Christopher Columbus High School, established in 1958, is a private, Roman Catholic all boy’s college preparatory high school, conducted by the Marist Brothers. Our student body of approximately 1700 students is representative of all areas of Miami top– Dade County. Already a ranked school, we are moving rapidly toward our goal to be the best Catholic all-boys school in the United States. Our motto, “Adelante,” embodies the dynamic spirit of our school as we press ever forward. In the past six months alone, we have dedicated a brand new athletic and sports medicine center (Henderson Family Athletic Training Center), opened the 100,000 square foot Marcus Lemonis and Mario Sueiras Center for Science and the Arts building, and received a transformational gift of $10 million to help support two new centers.

The new Vice President of Advancement will focus on growing philanthropic support and establishing a strategic array of fundraising activities while encouraging alumni, parents and friends’ involvement and participation. Through funds raised, the Vice President will help to advance the strategic plan of the school while connecting with all our alumni by building long-standing relationships that begin at graduation day and extend throughout their lives.

We expect the new Vice President of Advancement to lead the Advancement Department which goals are as follows:

Develop A Comprehensive Advancement Plan For Columbus
A top priority will be to develop a comprehensive advancement plan for CCHS that lays out a clear vision which aligns with our existing school’s strategic plan. The advancement plan will consider ways to connect and reach potential donors, alumni, corporations, foundations, parents, faculty , local community leaders and others interested in supporting our school. The plan should reflect the vision into the future of Advancement for Columbus for years to come.

Enhance Alumni Relations
The CCHS culture is built on deep and genuine relationships. The strong bonds of friendship and caring that reach from our current students to generations of alumni form the proud and powerful Columbus Brotherhood. Our alums are an amazing group, always ready to assist whether with time, expertise, or with financial help. To reach our goals, it is critical that we continue to enhance our engagement with our Columbus family, and look for ways to involve them, connect them, and assist them. While soliciting financial contributions is always important, we emphasize maintaining and strengthening relationships and are always looking for ways to help our alums thrive.

Build A Systematic Alumni Engagement Process With Focus On Young Alumni
Columbus has an extraordinarily loyal alumni base. While our alumni giving levels have l increased the past three years, there is an opportunity for donor growth among alumni who are not actively connected to us. It is important that we identify those alumni and develop plans to engage with them to allow them to become involved with the school. Recent graduates, from the 2000s to now are our future.

Engage With The Miami Community
Columbus is already deeply connected and engaged within the Miami community. But, especially now, Miami is in growth mode —and with new residents and businesses streaming into the community, it is important that Columbus connects more deeply with the business and philanthropic community. Miami’s strong corporate, startup and nonprofit communities can bring more than financial contributions to Columbus, benefits such as externships, internships, mentorship opportunities as well as employment opportunities for our graduates and their families. The new Vice President will help drive that engagement with the Miami community.

Specific responsibilities of the Vice President of Advancement will include:

Advancement

• Developing and executing a strategic plan for advancement. Work with the President and other school leadership to determine fund raising priorities through campaigns, annual giving, gifts from corporations, and gifts and grants from foundations.
• Managing, staffing, organizing, and executing the school’s fundraising efforts, including capital campaigns, annual fund drives, scholarship fundraising, Caring Hearts fundraising, and project campaigns as needed.
• Manage a team of direct reports that currently include the Associate Director of Advancement and the Alumni Director, along with some indirect report support personnel
• Cultivation and solicitation of leadership gifts.
• Launch a robust planned giving program
• Overseeing the departments expenditure and budgeting
• Creation a plan to grow our endowment
• Continue to develop and improve our prospect contact plan and procedures including trend analysis, contact planning, database management, and solicitation planning

Alumni Relations

• Alumni Relations goals are to:
  • Foster lifelong relationships with alumni to help support our school through a mutually beneficial relationship
  • Garner alumni support in numerous ways, not just fundraising
  • Enabling alumni to act throughout the community as our school ambassadors
• The Vice President of Advancement will oversee and manage the Alumni Director and assist in achieving their goals:
  • Develop alumni feedback strategy
  • Develop a clear, measurable plan for alumni relations including development of new activities, spiritual support, and alumni networking
  • Develop and execute on a continuum of events and activities that engage alumni throughout their lives
  • Building the Columbus Event Marketing Plan
  • Enhancing communication with our alumni and our friends

Qualifications

• Experience and thorough knowledge of advancement with proven fund-raising abilities with a complete understanding of advancement activities
• Experience with sophisticated computer-based advancement platforms
• Strong relationship building and communication skills
• Experience with, and responsibility for large campaigns and major gifts
• Managerial skills with the ability to lead, supervise and guide the advancement team and envision the makeup of the department into the future
• Willingness to travel domestically
• Undergraduate degree

To Apply
Candidates should submit their resume, cover letter and references to [email protected]. The deadline for application is Friday, October 14, 2022.