CLASSIFICATION:             Full-time, salaried

REPORTS TO:                     President

LOCATION:                         Grand Rapids, MI

SUMMARY:

The Vice President for Advancement will develop a strategy and team, which includes the President, to meet the fundraising needs of Cornerstone University. The Vice President will oversee, train, and coordinate the work of all Advancement and Alumni staff and provide supervision for the WCSG, 91.3 Radio Station. Primary responsibilities will include building relationships with individuals, businesses and groups that can benefit the University financially and strategically.  The donors will contribute to the Cornerstone Student Fund, capital projects, endowments, scholarships and other funds and special initiatives which have been approved.  He or she will coordinate with the Director of Alumni Relations when travelling for the purpose of connecting with alumni and cultivating alumni as donors. The core of Cornerstone University is defined and driven by its Christ-centered mission and Biblical confession.

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Seek business partnerships and donations from donors who seek to support the Cornerstone mission, confession, and core commitments.
• Work directly with the President of Cornerstone in the planning, administration, and execution of all fundraising operations.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Alumni Relations to prepare all appeals.
• Responsible for all aspects of the promotion and coordination of Cornerstone’s planned giving program with a focus on expanding scholarship and endowment funds to ensure financial sustainability for Cornerstone including compliance requirements for various states.
• Establish and coordinate an annual calendar of fund-raising activities and related programs.
• Maintain relationships within the university community to improve understanding of the university happenings.
• Achieve annual fundraising and activity goals.
• Assist Advancement Officers in the identification of planned giving prospects and presentation of planned giving opportunities to qualified prospects.
• Oversee grant writing.
• Work in a collegial manner exemplifying the tenets of the Cornerstone Confession.
• Participate in writing proposal presentations for donors, corporations, and foundations in a communication manner consistent with Cornerstone University platforms.
• Input information to the advancement contact relationship management database from which reports are drawn on a daily, weekly or as needed basis.
• All Cornerstone University employees will regularly interact with students in a variety of projects, activities, and settings. As such all employees are expected to serve as Christian leaders and mentors by effectively living a gospel-centered lifestyle, ministering and discipling through a biblical worldview.
• Other duties may be assigned.

 

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS and ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated experience with and passionate belief in the value of a Christian university experience
• Bachelor’s degree is required
• Five years or more of demonstrated success in Advancement preferred.
• Ability to articulate the case for support so that individuals invest in the mission and grow in their passion for CU.
• Must have demonstrated knowledge and experience is presenting proposals and solicitations for major gifts and promoting various types of planned giving.
• Initiative, self-motivation, drive, dynamic and energetic.
• Excellent organizational and management skills.
• Open and collaborative personality and leadership style.
• Extraordinary social, people, communication, listening skills.
• Excellent writing and editorial skills.
• Proficiency in the use of personal computers and their routine software applications.
• Able and willing to travel regionally and nationally on a regular basis.
• Proven and direct record of success in cultivating donor relationships, requesting funds, and closing the request.
• Highest standards of personal and professional integrity.

 

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS:

• A personal relationship with Jesus Christ and an active Christian commitment.
• A theology that supports the values and mission of Cornerstone University core commitments evidenced by an ability to affirm and sign the university’s doctrinal statement, “The Cornerstone Confession.”
• Four other foundational pillars, along with the university’s mission and confession, form Cornerstone’s Core Commitments.
  • The Cornerstone Christian World View
  • The Cornerstone Academic Vision
  • The Cornerstone Beautiful Christian Community
  • The Marriage and Human Sexuality Position Statement

These core commitments convey who we are, what we believe and how we live and work together in community. Employees are expected to faithfully attend an evangelical and biblical church whose core beliefs and practices are consistent with Cornerstone’s confession and core commitments.

 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Ability to travel with personal vehicle
• Ability to navigate our physical campus
• Lifting up to 25 pounds
• Use of computers

 

ABOUT CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY:

Cornerstone University is a vibrant interdenominational evangelical university that prepares students for lives of global influence in an academically rigorous, spiritually rich educational community. It is located minutes from downtown Grand Rapids, a dynamic city in Western Michigan that offers a wealth of outdoor and cultural activities. Learn more about Cornerstone at www.cornerstone.edu.