Notre Dame Academy seeks a full-time, year-round Chief Advancement Officer. Reporting directly to the Principal and serving as a member of the senior Administrative Leadership Team, the Chief Advancement Officer will oversee a fully integrated advancement effort for NDA. Joining a personal community that honors diversity, the successful candidate will be responsible for the overall strategy, design, and coordination of philanthropy and engagement for an advancement program that is strong and embraced by the NDA community. In addition, the Chief Advancement Officer will manage the Donor Database and Alumnae Relations Manager, Major Gifts Officer, and Marketing and Communications Specialist.
Notre Dame Academy is the only independent Catholic college preparatory school for young women in Central Massachusetts. They offer their students exceptional opportunities for academic and personal growth by combining the essential elements of a classical education with the best of contemporary technologies. Their active and cooperative learning models creates a classroom experience that weds academic and social interaction between students and teachers, allowing for dynamic discussions as well as individual attention. The result is students who master the material, think critically, and articulate their knowledge with clarity.
The Chief Advancement Officer will have proven competency in campaign design and implementation, annual giving, constituent relations, and major gifts, and planned giving, with a particular emphasis on increasing alumnae and parent engagement. The successful candidate will be a strategic leader who is enthusiastic about NDA’s fundraising potential. This leader will inspire the entrepreneurial and creative initiatives needed to maximize results and broaden the number and nature of relationships across the school, all levels, and in the community in order to increase philanthropic support for school priorities.
The candidate will present outstanding leadership and management competencies and the ability to partner and work well with a Board of Trustees, senior colleagues across the school, staff at a variety of levels, and other volunteers. The Chief Advancement Officer will be an experienced, talented fundraiser and relationship builder ready for a position where
innovation is encouraged, and growth is necessary.
Essential Duties:
Oversee and implement strategies that ensure a steady and sustainable growth in philanthropic giving and the engagement of parents and alumnae.
Collaborate with the Principal, senior leadership team, and Board of Trustees to promote a culture of support and broadened relationships among all constituencies of NDA to meet ambitious goals.
Serve as chief major gift fundraiser for the school and manage a complete portfolio of prospects.
Oversee and direct all aspects of philanthropy and engagement including campaign planning and execution, major gifts, annual fund, alumnae giving, alumnae relations, parent giving, planned giving, grant writing and development operations.
Ensure effective, useful, and thoughtful enhancements of systems, analytics, processes, and measurements to monitor, project, and guide engagement activities and fundraising results.
Oversee the cultivation and solicitation of annual and major gift prospects in collaboration with the Advancement staff and Principal.
Oversee alumnae engagement, parent and student phonathons, annual fund, planned giving, publications, and marketing activities as well as special events pertaining to advancement.
Provide strategic input for the integration of advancement office initiatives with the School’s strategic plan.
Develop and manage the annual advancement operations budget.
Coordinate all stewardship activities and prepare necessary stewardship reports for endowed funds.
• Report regularly to the Principal and Board of Trustees regarding all fundraising and alumnae engagement progress.
Job Requirements
Minimum Acceptable Qualifications:
An understanding and enthusiasm for education and NDA’s mission and unique culture, along with an appreciation for independent schools.
Demonstrated leadership in designing and shaping a philanthropic culture and
program with success indicated by giving growth, parent and alumni participation, and effective volunteers.
Bachelor’s degree required, and Master’s degree preferred.
Seven + years of advancement experience, including a track record of campaign planning and implementation.
Successful front-line experience with the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of major gifts.
Demonstrated track record of setting and executing an ambitious annual fundraising strategy.
Oversee grant writing and reporting on grants received.
Experience partnering with the Board, senior administrative management and volunteer leadership.
Excellent people skills with a passion for creating and sustaining relationships.
Demonstrated ability to develop staff to next levels of achievement in their professions.
Ability to mentor staff and hold the department as a whole to high standards of achievement for giving and relationship building.
Experience in an independent school environment is highly preferred. • Proven record of closing major gifts.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities and meet established professional and team goals.
Highest level of integrity, discretion, and respect for donor confidentiality and handling of sensitive information, tasks, and relationships.
Experience with budgets, reporting tools, and best practices for tracking campaigns and major gifts.
Skill in proofreading and editing, attention to detail, and follow-through. Computer literacy, particularly in word processing, PowerPoint, Excel, using internet resources, and using databases required, Raiser's Edge preferred. Comfort with online fundraising and social media.
Some travel and weekend and after-hours work required.
Strong written presentation, and verbal communication skills, with an emphasis on
the ability to persuade and engage a diverse constituency base in order to secure financial support.
Represent the School at alumnae, parent, and other constituent events. • Coordinate campaign events.
Direct and oversee prospect research.
Coordinate campaign events.
Other duties as assigned.
Physical Requirements and Work Environment:
Works in an environment with a wide variety of challenges, deadlines, and a varied and diverse array of contacts.
May work at a desk and computer for extended periods of time.
Be able to occasionally lift up to 15 lbs.
Work primarily in a traditional climate-controlled office environment. • Work intermittently in outside weather conditions, including extreme heat and cold. • Citizenship, residency or work visa required.
Applications and nominations will be accepted until a Chief Advancement Officer is appointed. Applicants should submit a resume or CV and a letter of interest addressed to the Notre Dame Academy Search Committee immediately. All nominations, expressions of interest, and applications will be handled with complete confidentiality and may be submitted directly to Lisa Vuona, Managing Partner lvuona@boyden.com, Jodi-Joy O’Keefe, Partner jokeefe@boyden.com, and Jill Coran, Executive Search Consultant jcoran@boyden.com.
