Philanthropy Officer

Education required to ensure success in this position

• Bachelor’s Degree

• Minimum 3 years of successful fundraising (higher education non‑profit setting preferred) with demonstrated success in soliciting and closing major gifts.
• 5 years of experience with demonstrated success in a related field such as sales may be considered.

• A commitment to the special mission of Berea College.
• Ability to articulate the importance of Berea’s distinctive place in higher education and an integrated vision for support to the College.
• Demonstrated negotiation and solicitation skills.
• Highly developed executive organizational and follow‑through skills and capacity to determine priorities that balance autonomy with accountability.
• Ability to manage several development activities and strategies simultaneously while maintaining time frames.
• Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills—a sense of curiosity, deep listening, and strategic thinking contribute to success.
• Unwavering integrity, discretion, patience, persistence, good judgment, sense of self, and emotional intelligence; ability to represent Berea College with authenticity and professionalism, articulating the College’s distinctive mission and impact to diverse audiences.
• A committed team member who contributes to and celebrates others’ success.
• Ability to work independently to integrate disparate information and recognize opportunities to create effective strategies that inspire increased support from donors.
• Knowledge of or capacity to learn and articulate concepts of major and planned giving, foundation, campaign, and corporate giving strategies, particularly centered around a fundraising campaign.

• Valid driver’s license and good driving record
• Required background check

• Extensive travel (up to two business weeks a month) and phone work required.
• Ability to navigate campus/public buildings and grounds.
• Ability to travel independently by car and/or plane (navigate airports with luggage and portable computer).
• Ability to occasionally lift up to 20 lbs.
• Must be able to drive a car on extended trips with significant daily mileage.

• Extensive travel.
• Professional office environment with interruptions and noise due to frequent visitors, students, staff and faculty, when not traveling.
• Administrative support shared with other philanthropy officers.
• Weekend work as necessary.

• Vehicle—College cars/vans/golf cart. Personal car when necessary.
• Laptop and tablet, with strong aptitude for the following tasks:
  • Use of Internet to obtain information and book travel arrangements.
  • Use of Microsoft programs, including Outlook, Word, and Excel;
    PowerPoint preferred.
  • Navigating various software platforms that support daily activities.
  • Data entry of contact reports and prospect tracking information.
• Cell phone and institution’s phone/voice mail system.

Along with committed colleagues in the division of Alumni, Communications & Philanthropy, Philanthropy Officers (POs) play a key role in advancing the distinctive mission of Berea College, which admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Appalachia. At Berea, no student pays for tuition. But, as one of nine federally recognized work colleges, all students work 10 hours or more weekly, earning money for books, housing, and meals.

To support Berea’s mission of providing a Tuition Promise Scholarship to every admitted student, Philanthropy Officers help the College meet an annual fund goal of nearly $5 million dollars to supplement income from Berea’s $1.7 billion endowment. Philanthropy Officers are also critical to the success of special campaigns for capital and programmatic needs.

To meet these ambitious goals, Philanthropy Officers cultivate trust‑based relationships with alumni and friend donors that lead to major outright gifts, life income gifts, and bequests. These relationships are built by connecting donors’…