community relations. The incumbent will serve as an essential part of the President McNeil’s executive leadership team. An openness to innovation, curiosity about the students of the present and the future, and ability to work closely and effectively with the President, other Senior Leaders, Board of Trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, and the public are essential to success in this role.

Essential Functions

Strategic Vision, Leadership, and Engagement 

• Craft a multi-year strategy that will leverage the strengths and assets of the School to strengthen the culture of philanthropy and substantially and sustainably increase philanthropic support, including an endowment, capital projects, and the annual fund.
• Support the President in his role as chief spokesperson and fundraiser, serving as an advisor and co-strategist in cultivating prospective donors and soliciting transformative gifts.
• Support senior leaders, trustees, volunteers, deans, faculty, and other key constituents in advancement-related activities.
• Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward a select prospect portfolio. Lead the frontline fundraising team by example, demonstrating success and providing mentorship in order to maximize philanthropic revenue.
• In conjunction with the President and Executive Council, develop clear, consistent, cohesive, and compelling messaging that leverages the uniqueness, and impact of the School.
• Effectively communicate messaging through a variety of means and media to excite and engage a diverse constituencies, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, donors, and current and future friends of the school.
• Assist the President in the identification, recruitment, and cultivation of new board members, identifying key leaders with an affinity for the school’s mission; build a volunteer structure that fosters a culture of philanthropy.
• Leverage the president and senior leadership to build new and enhance the School’s existing relationships with Seattle civic, community, and church leaders, leaders in the tech industry, and other key partners.

Programmatic Elevation

• Evaluate, strengthen, and enhance existing individual (annual, major, principal, planned, and monthly), corporate, and foundation giving.
• Develop and implement new innovative programs to systematically and strategically identify and acquire prospective individual and institutional donors, increase donor retention, and renew and upgrade existing donors.
• Ensure that the stewardship program provides donors with comprehensive, timely, and innovative acknowledgement of their support.
• Build capacity and audience engagement by stewarding adoption and consistent identification, tracking, and nurture in the School’s CRM (SalesForce).
• Design and implement an overarching strategic marketing and communications plan for the School that is innovative, progressive, and proactive, including messaging and visibility initiatives that extend across all media and vehicles.
• Launch a targeted and systematic effort to strengthen media relations and secure positive news coverage for The Seattle School in local, regional, national, and international media.

Staff Management and Leadership

• Maintain a leadership style that is fair, equitable, and open; support, mentor, and optimally organize the 20+ member Advancement team and operation.
• Ensure that all systems and processes, from data capture to acceptances and processing, maximize available intelligence via reporting and follow sound budgetary, legal, and accountability practices.
• Plan and carefully manage the Advancement realm budgets, ensuring that resources are deployed efficiently and effectively in support of fundraising goals and objectives; utilize contemporary analytics to project, measure, and report on progress relative to goals.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• A deep appreciation for the mission, vision, and ethos of The Seattle School, and the ability to effectively articulate the President’s vision to a diverse audience.
• Five to seven years of progressively responsible fundraising and managerial experience in advancement, preferably within higher education.
• Experience serving on a senior leadership team and contributing at the strategic level.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, manage, and successfully conclude a comprehensive campaign.
• Proven success building and leading an effective team.
• Demonstrated success personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding gifts of seven figures or more from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
• A high level of comfort and effectiveness working with high net worth individuals and corporate leaders.
• Demonstrated credibility, emotional maturity, authenticity, and sound judgment.
• Exemplary listening and interpersonal skills; strong personal integrity, charisma, and work ethic.
• Superior written and oral communication skills; the ability to understand and translate information for all audiences; clarity, crispness, and elegance in writing and speaking.
• A desire to deeply engage in local and regional communities. Commitment to diversity, intercultural understanding, inclusive institutional excellence, and global engagement.
• A sharp eye for operational efficiency and the best use of resources, including a demonstrated understanding of budgets and the ability to manage them.
• Familiarity with and appreciation for the use of technology in building an extended academic community.
• The personal flexibility to travel and work evenings or weekends as required.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.