Assistant Vice President for
Development
Trinity College
Hartford, CT | Summer 2016
Kieran McTague
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
Development Guild DDI
212-717-2113 ext. 305
[email protected]
developmentguild.com
BOSTON | NEW YORK
Trinity College is seeking a motivated and experienced Assistant Vice President for
Development to play an integral leadership and team role in College Advancement.
Reporting to the Vice President for College Advancement, he/she will oversee a
portfolio of key leadership prospects, manage three direct reports and lead a team of 15
staff members in the Leadership, Annual and Parent Giving programs. The ideal
candidate will be joining an institution that is entering the early stages of a Bicentennial
Campaign to be led by its accomplished and dynamic President – Dr. Joanne Berger
Sweeney. The College is looking to build on its successful philanthropic program and
raise it to a new level in support of Trinity’s developing strategic plan.
About Trinity College
Since its founding in 1823, Trinity College (Trinity) has become a distinguished leader in higher education
and is one of the nation’s foremost independent liberal arts colleges. Trinity has an outstanding faculty
who excel in their roles as teachers and scholars; a rigorous curriculum firmly rooted in the traditional
liberal arts that integrates new fields of study and interdisciplinary approaches to learning; a talented,
motivated and diverse body of students and an attractive, supportive campus community.
Located on a 100-acre campus in the heart of Connecticut’s capital city, Trinity’s dedicated full-time
faculty of 193 and part-time faculty of 102 teacher-scholars educates 2,300 students drawn from the
United States and approximately 54 foreign countries. More than 90 percent of undergraduates live on
campus in fully networked residence halls, apartments and theme houses. The College offers 39 majors,
including an engineering program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Ph.D., the 22nd President of Trinity College, began her term on July 1, 2014.
The accomplished neuroscientist, scholar, teacher, and administrator joined the College after serving
since 2010 as the dean of the Schools of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University. Prior to Tufts, President
Berger-Sweeney served for 19 years as a faculty member and associate dean at Wellesley College. She
is Trinity’s first female and first African-American president. A major priority for President Berger-Sweeney
is charting a course toward Trinity’s 200th Anniversary in 2023—one that advances the future of the
liberal-arts education that has been a hallmark of the College’s distinguished history and raises the
visibility of Trinity’s many deep-rooted strengths among all its constituencies.
About Philanthropy at Trinity College
To support the College’s ambitious vision, Trinity will enter the beginning stages of a Bicentennial
Campaign in 2016. The College’s most recent comprehensive fundraising effort, which concluded in
2012, consisted of two parallel campaigns: the Cornerstone Campaign for outright gifts with immediate
impact and the Legacy Campaign to document and celebrate estate planning gift intentions. The total
raised—$369 million in contributions and donor commitments—was more than double the amount of
Trinity’s previous capital campaign. The upcoming Bicentennial Campaign will look to take this past
philanthropic success to another level in support of the College’s strategic plan.
Trinity’s working goals are to strengthen the campus culture, ensure academic excellence, reach financial
equilibrium and foster institutional pride. The achievement of these goals requires an increased culture of
philanthropy at Trinity, and with the leadership of President Berger-Sweeney and the work of College
Advancement, this philanthropic culture has been building strongly. This growing success is evident in the
$27,717,289 raised in FY15 through the Trinity College Fund, capital projects, and the endowment.
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About the Position
Reporting to the Vice President for College Advancement Jack Fracasso, the Assistant Vice President for
Development will be responsible for providing leadership, planning, and execution of Trinity’s Leadership,
Annual and Parent Giving programs, including supervision of the combined fifteen person staff. In
addition, the Advancement Communications Director reports to the Assistant Vice President for
Development on all development responsibilities while holding a direct reporting line to the Director of
Communications. Working with the Vice President, he/she will establish growth oriented revenue targets
and implement strategic fundraising plans to ensure the successful achievement of both team-wide and
individual goals.
The Assistant Vice President for Development will be responsible for a targeted portfolio that includes a
number of the College’s leading donors and prospects. He/she will balance this priority responsibility with
the extremely important management and mentoring requirements associated with overseeing a talented
and innovative team. Serving on the Vice President’s senior cabinet, this position provides valuable input
regarding the goals, strategy and vision for College Advancement; ultimately, the Assistant Vice President
for Development offers advice on emerging issues and opportunities related to development.
Key Responsibilities
Prospect and Portfolio Management
 Manage a targeted portfolio of prominent leadership giving donors and prospects.

Identify donor funding opportunities that match Trinity’s institutional priorities and formulate
tailored strategies to cultivate, solicit and steward donors and prospects.

Oversee the portfolio development and progress of the Leadership Giving team, as well as
individual portfolios for the Annual and Parent Giving teams.

Engage, as appropriate, the Vice President of College Advancement and senior Advancement
colleagues to strengthen relationships between donors and the College in an effort to maximize
donor potential.

Represent Trinity through personal interactions and group functions with alumni, parents and
friends of the College while promoting an institutional culture of philanthropy.
Staff Management
 Oversee the Leadership, Annual and Parent Giving programs, managing a team of 15 staff
members with three direct reports.

Manage the Director of Advancement Communications relative to that position’s development
responsibilities.

Establish specific team and individual revenue goals for the Leadership, Annual and Parent
Giving programs and work with the Directors of each program to ensure effective fundraising
planning and implementation.

Formulate a system of metrics and strategy for measuring progress toward goals and evaluating
overall performance.

Coach and mentor Directors of each team and, as appropriate, members of their team to
enhance their ability to create effective strategies, achieve team and individual goals, engage
donors, develop best practices, and strengthen the pipeline of future donors.
Peer Collaboration and Institutional Knowledge
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
Work collaboratively with the Director of Alumni Relations and the Alumni Relations team and
other members of the Advancement senior management team on programs and initiatives that
enhance the alumni and donor experience.

Establish effective work relationships with College partners including faculty, athletics, career
development, communications, and information services.

Gain knowledge of Trinity’s academic and extracurricular programs, students, faculty,
administration, volunteer leaders, alumni and other constituents to strengthen Advancement’s
external outreach and activities.
Key Qualifications
Successful candidates will possess or demonstrate the following:

12+ years of increasingly responsible development experience that includes leadership and
program building, with proven success soliciting and closing 7-figure gifts;

5+ years of management experience demonstrating the ability to lead staff, establish goals and
manage performance;

Ability to lead one or more of the following comprehensive institutional advancement programs –
leadership giving, annual giving, parent giving;

Knowledge of “best practice” development/fundraising, particularly in building pipelines and
development programs, and the ability to apply them in innovative ways;

Strong aptitude for metrics/performance goals and deliverables;

Relevant campaign experience;

Strong organizational skills and high level of self and team accountability;

Ability to work with colleagues and as part of a team;

Strong mentorship ability;

Excellent communication, persuasion and presentation skills;

Capacity and willingness to travel (primarily regional travel);

Authentic appreciation for Trinity College’s mission and the ability to communicate this to various
audiences.
Please email your cover letter and resume in confidence to:
[email protected] Kieran McTague
William Weber
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT
Development Guild DDI Development Guild DDI
For more information about Trinity College, please visit www.trincoll.edu
For more information about Development Guild DDI, please visit www.developmentguild.com
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About Development Guild DDI
Development Guild DDI is a national management consulting firm partnering with leading
nonprofits to deliver the strategy, talent, and philanthropic resources that impact
organizations and mission delivery. We focus our work across the nonprofit sector,
particularly in the fields of education, health & science, the arts, and social justice.
More than 500 clients have shaped the regional, national, and global reach of our
extensive relationships, knowledge, and results. Leveraging our work with nonprofit
governance and leadership development, we deliver service in two areas: fundraising and
executive search.
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