Associate Vice President of Development
University of New Hampshire

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The Associate Vice President (AVP) of Development, a direct report to the Vice President of Advancement and President of the UNH Foundation (VP), will lead and manage a talented and dedicated team of front-line fundraisers, representing the primary colleges and programs of the University, including athletic fundraising, Annual Giving, Gift Planning, and Foundation/Institutional Giving. Working collaboratively with the VP and the experienced group of professionals that make up the development leadership team, the AVP will create challenging, yet achievable performance metrics that ensure the activities of the department are aligned with university priorities and ensure the team’s ability to achieve annual and campaign/long-range fundraising goals. The AVP will lead by example, exhibiting the highest standards of professional conduct, deep knowledge of industry best practices, superior time management and communication skills, proven ability to motivate and inspire a team to achieve and surpass goals, and commitment to treating all colleagues, and internal and external customers with respect, collegiality, and fairness.

40%

• Provide leadership, mentoring and coaching to the Managing Directors for Development, and set the strategic direction for the entire major giving team, ensuring annual and longer-term multi-year campaign goals are met. Responsible for all development budgets, ensuring alignment with advancement goals, expectations and any university-wide directives that happen. Set challenging, yet achievable fundraising and performance metrics for college/unit based, functional department and individual annual and campaign goals. Adjust processes and policies as needed to ensure success.
• Ensure the development team effectively collaborates and engages regularly with campus administrators, Deans, unit heads and key faculty in fundraising activities. Set the direction for the development of gift strategies at all levels, which include the most effective use of our campus leaders in cultivating, soliciting and closing increased philanthropic investments for the University. Include UNH Foundation Board, and college-based board members in gift strategies as appropriate.
• Create an appropriate meeting cadence and structure, which ensures team members at all levels are aligned and clear on goals and expectations, leading to the success of achieving annual and campaign metrics. Provide and/or ensure appropriate training, professional development, and evaluation of staff.
• Provide leadership to the UNH Foundation Board, specifically as it relates to assisting the Committee on Directors as they search for new board members, and provide updates to, and suggested topics for, the Budget and Finance committee to deliberate on.

20%

• Effectively collaborate with Advancement Leadership Team colleagues to ensure an aligned, collaborative focus on shared goals that creates a healthy and balanced work environment, leading to overall success and achievement.
• Partner with Advancement Services/Prospect Research and Management to develop and implement strategies to continuously identify and incorporate new high-level donors into the donor base. Determine appropriate, collaborative processes that utilize the expertise of prospect management in moving prospective and current donors effectively through the moves management process. Using industry best practices, ensure appropriate levels of current and prospective donors are assigned appropriately to each front-line fundraiser.
• Provide leadership, guidance, and wisdom in constructing gift proposals that meet the long-term needs of university and match the donor’s passion. Work with Donor Relations to ensure the gift agreement process is efficient and clear, setting goals and expectations with the development team to ensure alignment with established policies and procedures along the way.
• Partner with the Alumni Relations and Donor Relations team, and Sr Integrated Marketing Director for Advancement, to ensure alignment with campaign strategies and goals, and that those goals are reflected in the communications and programming for donor relations, stewardship, alumni events, reunion, etc. Provide insight and guidance as requested by the VP and UNH Alumni magazine editor as it pertains to highlighting the impact of philanthropy in the magazine.10% Directly manage a small portfolio of current and potential donors. Set a standard for the team to emulate in terms of thoughtful time management, strategic planning, and implementation, leading to consistent achievement of annual and campaign performance metrics as mutually agreed upon with the VP.

10%   

• Provide leadership, mentoring and coaching to the Director of Annual giving to create and implement an effective, data-driven annual giving strategy that utilizes best practices, available data analysis and creativity in achieving annual goals and metrics. Determine the best mix of strategies and tactics that focus on increasing critically important current-use resources for the University, while balancing the need for maintaining and growing the alumni participation rate. Engage campus-wide partners, external alumni volunteers and effectively utilize available technology, to achieve results.

10%   

• Provide leadership, mentoring and coaching to the Director of Gift Planning to create and implement a broad and comprehensive gift planning program.  Focus on the mainstay of the program, bequests, and lead the Director in creating training and mentoring opportunities in support of the gift team to encourage increased gifts of real estate, gifts in kind and other complex gift agreements that meet the long-term goals of the University, while supporting the specific goals and financial constraints of the donor. Ensure that the Director maintains an excellent working knowledge of gift planning, tax law, and charitable giving trends and provides periodic updates and training to the development team.

10%   

• Provide leadership, mentoring and coaching to the Director of Institutional Giving. With the VP, support the Director in setting the university-wide strategic direction for Institutional Giving, which is aligned with and reflective of, the vision and goals of the Provost and Sr Vice Provost for Research. Mentor the Director in setting a cadence for regular meetings with the Provost and SVP for Research and ensure that Deans and other key faculty are engaged and effectively utilized to maximize foundation support the University.

Master’s degree in business, public relations, or related field preferred with 15-20 years of proven fundraising success in major, principal and/or deferred gift fundraising, or Bachelor’s degree and 12-15 years of experience in major, principal and/or deferred gift fundraising; 10 years of supervisory experience preferred; demonstrated ability to measure fund raising effectiveness required. Previous college/university or academic medical fund-raising experience required.

Experience in all areas of fund raising, including major gifts, annual fund, gift planning, and corporate/foundation support; proven success in closing principal and leadership-level gifts; experience managing and achieving results in a metrics-driven organization; ability to develop and grow talent and skills in team members; ability to travel nationally as needed; commitment to creating a healthy, productive, collaborative team environment; proven success in making sound, timely decisions with limited and/or ambiguous information; a desire to be part of a supportive, balanced culture that operates as a hybrid work environment.

DEBBIE DUTTON
President, UNH Foundation and Vice President Advancement

Debbie Dutton has served for the past eleven years as the Vice President of Advancement and President of the Foundation at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) where she leads a team of 100 advancement professionals in the leadership phase of a capital campaign scheduled to conclude in 2027.  The current effort follows the University’s most ambitious and successful capital campaign to date, Celebrate 150, the Campaign for UNH. Celebrate 150 closed in June of 2018, and UNH surpassed all previous records in fundraising and engagement by achieving $308M, well above the $275M goal. Prior to this role, she served as vice president for development and alumni relations at Colby College. During her six-year tenure at Colby, and before being promoted to vice president, she served as campaign director and led the school’s largest fundraising effort, the Reaching the World campaign, which surpassed its goal to raise $376 million when it concluded in 2010.

UNH will ensure that all students graduate on time and are engaged and ethical global citizens. They will be prepared to thrive in their first jobs and throughout their careers. UNH will become a national leader in designing the educational experience from the first year to graduation.

UNH will attract increasingly strong and diverse students and faculty from across the country and abroad. The university will be known and respected for the high caliber of teaching, research and advising in its academic programs. Its distinguished research, scholarship and doctoral education will be recognized worldwide, including its contributions to global sustainability challenges.

UNH will work hard to make everyone in New Hampshire incredibly proud of their flagship public university. Students will grow up here wanting to come to UNH, and it will be the first choice for the best and brightest students from New Hampshire and around the world. UNH will build collaborations that support New Hampshire’s economy and quality of life, sustainability and resilience and will be a trusted, valuable and consistent partner.

UNH will be a national leader in long-term cost management, sustainable investing and aligning its budget and resources with its strategic priorities. UNH will become more accessible and affordable for students by diversifying revenue sources and managing resource use and expenses. UNH will meet the full range of student needs by providing world-class faculty, facilities and organization.