Associate Director, Planned Giving

Job No: 503816
Work Type: Staff Full Time (1500 hours or greater)
Location: Dayton, OH
Category: University Staff
Department: Planned Giving - 300230
Pay Grade: B - Exempt
Advertised: August 21, 2026
Applications close: August 28, 2026

The University of Dayton is a top-tier Catholic, Marianist research university with academic offerings from the undergraduate to the doctoral levels. Our mission is to educate the whole person and link learning and scholarship with leadership and service. University Advancement promotes a culture of philanthropy, volunteer engagement and lifelong relationships in support of the University’s mission. As we conclude a comprehensive fundraising campaign, we are growing our exceptional team of passionate, mission-driven Advancement professionals, looking for a Senior Associate Director, Planned Giving in our office of planned giving.

Planned giving thoughtfully uses sophisticated assets and tax efficiency to maximize a donor’s charitable impact. While this most often takes the form of wills and revocable trusts, it also includes gifts of real estate, retirement accounts, life insurance, business interests, intellectual property, annuities, and charitable trusts, among many other things. The planned giving team serves as a subject matter expert resource for donors, professional advisors, and internal stakeholders in planning for, soliciting, and receiving these types of gifts.

The incumbent will become an invaluable aspect of providing this effort.

A successful applicant will be someone who can build a deep understanding of complex charitable giving and develop impactful relationships with donors who are considering, or may consider, gifts to the University. They will have an appetite for constant learning, adaptability to the constant changes of charitable law and donor engagement, and an effervescent entrepreneurial spirit to engage new donors in the important and diverse work of the University.

Additionally, to be successful in this role, the Senior Associate Director will be expected to maintain significant local and national travel to personally engage prospective donors.

The travel requirements for this position are primarily focused on visiting prospective donors throughout the Ohio and the United States. This would include operating University-owned vehicles, as well as rental vehicles.

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Four years of experience in development/fundraising, writing or communications, financial planning, estate planning, accounting, or equivalent.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel via a variety of transport modes (i.e., airplane, car, public transport, etc.) and to manage a significant travel schedule, which may periodically include overnight travel, evenings, weekends, and holidays, as needed.
• A valid driver's license, low risk driving record and insurability by the University.

• Five years of experience in development/fundraising, writing or communications, financial services, accounting, or equivalent.
• Experience with gifts of complex assets.
• Demonstrated experience developing, leading, coordinating, and executing a multi-channel communications plan.
• Successful track record of developing relationships with clients/donors.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. The University does not provide work visa sponsorship for this position.

Informed by its Catholic and Marianist mission, the University is committed to the dignity of every human being. Informed by this commitment, we seek to increase diversity in all of its forms, achieve fair outcomes, and model inclusion across our campus community. The University is committed to policies of affirmative action designed to increase the employment opportunities of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans in compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1973.