Director of Philanthropy (Public Relations & Marketing Specialist IV)

• This position requires on-site presence, with one day a week telework. The director’s assigned office is at the Middletown Campus.
• The position requires frequent travel throughout Laurel Ridge’s service region for donor meetings, college activities, and community events.
• The position requires occasional evening and weekend activities.

Laurel Ridge Community College seeks an experienced Director of Philanthropy to secure charitable support for the College and its students while raising awareness of the College and its impact in the community.
Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Development/Executive Director of the Laurel Ridge Educational Foundation, the Director of Philanthropy is a senior, front-line fundraiser, responsible for developing new prospects and engaging current and lapsed donors throughout Laurel Ridge’s service region.
The Director manages a portfolio of donors and prospects and brings strong relationship-building skills and disciplined follow-through. The position requires someone who listens carefully to donors’ interests and motivations, connects those interests with opportunities at the College, and makes philanthropic asks.
With a commitment to the College’s mission, the Director collaborates with Laurel Ridge colleagues and community partners and helps build a culture of philanthropy in which gifts at all levels are valued.
Key Responsibilities

• Manage a donor and prospect pipeline with discipline.
• Identify prospective donors through networking, referrals, community engagement, and research.
• Cultivate prospective donors and steward existing donor relationships.
• Personally solicit and secure philanthropic commitments, including major and planned gifts.
• Develop and implement strategies to retain and deepen donor relationships and re-engage lapsed donors.
• Work closely with the Executive Director and Laurel Ridge colleagues to understand institutional priorities, identify philanthropic opportunities, and connect these opportunities with donor interests.
• Develop donor proposals, presentations, solicitations, stewardship materials, and other philanthropic communications
• Maintain timely donor and prospect records and document next steps.
• Assess fundraising progress and opportunities and recommend strategies to the Executive Director.
• Work closely with the Marketing and Communications team to promote philanthropy and the role of the educational foundation.
• Participate in planning and supporting Foundation events.
• Represent Laurel Ridge at events on campus and in the community.
• The position requires frequent travel throughout Laurel Ridge’s service region for donor meetings, college activities, and community events.
• Participate in occasional evening and weekend activities as necessary
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• This position requires applicants to submit a sample of professional writing previously prepared for an external audience. Please do not create a new writing sample specifically for this application. Confidential or proprietary information should be redacted.
  • The writing sample should demonstrate the candidate’s ability to communicate persuasively. Examples include donor or client proposals, solicitations, sponsorship requests, stewardship communications, or similar professional correspondence. Identify the intended audience, purpose of the communication, the outcome, and your role in preparing the submitted material.
• Initial review of applications will begin on September 28.
• Interviews are scheduled for October 14 and 15.
• Candidates interested in being considered for a posted position are required to submit an online application. Upload cover letter (this is optional, but recommended) and resume (this is optional but recommended).
• Reference checks, background screenings, and eVerify are required for all Laurel Ridge positions. Satisfactory reference, background screenings are a condition of employment.

May be required to perform other duties as assigned. May be required to assist the agency or state government generally in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor.

The selected candidate’s offer is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background investigation, which may include: fingerprint checks, local agency checks, employment verification, verification of education, credit checks (relevant to employment). Additionally, selected candidates may be required to complete the Commonwealth’s Statement of Economic Interest. For more information, please follow this link:  http://ethics.dls.virginia.gov/

VCCS uses E-Verify to check employee eligibility to work in the United States. You will be required to complete an I-9 form and provide documentation of your identity for employment purposes.