Position Summary

The Director of Advancement Operations is a member of the leadership team in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Office of Advancement and is responsible for developing and managing systems and processes to ensure a highly effective and strategic Advancement operation. This person will oversee Advancement operations including managing and extracting information from the donor database, prospect management and research, creating and implementing metrics to measure Advancement team activity, departmental budgeting, training and onboarding and departmental policies and procedures.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Develop, implement, and manage Advancement systems, reports and processes to support operations as these functions relate to fundraising and alumni relations programs.
• Provide leadership in evaluating and recommending systems and structures to build and maintain an impactful and growing advancement program.
• Maintain the database in partnership with colleagues at the Art Institute of Chicago, maximizing its utilization, including staff training, development of reports and tracking documents, maintenance of donor records, and gift acceptance processing and receipting processes.
• Provide strategic oversight of the functions of the team that develop, implement and administer relationship management and prospect research systems, trainings and resources to support advancement success. Promote and ensure data integrity and timeliness of reporting for strategic decision-making purposes.
• Develop and monitor financial reporting, departmental and program budgets for the Office of Advancement. Liaison role with finance and budget offices for fund creation, tracking and other collaborative projections and processes.
• Collaborate with Advancement leadership to develop departmental goal setting process encompassing all programs of Advancement. Partner with leadership to facilitate strategic planning and project management for the department.
• Develop and produce regularly scheduled comprehensive reports and analyses that demonstrate departmental activity and performance, and inform strategic decision-making
• Train, assist and counsel Advancement staff on accessing, utilizing, and interpreting tools and information such as reports, research materials, and gift data.
• Build, sustain and encourage productive relationships internally across departments, within campus community, and with colleagues and partners in Central Administration, Art Institute of Chicago, and Gene Siskel Film Center.
• Keep up-to-date on emerging trends and technologies to meet current and future needs of Advancement operations.
• Hire, train, evaluate and proactively supervise professional and technical staff. Thoughtfully design and implement professional development plans for all staff to demonstrate growth and improvement in identified areas.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 7+ years of non-profit fundraising experience
• Must have experience managing staff
• Knowledge of Advancement operations best practices and commitment to appropriate compliance.
• Demonstrated knowledge and expertise in process analysis, and project management, as well as demonstrated ability to share these with others through mentoring and collaboration.
• Experience working successfully with institutional leaders, including senior management, faculty and staff.
• Strong communication, project management, organization, effective and persuasive presentation and problem-solving skills
• Ability to motivate and influence others including peers, direct reports, and staff members in other parts of the organization
• Proven ability to apply an ethical code and good judgment, and to handle confidential materials and situations with sensitivity and discretion