Assistant Director

Department

Crown Alumni Relations and Development

About the Department

As one of the first schools of social work in the United States, the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice has shaped the field for more than 100 years. As part of the University of Chicago, the Crown Family School shares the University’s core values and distinctive intellectual culture. Faculty, staff and students focus on identifying solutions to complex problems through the integration of research, training, and direct community engagement. Guided by an interdisciplinary tradition, scholars at Crown Family School conduct innovative research to address interconnected social challenges such as educational inequality, health disparities, crime and violence, poverty, and child and family welfare, working at multiple scales, from individual to policy-level interventions. Over 8,000 graduates hold leadership positions in academia, at nonprofits, and at governmental agencies. The Crown Family School is the home of several academic centers, including the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health and Social Development, the Urban Education Institute (UEI), the Center for Health Administration Studies, the Smart Decarceration Project, and the Employment Instability, Family Well-being, and Social Policy Network (EINet). For more information, please visit https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Associate Dean for Advancement, the Assistant Director of Annual Giving and Engagement plays a key role within the Crown Family School Advancement team, partnering to establish and implement alumni relations and annual giving strategies. This position manages a comprehensive alumni and donor engagement program aimed at fostering donor loyalty, increasing alumni participation, and identifying a pipeline of annual, lead annual, and planned giving donors.

The ideal candidate is confident soliciting gifts of all sizes and will display excellent interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build long-term relationships and secure gifts. The candidate will possess strong organizational and time-management capabilities, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail. This position requires a commitment to promoting a culture of philanthropy and alumni-centered engagement. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working independently in a dynamic, team-oriented environment, and demonstrate responsiveness to feedback and openness to continuous learning and professional development.

Position responsibilities are divided as follows:

• Annual Giving Management (30%)
• Portfolio Management & Solicitation (35%)
• Alumni Relations: Outreach and On-Campus Engagement, and Alumni Councils and Board Engagement (30%)
• Other Duties as Assigned (5%)

Responsibilities

• Develops a robust and sustainable annual giving strategy, incorporating innovative and traditional approaches to increase total giving and the number of annual donors.
• Collaborates with Central Advancement, to manage all aspects of the School’s annual giving initiatives to increase donor acquisition, renewals and upgrades.
• Identifies effective solicitation strategies for targeted constituents, including volunteers, alumni, parents and the broader community.
• Establishes a sustainable reunion giving program to merge alumni relations efforts with Alumni Councils and Board activities.
• Manages a portfolio of 60 to 80 prospects, including planned giving, focusing on discovery visits and building relationships. 
• Cultivates and manages a pipeline of leadership annual giving prospects to maximize short-term and lifetime giving potential to produce a continuous stream of donors.
• Cultivates, solicits and stewards leadership annual gifts with identified capacity to give.
• Meets annual performance metric as designated by Advancement.
• Plans and executes local events to effectively engage donors and prospects, tailoring strategies to interests and capacity.
• Utilizes a data-driven strategy in addressing gaps in alumni outreach and programming, focusing on milestones and regional targets to promote philanthropy and identify volunteers and leaders to join Alumni Councils and Board.
• Develops opportunities to connect alumni, parent and student connections with the school, fostering stronger relationships and increasing annual giving.
• Creates and manages alumni communications, including newsletters, invitations and updates through digital platforms.
• Plans local and regional alumni outreach efforts, including events, mentoring, speaking engagements and recruitment opportunities.
• Identifies and cultivates leaders through events, programs, and recognition opportunities that strengthen connections between alumni and students to advance the mission and philanthropic objectives of the School.
• Provides guidance, toolkits and logistical support to volunteer efforts and programs.
• Serves as the primary liaison between the school, alumni, and University, to facilitate access to relevant information, services, and programs.
• Undertakes special projects and provide administrative support as assigned.
• Contributes to the planning and implementation of programs to identify, visit, and solicit alumni, parents, and other constituencies within an assigned geographical region for gifts to meet fundraising goal. Does this with a moderate level of guidance and direction.
• Contributes to the development of plans to solicit prospective donors and meet campaign goals. This includes speaking to new prospects persuasively about the case for annual giving support.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Experience:

• Knowledge and skills developed through 3 or more years of work experience in a related job discipline.
• Familiarity with University of Chicago and the field of social work is a plus.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools available to the Office of Alumni Relations and Development, including Salesforce and Microsoft products.

Preferred Competencies

• Possess strong organizational and time-management capabilities, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail.
• Superior writing and editing skills, interpersonal, communication, and listening skills.
• Customer-service orientation with the ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with absolute discretion.
• Effectively work on multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining a high-level of quality and keen attention to detail.
• Skilled at working independently and as a team member in a dynamic, team-oriented environment.
• Commit to promoting a culture of gratitude and philanthropic-centered engagement.
• Flexibility and adaptability to new programs in an emerging and changing environment.
• Demonstrate responsiveness to feedback and openness to continuous learning and professional development.

Working Conditions

• Hybrid work schedule, on-site at the Hyde Park campus in Chicago
• Regular travel locally and regionally for donor meetings, nationally as needed.
• Travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business.
• Work occasional evenings and weekends.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• References Contact Information (3)(preferred)

Job Family

Alumni Relations & Development

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$67,000.00 - $75,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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