Summary

This role plays a key part in identifying and pursuing philanthropic opportunities that drive financial support for both the Foundation and the College. Utilizing a transformational, relationship-based approach, they are responsible for donor acquisition, engagement, and stewardship to ensure sustained, meaningful support.

Description

Job Summary

The Foundation fosters and manages long-term, strategic relationships with individuals, businesses, and industry leaders throughout the Northern Colorado (NoCo) region, as well as with internal college departments. These partnerships are cultivated to align with and support each stakeholder’s philanthropic goals, ultimately advancing student success. This role plays a key part in identifying and pursuing philanthropic opportunities that drive financial support for both the Foundation and the College. Utilizing a transformational, relationship-based approach, they are responsible for donor acquisition, engagement, and stewardship to ensure sustained, meaningful support.

The Foundation is seeking a strong individual who is interested in joining the Foundation team to help advance the Mission, Vision and Values of Aims Community College and the Foundation.

This role is responsible for developing, negotiating, and managing customized philanthropic proposals tailored to align donor interests with institutional priorities. The position collaborates closely with the Foundation Executive Director to cultivate, secure, and sustain a wide range of giving opportunities. Additionally, the role supports Foundation marketing initiatives and assists with event coordination to ensure high-quality program delivery and exceptional donor and stakeholder engagement.

The Development Manager assists the Foundation Executive Director (ED) with the daily departmental and program oversight including standard operating procedure development and implementation to meet fundraising goals. This role assists the Executive Director and Database Manager with maintaining all Foundation Customer Relationship Management systems information and will serve as the backup to the Foundation Executive Director when needed.

This role also engages in professional and personal skill development activities as they pertain to job responsibilities.

Flexibility in work hours is required, as daily schedules may vary to accommodate participation in internal and external events.

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Min/Preferred Education Level

Minimum 4 Year / Bachelor’s Degree in nonprofit management, business, communications, or related field.

Years of Experience

Mininimum Years of Experience: Minimum 3 years of extensive experience in fundraising, with a strong track record of securing annual, mid-level, and major gifts—including individual contributions of $25,000 or more and achieving annual fundraising totals of $300,000 or higher.

Preferred: 5 years of extensive experience in fundraising, with a strong track record of securing annual, mid-level, and major gifts—including individual contributions of $75,000 or more and achieving annual fundraising totals of $750,000 or higher.

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The ideal candidate must be able to perform in a professional manner and demonstrate good customer services skills.

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Minimum Qualifications

This position may require the use of a company vehicle for business travel. The selected candidate must successfully pass a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check and be insurable under Aims Community College’s insurance policy.

Required Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge of:

Fundraising regulations, ethics, and compliance standards (e.g., CASE guidelines, IRS charitable giving laws, AFP Code of Ethics and Donor Bill of Rights)
Annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, capital campaigns, and grant writing
Marketing and communications strategies related to donor engagement
Event planning and donor stewardship best practices

Skills / Experience:

Track record of meeting or exceeding fundraising goals as stated above
Experience with donor segmentation and personalized solicitation strategies
Experience analyzing and applying wealth analytics to guide individual donor conversations
Ability to analyze fundraising metrics and adapt strategies accordingly
Experience collaborating with boards, leadership teams, and/or volunteers, with a focus on fostering a supportive, team-oriented environment build on mutual respect and shared goals.
Strong storytelling skills to articulate mission and impact to donors, with the ability to connect individual donor interests to broader initiatives.
Demonstrated talent for engaging unfamiliar individuals with confidence and authenticity
Demonstrated ability to present to groups and speak at public or donor-facing events
Demonstrated ability to network effectively and represent the organization with professionalism and confidence at public events
Proven success in cultivating and soliciting support from a diverse donor base, including individuals, corporations, and foundations, through strategic relationship-building and targeted solicitation efforts

Education and Credentials:

CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) designation, or willingness to pursue certification (optional but desirable.

Personal Attributes:

High degree of professionalism, integrity, and discretion in handling confidential information
Self-starter who can work independently and manage multiple projects simultaneously
Passion for education and community development, in alignment with the mission of Aims Community College and Foundation.

Preferred Qualifications

· Customer Relationship Management system/database experience

· Donor Acquisition Training or Certifications

· Negotiation Training or Certifications

· Customer Service Skills

Job Duties

Foundation Administration Collaboration:

· Collaborates with the Executive Director on development and implementation of fundraising processes and procedures.

· Collaborates with the Database Manager on all customer relationship management system data capturing and report development.

· Collaborates with ED and Foundation team on outreach, fundraising plans, strategy, goals and assessment of all Foundation programs.

· Operationalizes these plans to align with individual and corporate donor cultivation in support of student success.

· Serves as back up to the Executive Director, when needed.

· Donor Development, Proposals & Contract Creation

· Develops and implement strategic fundraising intiatives – including systems, annual campaigns, and progam plans – to identify, qualify, cultivate and solicit current and prospective donors.

· Manages a portfolio of 50+ individual and corporate donors.

· Oversees direct mail campaigns, initiates cold calls, and engages prospective donors through in-person and virtual communication to secure gifts for the Foundation.

· Builds and maintains strong relationships with donors, proactively following up to encourage continued or increased giving.

· Provides thoughtful and consistent stewardship to ensure donor satisfaction, recognition, and long-term engagement.

· Manages and develops gift opportunities and collaborates with the Foundation Executive Director to create the annual budget.

· Collaborates with Executive Director on annual fundraising program effectiveness and provides recommendations for continuous growth.

· Employs a transformational relationship-building approach, aligned with the regional strategic economic activities, to target key industries and high-potential individuals in support of meeting defined fundraising goals.

· Identifies, scopes, and prioritizes donor acquisition prospects throughout the Northern Colorado (NoCo) region. Focuses on direct donor engagement—primarily through external connections—to develop tailored gift opportunities and agreements.

· Proactively researches and identifies additional funding opportunities to support and advance fundraising goals, including grants, sponsorships, and strategic partnerships.

· Partners with the Foundation team and college departments to “cross-pollinate” ideas and initiatives, fostering collaborative gift opportunities that serve multiple areas of impact.

· Provides regular reports and updates on fundraising activities, pipeline status and project outcomes.

Corporate Partnership Development & Relationship Networking:

· Cultivation: Identify, establish, and nurture relationships with local corporate partners to support education-to-employment pathways and foster philanthropic investment in the College’s mission, while recognizing opportunities for future donor engagement.

· Engage in extensive internal and external networking, collaborate with college departments, attend Sector Partnership meetings, and stay informed on local economic development initiatives to align efforts with community growth and needs.

· Outreach: Partner with the Foundation Executive Cirector to deveop and execute a comprehensive outreach and engagement plan targeting corporate partners. This includes researching local corporations—particularly those employing Aims alumni—and leveraging knowledge of economic development trends, regional networking opportunities, campus tours, internal collaboration, and attendance at sector partner meetings and events. Create tailored engagement proposals.

· Stewardship: Provide ongoing stewardship to corporate partners through invitations to Aims and Foundation events, potential sponsorship opportunities, campus tours, calling campaigns, hosting on-campus events to showcase partnerships, and promoting awareness via social media and newsletters.

· Represents the Foundation’s interests and expertise in workforce development and financial student support at community events, conferences, committees, boards and networking functions.

Strategy Development:

· Gathers fundraising market information, talent demand and skill requirements and translates data into meaningful information to create fundraising development strategies.

· Prioritizes segments of the NOCO economic landscape for development.

· Continually promotes community education and awareness related to training, employment issues and fundraising opportunities. Stays informed about industry trends and best practices in local economic development, educational and employment needs to position Aims as the preferred community college for economical, high quality education.

· Works closely with the Foundation team, outreach partners, college colleagues, community liaisons and the Foundation ED to organize and execute outreach and fundraising strategies.