Director of Development, COLA
University of New Hampshire

The opportunities are endless. UNH's 11 schools and colleges offer 200 programs in more than 100 major fields of study. Students have direct access to award-winning professors with a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. After they graduate, students enjoy lifelong support through their office of Career and Professional Success.

Notable Wildcats include writer John Irving, “Frozen” director Jennifer Lee, astronaut Richard Linnehan, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Carlton Fisk, Gen. Lori Robinson, first woman to lead a major combat command – just to name a few. Each year, nearly 4,000 Wildcats join the UNH network of more than 133,000 alumni worldwide.

From the uncharted ocean depths to edge of our solar system to the earth we call home, UNH research transforms lives and delivers solutions to global problems. Powered by more than $100 million in competitive external support, UNH is in the top 20 percent of universities nationwide for research and funding.

UNH contributes more than $1.5 billion to the New Hampshire economy each year, and provides direct support to more than 3,000 in-state businesses and organizations. Their reach extends from rural classrooms to New Hampshire's farms, fields and forests, to workplaces large and small across the state.

Michele Dillon
Dean, COLA

---

Michele Dillon, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and the UNH Class of 1944 Professor of Sociology. Educated at University College Dublin and the University of California-Berkeley, her research focuses on autonomy and authority in the Catholic Church; moral politics; religion, spirituality and aging; and religion and cultural change. Her publications include Postsecular Catholicism: Relevance and Renewal (Oxford University Press, 2018); Catholic Identity: Balancing Reason, Faith, and Power (Cambridge University Press, 1999); American Catholics in Transition (co-authors W. D’Antonio & M. Gautier; Rowman & Littlefield, 2013); In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice and Change (co-author Paul Wink; University of California Press, 2007) - named by Choice as an outstanding title of 2007; Debating Divorce: Moral Conflict in Ireland (University Press of Kentucky, 1993); Handbook of the Sociology of Religion (editor, Cambridge University Press, 2003); Introduction to Sociological Theory (Wiley-Blackwell, 3rd ed., 2020), Concise Reader in Sociological Theory (editor, Wiley 2021), and over 50 book chapters and articles in journals such as Sociological Theory, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociology of Religion, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Adult Development, and Research on Aging. Dr. Dillon’s research has been supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the Louisville Institute, the Fetzer Institute, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, among other entities. She was honored in 2011 as the 11th Annual Anne Drummey O'Callaghan Lecturer on Women in the Church, at Fairfield University; and in 2011-12 was the JE and Lillian Byrne Tipton Distinguished Visiting Professor in Catholic Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. Professor Dillon has served as President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Chair of the American Sociological Association Section on the Sociology of Religion, and President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. She is frequently interviewed by regional, national and international media outlets on matters pertaining to religion and, in 2021, was listed in the world's top 2 percent of researchers (in a study published in PLOS Biology Journal).

• Design and implement comprehensive fundraising plans for assigned college, school, program, region, or constituency.
   
• Use advanced professional relationship building skills to develop and implement plans and strategies for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major and principal gift donors and prospective donors.
   
• Close major gifts and commitments, personally and consistently, with a typical gift solicitation range of $100,000 to $5 million. Maintain ongoing relationships and provide exceptional donor stewardship to encourage future giving.
   
• Establish and maintain a high degree of collaboration with other development officers and staff, as well as deans, school chairs, faculty, and other Institute academic and executive officers.
   
• Submit timely contact reports, prospect plans, and solicitations into tracking system.
   
• Prepare written development materials including case statements, proposals, and fundraising initiative/ campaign related literature for assigned college, school, and/ or program(s).
   
• Manage special events and/ or advisory board meetings to involve and cultivate prospects.
   
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
   
• Four to six years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising and/or relevant experience in sales and marketing, or other related fields.
   
• Travel is an essential part of the position as is participation in evening and weekend activities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree.
   
• Eight plus years of proven experience and results in soliciting and closing seven-figure major gifts in a higher education setting and a campaign environment.
   
• Multiple years of proven experience successfully managing and helping professionals grow in their respective fields.

• Broad knowledge of fundraising approaches and the highest levels of interpersonal skills, ethical standards, and good judgement.
   
• Excellent skills in building long-term relationships, and persuasive written and verbal communications skills.
   
• Effective skills in leadership and team management.
   
• Efficient skills in prioritizing, negotiating, influencing, strategic planning, project management program administration and organization, as well as self-motivation, ability to work independently and as a team member, and capacity for multi-tasking.
   
• Use of office-related computer applications is required.

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.