Director of Development

Description

Rare Book School (RBS)—the world’s leading institute for the study of books, manuscripts, and born-digital materials—seeks a Director of Development to augment the already considerable success of our Bound for the Future capital campaign. Our School, where scholarship and stewardship together give history a luminous future, educates professionals from around the globe to preserve and illuminate the record of humanity’s endless striving to know more about ourselves and our world. A 501.c.3 educational nonprofit affiliated with the University of Virginia that has over the past seven years garnered more than $5.5M from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the NEH, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, we seek a bright, enthusiastic, and highly motivated individual to help lead the School’s fundraising operations in the midst of our most ambitious campaign to date. We have broken our Annual Fund record for nine of the past ten years, grown our donor base, and successfully raised funds for scholarships and endowment. Our office is fast-paced, and our hardworking staff is passionate about the School’s educational mission, and about libraries, archives, and the humanities more broadly. (See rarebookschool.org ).

The Director of Development is responsible for the overall leadership and management of Rare Book School’s fundraising efforts, including annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and foundation and corporate support. This position is also responsible for maintaining and building on relationships with the School’s Board of Directors. The Director of Development reports to the School’s Executive Director.

Job Duties

Responsibilities:

• Chief responsibility is the planning, developing, and executing of strategies to obtain private support for the School’s ongoing and long-term financial needs
• Maintain a portfolio for leadership campaign gifts
• Travel for donor-cultivation/stewardship/solicitation visits
• With Executive Director, help create and execute fundraising priorities for the School
• Work closely with the Board of Directors to engage them in the fundraising process
• Lead both the Campaign Leadership Committee and the Development Committee to further fundraising strategies
• Promote planned giving to members and donors and execute planned giving marketing plan
• Supervise and provide leadership for the development team

Skills Required

Candidate qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum five years’ development or sales experience
• Ability to work independently and with a team
• Strong organizational and time-management skills
• Strong communication skills, including ability to write and speak persuasively about the School
• Willingness to work some evenings and weekends, to travel, and must have a valid driver’s license
• Academic, library, or cultural arts experience, preferred but not required
• Demonstrated knowledge of planned giving, preferred but not required
• Experience working on endowment or capital campaign, preferred but not required
• Familiarity with the University of Virginia and/or college and university fundraising, desired but not required

Additional Info

This is a full-time, exempt, benefited position. Benefits include health insurance (including dental and vision); long-term disability; and 403b retirement plan, including employer’s matching contribution (after one year). Salary will be commensurate with experience. To apply, please send resume, cover letter, and a short sample of professional writing to (rbs_hr@virginia.edu). We welcome inquiries. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until a successful applicant is found.

Rare Book School is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.