Director/Sr. Director, Gift Planning

Hybrid Schedule Possible
Monday-Friday
8:15 AM-4:30 PM
Some weekends and weeknights may be required

Northern Kentucky University ( NKU) seeks excellence by enriching its educational environment and culture through the diversity of its administration, faculty, and staff and by embracing inclusiveness, equity, and global awareness in all dimensions of its work. NKU is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access/Affirmative Action institution. We encourage applications by members of diverse groups and by persons with a demonstrated commitment to issues of diversity and experience in achieving goals relative to inclusive excellence. Our vision is that NKU will be nationally recognized for being a student-ready, regionally engaged university that empowers diverse learners for economic and social mobility. We will do this while promoting a culture of excellence, acting with integrity, fostering a community of belonging, working with creativity and innovation, and maintaining a climate of collegiality. In your role, you will be expected to ensure that students who interact with you have a high-quality experience that supports the vision of the institution.

This position is responsible for the coordination and execution of all planned giving activities including marketing, developing and closing planned gifts, stewarding planned giving donors and senior volunteer leadership, supporting development staff, and implementing and maintaining a cohesive communication and education campaign for planned gifts.

This role will create significant impact on philanthropic revenue generation through a concerted focus on deferred and complex gift structures including will and bequests, trusts, annuities, and real estate.

Plans and directs the institution's program for generating support through wills, bequests, trusts, pooled income funds, deferred gifts, and annuities. Identifies, cultivates, and solicits prospective individual donors

Provides technical expertise in planned giving to donors and staff regarding the tax and financial aspects and consequences of various planned giving programs to both the donor and the University.

Manage and participate in the process of identifying, cultivating, and structuring planned gift arrangements, and facilitate and ensure closing and stewardship of individual planned gifts. This involves concerted collaborative efforts with all University populations: faculty, administration, trustees, staff and volunteer leadership.

Ensure professional follow-up on all inquiries regarding planned gifts or requests for planned giving support to referenced population groups. Ensure Development staff and volunteers have technical knowledge sufficient to engender confidence during interaction with donors and their legal and financial advisors.

Develop, manage and implement training and consulting to all relevant parties less sophisticated in certain gift types and vehicles to maximize their ability to identify, cultivate, structure gift arrangements, close and steward individual planned gifts.

Direct and oversee implementation and maintenance of a cohesive communication and public education campaign including newsletters, topical brochures, seminar/ public speaking opportunities, and collaborative marketing.

Bachelor's degree and 7 years of related experience required. Master's degree or JD preferred.

The successful candidate for this role will be intellectually curious, possess a positive growth mindset and a keen understanding of and passion for the value of higher education, and have a solid knowledge base and grasp of complex and deferred giving vehicles including their tax consequences for both donors and the institution.

The successful candidate must also be able to balance leadership of self as a business unit expert against expectations as an individual fundraising contributor. Previous education or professional work in the financial, legal or tax industry is a plus.

The individual in this role will continuously be required to develop new, imaginative or innovative solutions, services, products, processes or programs; the work requires conceptual and imaginative thinking in a highly complex environment.

A working knowledge of Microsoft Windows applications, including Teams, is required; knowledge of Raiser's Edge or other fundraising/ CRM database(s) and planned giving software (i.e. Crescendo) is a plus. Strong communication skills and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively are also required.