Assistant Vice President, Major Gifts & Campa

TheNew England Conservatory, an independent not-for-profit institution, is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools, educating and training musicians of all ages from around the world. With music students representing more than 40 countries, NEC cultivates a diverse, dynamic community for students, providing them with performance opportunities and high-caliber training by 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of making and teaching music through college-level musical training in classical, jazz, and Contemporary Improvisation. It offers unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships that empower students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC's mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, the Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education delivers training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Assistant Vice PresidentMajor Gifts and Campaign (AVP) will serve as the fundraising leader responsible for all major and campaign giving programs at NEC. Reporting to the Vice President of institutional advancement and working with the executive Vice President, s/he is responsible for NEC’s overall major giving strategy and program planning for Major Gifts and planned gifts. The Assistant Vice President is a member of the Advancement and Engagement’s senior leadership team and contributes to the division’s overall strategic direction, operational excellence, and growth in philanthropic revenues toward annual and campaign goals. This is a momentous, transformative period for NEC, an organization on the cusp of its most ambitious capital campaign to date and a lead player in a profoundly changing music education. The Assistant Vice President will play a key leadership role in leveraging NEC’s premier brand, well-respected leadership, and philanthropic partnerships to establish a best-in-class individual giving program.

The Assistant Vice President will work in partnership with other senior leadership team members in planning and implementing a comprehensive, integrated development program that is built on an ethos of accountability and continuous improvement, is data-driven, employs a sophisticated moves management approach, is highly collaborative, and maximizes philanthropic support for NEC.

The Assistant Vice President is responsible for developing and managing fundraising plans, leading strategy development for cultivation and solicitation of donors and prospective donors, and building and managing a personal portfolio of donors and prospective donors. The Assistant Vice President is also responsible for substantially increasing major and planned giving revenue; including the integration of campaign goals and priorities; working closely with NEC executive leadership and program area leaders, as well as with board members and other volunteer leaders, to most effectively engage donors; interacting closely with top prospects, creating links between their philanthropic interests and NEC’s needs. The Assistant Vice President recruits, mentors, and manages a budgeted staff of approximately four individuals.

In addition to possessing superior people management and development skills, highly effective interpersonal communication abilities, and a sense of urgency, the successful candidate must be profoundly collaborative and have the gravitas and leadership presence to interact with high-level donors. The Assistant Vice President must be transparent, open-minded, resourceful, organized, politically savvy, results-oriented, data-driven, and should possess a good sense of humor and diplomacy. The demonstrated ability to be a strategic, creative thinker and to achieve goals efficiently is essential for success. Most importantly, s/he must be committed to and passionate about the mission of NEC.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

Strategic Leadership, Management, and Communication

• Plan and implement a comprehensive, integrated major giving program that maximizes support for NEC and includes Major Gifts, campaign fundraising initiatives, and planned gifts, and incorporates campaign goals and priorities. Work collaboratively with the executive Vice President, Vice President of institutional advancement, and other senior leaders of the advancement and engagement team to devise and achieve/surpass annual and campaign fundraising goals, as well as construct plans for continued donor engagement and outreach. Support volunteer and campaign-related committees as necessary.

• Hire, train, manage, and evaluate a strong major giving team composed of professional and support staff for Major Gifts and planned gifts functions. Bring strategic focus to the team and manage staff performance against agreed upon goals and objectives for each program area, as well as individual performance objectives.

• Develop the skills and capabilities of all direct reports and create a culture of diversity, curiosity, mentoring and support, teamwork, excellence, and accountability. Actively support the work of gift officers through training, joint visits, and coaching throughout the gift closing process.

• Analyze fundraising activities and benchmark with peer organizations in the philanthropy marketplace to ensure the organization is on track. Optimize innovation, maximize output, and always communicate the value of NEC’s mission. Establish priorities that have the greatest impact on achieving fundraising goals. Understand and commit to key ratios to build a department that is fiscally responsible.

• Serve as a senior member of the advancement and engagement team and contributor to strategy and planning on all development initiatives, programs, and functions, both short and long-term. Work with the Vice President of institutional advancement and executive Vice President in planning and implementing a comprehensive, integrated program that is built on an ethos of accountability and continuous improvement, is data-driven, employs a sophisticated moves management approach, highly collaborative, and maximizes philanthropic support for NEC.

• Advise the data and reporting team on data and reports required to demonstrate results, and provide information for internal and external reporting and communications. Maintain an environment of transparency and information sharing.

Fundraising

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward gifts and pledges from an active portfolio of key major gift prospects. Maintain and manage a personal portfolio of prospects at all times, leading by example.

• Lead the effort for campaign fundraising currently with a working goal of $150 million and $64million raised.

• Identify new major gift sources and serve as a knowledge source for funding opportunities and philanthropic outlets. Maintain current knowledge of important developments within national and international funding environments as they relate to NEC’s mission and programs.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• A bachelor’s degree is required; an advanced degree and strong academic credentials that will be credible to NEC stakeholders are preferred.

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in progressively responsible development leadership positions, which includes work in all functional areas of development; experience working on a major capital campaign is highly desirable (planning, implementation, management, and successful conclusion); demonstrated ability to provide management oversight, leadership, and direction with at least five years of significant supervisory experience.

• A demonstrated track record of successful frontline fundraising in a complex, institutional setting with multiple stakeholders; managing change; and working across divisions and with the most senior levels of leadership.

• Hands-on major and principal gift experience, including cultivation through solicitation and stewardship; success in securing gifts from both defined and undefined constituencies.

• Strength in developing strategic and comprehensive fundraising plans, executing against plans to achieve goals and objectives, developing fundraising strategies, and creating and managing a budget is critical.

• Experience in facilitating and securing planned gifts; demonstrated ability to develop financial strategies for high-net-worth individuals. Strength in planning, focusing, and improving planned giving marketing and prospect development strategies.

• Ability to develop trust and strong collaborative working relationships with various groups and constituents, including high-level donors, corporate leaders, public officials and dignitaries, volunteer leadership, senior administrators, and advancement staff.

• Significant experience identifying, working with, supporting, and motivating volunteers (including volunteers, board members, and others), and an appreciation for their role in building an effective development program and campaign effort.

• A strong record of recruiting and developing exceptional people in a fundraising context and fostering a transparent work environment where collegiality is a key to success.

• Demonstrated ability to extract and analyze data to make effective, efficient decisions about program strategy and process. Experience preparing and communicating analysis and reporting on revenue and growth trends to a variety of audiences.

BENEFITS:

• Generous paid time off including a combination of vacation, sick, personal, birthday and holidays.
• Benefits provided on day 1. Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance with options for a Health Reimbursement Account, a Health Savings Account and/or Flexible Healthcare and Dependent Care savings account. Additional benefits with health insurance election including virtual primary, medical convenience and behavioral health care, fitness and weight loss reimbursements and discounted bike share memberships
• Retirement plan with a 403b employer contribution of 5% with no vesting period
• Transit Benefits with 50% of approved costs covered up to $130 a month.
• Basic Life/AD&D insurance, Short Term Disability and Long-Term Disability provided at no cost to employee with voluntary insurance offered for employee, spouse and children
• Free participation in NEC classes and ensembles as well as discounted individual lessons
• Employee Assistance Program
• Discounted YMCA membership
• Discounts on NEC cafeteria
• Free NEC concerts and library borrowing privileges
• Free access to some local museums and aquarium

NEC is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

Annual Clery Report

In accordance with the federal Clery and Campus SaVE Acts, New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) commits to providing all current and prospective students and employees with access to the annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report. This report will provide the reader with a record of statistics regarding crimes that were reported in the NEC community during the previous three years as well as College policies and procedures, in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. This report may be accessed here. A paper copy can be requested by contacting NEC's Director of Public Safety at 290 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115.