Director of Advancement

Director of Advancement

Reports to: Headmaster

Education: Bachelor’s degree or higher in relevant field (communications, business, theology, education, etc.)

Relevant Work Experience: 5 – 7 years prior experience with donor stewardship, major gift management and collection, prospect research, and cultivation of potential donors. Campaign management experience preferred.

Schedule: Full-time

Salary: 90,000-150,000

Who We Are:

Our Lady of the Pillar Academy (OLPA), located in beautiful Half Moon Bay and within the Archdiocese of San Francisco, is a Catholic, classical grade school. 

Our mission is to build abundant lives along the coast side, through Catholic, classical education.

Founded in 2023, OLPA has experienced tremendous early growth. Bringing together the time-tested approach of classical education and the innovative nature of the technologically-driven area in which we live, we instill Christian virtues, hone skills in logic and rhetoric, and foster a joyful existence in a world often dominated by materialism and despair. We guide our students towards experiencing the timeless treasures of goodness, truth, and beauty in abundance so that we all might know, love, and serve Christ to the fullest!

Who You Are:

Great candidates for this position are passionate people with a love of education, building up the Church on earth, are fierce about wanting great education in the Golden State, and who love serving people—especially the children we teach!

With professionalism and heart, you will help foster a culture of grace and joy with your time on campus so that when you go out to ask others to participate in the mission they can feel the wonder and goodness that they will be a part of by supporting our institution.

OLPA is a Catholic organization, and employees should be in good standing with the Church with a good understanding of Church teaching, and willing to take and oath of fidelity to the Magisterium on all doctrinal matters.

Overview:

The Director of Advancement is a full-time, salaried position that will  establish and form the development office in collaboration with the Headmaster.  Reporting directly to the Headmaster, the primary responsibilities of the Director of Advancement are to oversee the growth of the school through philanthropic and charitable giving avenues. The Director of Advancement will oversee donor relations, major gift solicitation, will collaborate with relevant subcommittees for giving events put on by the school, ensure that data is captured accurately, and individualized strategy is created for Our Lady of the Pillar Academy’s portfolio of major donors.

This includes day-to-day details of donor outreach, arrangements and notifications for meetings, frequent correspondence with community stakeholders, monitoring of gift and pledge records and conducting prospect research, distributing tax receipts, and building the Development Office to fulfil the mission and vision of Our Lady of the Pillar Academy.

The Director of Advancement is accountable to the Headmaster for the stewardship of the mission statement and will have regular meetings to discuss global strategy.

Essential Functions:

General Duties

-         Make targeted solicitations at varying levels of giving to ensure the financial growth of the operations of the school and its scholarship fund.

-         Aid in the development of the school for generational growth in areas such as capital campaigning and funding endowments.

-         Implement strategies to appraise potential gift sizes and asking methods for donors of all levels of giving using wealth screening tools.

-         Maintain and develop our CRM to ensure positive donor communication and effective nonprofit organization.

-         Be trained in philanthropic campaigning and be able to offer training to members of staff or the Board In best practices.

-         Establish campaign strategies, solicitation priorities, and oversee the execution of said solicitations.

-         Sit as a general member on a minimum of two subcommittees (finance and gala), manage volunteer fundraising committees as they arise, and coordinate honorary and executive committees with respective involvement needs to promote longstanding relationships with the institution.

Major Gifts

-         Conduct detailed donor research on current/prospective donors.

-         Manage relevant donor information and ensure its accuracy in the database.

-         Assist in the creation and implementation of department goals, objectives, and timelines, reporting in these efforts to the Headmaster

-         In conjunction with the Headmaster, maintain a portfolio of major donor prospects and be responsible for cultivation, stewardship, retention and upgrading while supporting the creation and implementation of major gifts strategy across the organization for all gift officers.

Data Administration, Management, and Supervision

-         Prepare analysis of OLPA donor data trends and reports, proactively offering insight that will impact development operations and relationship management practices.

-         Participate in and give feedback on calendar for the Development Office that includes all donor relations and direct solicitation activity for the year—coordinated with the Headmaster, faculty, and others on the team.

-         Serve as point person for OLPA fundraising volunteers, providing appropriate training, creating dashboards and overseeing database privileges.

-         Oversee stewardship process for the capital campaign in partnership with the development office.

-         Assist in the management of the donor database in accordance with OLPA policies and procedures. Collaborate with the Headmaster to meet fundraising goals and objectives.

-         Consciously create a workplace culture that is consistent with that of OLPA and that emphasizes its identified mission, vision, and guiding principles.

Requirements:

-         Passion for  OLPA and her mission.

-         Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively and appropriately with staff, donors, volunteers, and prospects.

-         Intermediate knowledge of prospect research process.

-         Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills

-         Sound judgement

-         Collaborative team member

-         Highly organized, strong attention to detail, and able to accept direction and to work independently

-         Maintain the utmost discretion with regard to donor confidentiality and privacy

-         Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office and able to learn donor data systems

-         Local travel required, some night and weekend work required

-         Attend all events as support to other staff and volunteers to ensure exceptional execution of special events.

All interested applicants should send their resume, a cover letter, and three professional references to Blaise Hockel, Headmaster, at bhockel@olp.academy.