Associate/Assistant Athletic Director for Major Gifts

In this exciting and dynamic role, you’ll be responsible for driving major gifts, creating meaningful relationships with donors, and directly contributing to our goal of national and conference championships. You’ll maintain a portfolio of 125-150 major gift and leadership donors, identify and engage new prospects, and develop and execute innovative fundraising strategies. Your work will support a broad range of initiatives—from annual support to capital campaigns—ensuring VCU Athletics thrives at every level.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead major gift fundraising efforts through personal appointments, calls, and coordinated mailings.
• Build and nurture relationships with 125-150 major donors, helping them fulfill their philanthropic goals.
• Create and execute customized fundraising and engagement plans for each donor to ensure successful long-term support.
• Work closely with coaches, staff, and administrators to align fundraising strategies with departmental needs.
• Coordinate individual sports fundraising efforts and oversee regional fundraising areas.
• Recruit, train, and manage volunteers and committees to elevate fundraising efforts across the board.
• Track key performance metrics to measure success and drive continuous improvement in our fundraising goals.

Qualifications:

• Must have an advanced degree or training and work experience at a level that equates to an advanced degree.
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism, and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in fundraising, public relations, marketing, or a related field, or 3 years of progressively responsible professional experience in athletics development or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating leadership annual fund gifts (<$5,000).
• Working knowledge of tax laws affecting charitable giving.
• Travel involving automobile.