University of Michigan

Apply Now

Who We Are

The Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design (Stamps School) is one of 19 schools and colleges at the University of Michigan. The mission of the Stamps School is to be an internationally recognized leader in interdisciplinary art and design education, grounded in research, practice, creative excellence and community engagement to prepare the next generation of globally competent creative professionals who are capable of responsibly engaging and collaborating with professionals in a wide variety of fields and cultural contexts to address the challenges of our times.

The Stamps School of Art & Design seeks an experienced, self-motivated, dynamic development professional for a leadership role in a national fundraising and alumni engagement effort. This position will work collaboratively as part of the Stamps School's development staff and will be supervised by the Director of Development and Campaign Initiatives, with guidance provided by the Dean. The selected candidate will identify, cultivate, and solicit prospects and assist in the creation and implementation of the School's long-term and short-term fundraising, alumni relations and stewardship strategies; will be able to prioritize tasks within a fast-paced, team-oriented environment and work independently; and is responsive to training and feedback. Note: Extensive travel is required, as is occasional evening and weekend hours.

Responsibilities*

Characteristic Duties and Responsibilities:

Prospect Management, Solicitation and Stewardship (75%)

• Portfolio Management: Manage, cultivate and steward existing donors and prospects with an identified capacity; an emphasis will be placed on discovery visits and portfolio building. This will include routine qualification and solicitation of major gifts. Performance review will be based on the achievement of annual performance metric requirements as designated by the Office of University Development.
• Major Giving Pipeline Development: Identify, qualify and cultivate a pipeline of major giving prospects by researching and analyzing data to develop strategic solicitation plans to realize the current and lifetime giving potential of prospects. It will be necessary to execute short- and long-range strategies to produce a continuous stream of donors capable of making gifts of $100,000 or more. This includes organizing information for leadership and maintaining accurate and current records and activity in U-M?s donor and alumni tracking database (DART).
• Outreach & Engagement Events: Identify unique strategies and expanded opportunities for key prospects to engage with Stamps, this includes managing regional events to cultivate donors and prospects. This will require being innovative in building tactical plans to increase production and participation; awareness of other regional OUD events to ensure Stamps constituents are included; and representing the Director at meetings, events and other activities when appropriate. Time spent advising and preparing appropriate materials for use by the Dean and Director at these events will be necessary. 
• Stewardship: Assist with stewardship activities related to leadership-level donors and identify opportunities to enhance existing programs. Manage individualized stewardship strategies for major giving donors, ensuring plans are executed annually. Write correspondence on behalf of School leadership, this includes remarks and briefs for development events, condolences and congratulatory letters.

Institutional Engagement (10%)

• Develop and maintain relationships with faculty and staff supportive of the development enterprise. This includes assisting with corporate and foundation gifts for the School. Awareness of faculty projects and their creative practices will be vital.

Strategic Development (10%)

• Partner with Director, prospect research and analytics team and OUD colleagues to develop successful new fundraising strategies to address planned giving and corporate and foundation giving initiatives. This will include collaborating with Communications to create a cohesive communication strategy for all development-related outreach to Stamps constituency.

Other duties as assigned (5%)

• Special projects as assigned by the Dean or Director of Development, including support in campaign planning.

The complete position description can be found here.

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree with 3-5 years of fundraising or relevant experience in sales or other related field
• Interest in contemporary art and creative practices 
• Demonstrated track record in financial development and/or sales productivity 
• Ability to travel extensively, work nights and weekends when necessary
• Demonstrated problem solving, conflict resolution and customer service skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills with superior attention to detail and proofreading skills
• Must demonstrate excellent judgement and comfort working with diverse constituencies, ranging from students to high net worth individuals while maintaining a polished professional demeanor
• Demonstrated ability to maintain an appropriate level of discretion and confidentiality
• Experience working independently as well as collaboratively in teams, managing multiple responsibilities and timelines
• Ability to contribute to the School's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

Desired Qualifications*

• Prior campaign and event planning experience
• Knowledge of estate and planned giving
• Knowledge of contemporary art and creative design practices, trends and history
• Demonstrated 5-7 years of higher education fundraising experience, with a working knowledge of the University organizational policies, rules and regulations
• Experience with travel to regional markets and securing donor appointments
• Demonstrated track record in closing six figure and higher outright and planned gifts
• Prior experience using DART (Donor and Alumni Relationship Tool) or other constituent relationship management system used for fundraising efforts

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Additional Information

Supervised By: 

Director of Development and Campaign Initiatives

Supervision Exercised:

May supervise temporary/work study employees and interns

Salary Range:

$70,000 - $85,000

Land Acknowledgement

The University of Michigan resides on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg - The Three Fire Confederacy of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations, as well as the Wyandot Nation. In particular, the university resides on land gifted by the three Nations and the Wyandot Nation, along with many other Indigenous Nations, in the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs. We acknowledge the language of "gift" in the original treaty entails mutual relationships between treaty parties, respect, and obligation on the part of the settlers. We advocate for Indigenous struggles against ongoing settler-colonization and strive for a decolonized future. 

Authorization to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment and applicants for this position will not be sponsored for work visas.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.