Housed within the External Relations and Development department of Columbia Business School, the Individual Giving team is responsible for stewardship of the School’s donors up to $250,000.  The Associate Director reports into the Director of Individual Giving and is a critical, frontline fundraising member of the team.  Specifically, the Associate Director manages a portfolio of roughly 150-200 leadership donors, gifts of $2,500 or more, through visits, phone calls, and other forms of personalized outreach.

Additionally, the Associate Director oversees critical operations for the Hermes Society Program, including the coordination of the Hermes Society Council.

The Associate Director is expected to be a collaborative and strategic member of the Individual Giving team and may be responsible for management of student workers or part-time employees. This individual will meet core and partnership values of teamwork, integrity, accountability, and respect.

Responsibilities: 

• Manage a portfolio of up to 300 Hermes Society partner-level ($5,000 and above) donors and potential donors through cultivation and engagement. Devise and implement donor-centric fundraising strategies to meet activity and revenue goals through portfolio planning and moves management. Annually conduct at least 150 prospect meetings, and 200 leadership asks. Portfolio management could mean travel outside of the NY/tri-state region when necessary.
• In conjunction with the Director of Individual Giving, lead projects related to the global growth of the School’s Hermes Society including liaising with current and prospective Council members, facilitating meetings (and meeting preparation), administering in-person and virtual meeting preparations and events, and updating the annual business plan.
• Manage 1-2 reunion class committees, with the overall goal of maximizing giving from these classes in the reunion year.  Duties include recruiting volunteers, coordinating and creating communications for volunteers and donors, training volunteers to ask for support, and reporting on progress of each class.
• Work closely with the Director to manage other projects related to unrestricted giving growth. Assist with development of long-term strategies and program improvements.
• At the discretion of the Director of Individual Giving, the Associate Director may also take on special projects designed to increase short- and long-term donor acquisition for the annual fund or other priority giving initiatives.

Minimum Qualifications: 

Bachelor’s degree and/or its equivalent required. Minimum 3-5 years of experience is required.

Must have excellent project and/or volunteer management experience. Excellent oral, interpersonal, and written communication skills required.  Superior proficiency with Microsoft Office (particularly PowerPoint and Excel) and donor databases required. Must be creative, persuasive, capable of managing multiple tasks under deadline, and comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-performing, and entrepreneurial environment. Occasional travel as well as occasional work on evenings and a few weekends to staff Reunion events, affinity events, and other Business School gatherings may be required.

Preferred Qualifications: 

3-5 years of client relations, constituent relations, donor engagement, or leadership annual giving experience strongly desired. Higher education experience desired. Working knowledge of web development, fundraising campaigns, and web-based constituent engagement platforms preferred.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.