Description

The VP, Philanthropy Operations, will serve a pivotal role as a thought-partner, convener, organizer, and operational manager for the department and between the department and the broader

institution. Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement (SVP) and working closely with the VP of Philanthropy and Comprehensive Campaign, the VP of Operations and Systems Effectiveness will develop a strong understanding of Morehouse School of Medicine’s mission and vision for the Transformative Philanthropy program; work to enact that vision; and build, evolve, and scale the infrastructure necessary to support meaningful identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship across the donor spectrum – individuals, corporations and foundations – as well as across departments within the MSM community.

The VP of Philanthropy Operations and Systems Effectiveness will consult on the development of transformative gift donor engagement strategies; facilitate and ensure their execution; and develop and implement an accountability framework consisting of meetings, reports, analytics, and other materials needed to effectively manage operations of the department. The VP will have ownership over data, systems, policies, project plans, moves management processes, and drive internal and intra-department collaboration across the institution. Individual will ensure MSM’s key leaders are fully prepared with information and data analytics including managing the staff tasked with ensuring coordination of prospecting operations, data management, development of agendas, project plans, and collateral materials.

The successful candidate will be an energetic and enthusiastic individual interested in joining a dynamic and hard-working team; a self-starter who takes initiative, likes to own projects, and is able to prioritize their work. This person must be a systems thinker, will have strong communications and team building skills, with an eye for detail. The successful candidate will be eager to absorb comprehensive knowledge of Morehouse School of Medicine’s culture, operational nuances, strategic plan, campaign priorities and transformative prospects, and thrive in a mission-driven, dedicated, and collaborative office environment. This person will also be able to handle highly confidential information with great care.

This position works primarily with internal customers within the Philanthropy Team and represents the team with other key departments across the institution (Office of the Dean, Research, Student Affairs, External Affairs, Business Operations, IT, etc.) and will work independently or as a part of team on technology, finance, operations, contracts and compliance project that involve the Advancement team. Projects may include assessments, software implementations, improvements to areas of advancement/development operations. This role requires a broad knowledge of systems and process improvement, fundraising and an in depth understanding of HBCU culture, business and operations, including gift processing, data management, prospect development, donor relations, and other areas that support the fundraising process across a complex and growing Medical and Health Sciences Institution. The VP of Philanthropy Operations and Systems Effectiveness will be an experienced systems thinker who understands the complexities of health care delivery, research and educational programming. They will also have an executive presence with extensive experience working on multi-faceted national initiatives that involve “mega” gifts, while partnering with executive leadership and senior faculty.

Key Responsibilities include:

Strategy

• Supports the Senior Vice President the design, implementation, maintenance, and expansion of Philanthropy Team’s annual giving program while building the systems to support the development and implementation of a Transformative Philanthropy program.
• In partnership with the SVP, shapes the strategic vision of the overall Transformative Philanthropy program and architects an infrastructure that supports the long-term goals of the program, including the design, implementation and oversight of annual budgets and multi-year initiatives, strategies and action plans related to the Transformative Philanthropy portfolio.

• Convenes and leads regular department meetings as well as cross-institutional meetings and ad- hoc Transformative Philanthropy strategy sessions, including joint strategy alignment meetings, qualification/pipeline meetings, and other meetings as necessary; oversees development of agendas, presentations, talking points, reports, analytics, etc., to support meaningful and action- oriented strategy discussions.
• Facilitates SVP and system leader engagement with transformative prospects; meets with other system leaders as needed; liaises with future Leadership Deployment Teams.
• Manages the development of the CEO and SVP’s prospect portfolios with the support of the Executive Assistant and Prospect Research Team.
• Leads the collaborative development and execution of annual department strategic plan. 
• Serves as the department’s operational liaison to Finance, External Affairs and Institutional Effectiveness (including the Institutional Strategic Plan), Legal, Compliance and Business operations. 

Operations and Systems

• Serve as the system administrator and data architect for the Philanthropy CRM and auxiliary systems and data analytics needs.
• Oversee information moving in and out of the Philanthropy CRM, including designing business rules or procedures for extracting, transforming, loading or automated procedures for integrations with other systems (i.e. finance, financial aid, donor portal, alumni portal, etc.)
• Maximize the potential of philanthropic systems and information in support of Morehouse School of Medicine and its mission.
• Assess systems and processes and recommend enhancements to ensure Philanthropy systems support both short-term and long-term goals.
• Directs the production of tracking and reporting activities to manage movement on overarching strategies, including ensuring the capture of donor and prospect information, contact reports, updating records, and generating reports on the highest-level donors.
• Directs preparation of executive-level status reports for the Board, Strategic Plan and Transformative Philanthropy program and pipeline, progress, and results of activities; synthesizes complex data into reports and executive summaries for the SVP and Board Committee.
• Provides expert consulting services to philanthropy officers on strategy development, systems, IT and tactical execution to ensure meaningful contributions to the institution’s strategic plan.

Partnership

• Collaborates with Prospect Development colleagues to ensure the overall transformative prospect pipeline is healthy, robust, and continually refreshed with new prospects; monitors prospect movement through stages and intercedes when prospects, financial reporting, pledge collection and/or donor stewardship processes become stale/stuck; works to keep SVP, VP and Philanthropy officers focused on moving their prospects toward gift fulfillment.
• Partners with Donor Stewardship colleagues to establish and sustain a robust stewardship platform and experience that ensures all donors are appropriately stewarded; collaborates on the development of donor engagement plans for transformative prospects that might include new or emerging technologies or systems.
• Serves as strategic thought partner for Transformative Philanthropy officers; consults on strategy development for transformative prospect/donor engagement; identifies gaps and challenges in strategies and tactics and resources from across Office of Philanthropy and Morehouse School of Medicine to fill the gaps and overcome challenges to gift fulfillment, scholarship and endowment account reconciliation and donor stewardship reporting.

• Serves as the cross-institution communications anchor for the Office of Philanthropy. 
• Leads and coordinates development and production of high-level materials in partnership with Marking/Communication, External Affairs and Partnerships to ensure high-quality transformative proposals and donor impact reports.
• Meets with donors or potential funders of complex national initiatives to ensure proposed projects have the necessary cross-institutional systems in place to be successful.
• Works with colleagues across all programs to develop and implement “key moves” for the CEO and SVP with top prospects across all programs; collaborates to develop and implement regional local, regional and national “map” to visually represent goals and progress for the Philanthropy team including an active role with the More in Common Alliance (MiCA) Team.

Leadership

• Manages, coaches and mentors direct reports.
• Effectively manages and evaluates direct reports and ensures that they provide a high level of service to all stakeholders and work collaboratively to meet Morehouse School of Medicine’s and Office of Philanthropy goals.
• Works with direct reports to identify professional development opportunities and develop career growth plans; provides access to resources and training for both soft- and hard-skills development; ensures that development goals are prioritized.
• Provides guidance on best practices according to department guidelines and industry standards.
• Ensures direct reports are engaged employees; actively works to remove barriers to engagement. 

Serves as a role model for the Office of Philanthropy, Includes:

• Acting as spokesperson for Morehouse School of Medicine activities as requested. 
• Participating in committees, task forces and other special projects. 
• Demonstrating an ability to solve problems, overcome hurdles, and navigate sensitive issues with discretion, tact and strong communication skills.
• Developing and maintaining productive relationships with Morehouse School of Medicine faculty and staff to support fundraising initiatives for system priorities.
• Possessing thorough knowledge of the key fundraising priorities for Morehouse School of Medicine. 
• Follows established Morehouse School of Medicine and department policies, procedures, objectives, performance improvement, attendance, safety, environmental, and infection control guidelines, including adherence to the workplace Code of Conduct and Compliance Plan. Practices a high level of integrity and honesty in maintaining confidentiality.
• Performs other related duties as assigned or requested. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree from an accredited university. 
• Ten years development/fundraising experience. 
• Three years as a front-line transformative systems designer and manager. 
• Five years managing one or more direct reports. 
• Demonstrated experience in project management.
• Demonstrated financial and business acumen. 
• Demonstrated ability to frame and structure problems, projects, and initiatives and synthesize complex information from a multitude of resources into an achievable and actionable plan.
• Proficient in process improvement, effectiveness, and operational execution. 
• Demonstrated experience developing effective KPI’s, dashboards and making executive presentations. 
• Proven analytical/problem solving skills.
• Strong time management, organizational skills, and detail orientation.
• Experience working in a dynamic environment with a commitment to meeting deadlines. 
• Demonstrated ability to exercise excellent judgment and discretion in handling highly confidential information. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and proven ability to communicate clearly and professionally with individuals at all levels, internally and externally.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities from various constituents with tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment. 
• A high degree of professionalism and a strong work ethic coupled with a sense of responsibility and integrity required.
• Ability to resolve problems independently and work with a high degree of autonomy and responsibility. 
• Strong computer proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook required. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• MA, MBA, JD, or related graduate degree. 
• 15+ years healthcare, higher ed and/or philanthropy and in complex, matrixed org.
• 7+ years working as a front-line transformative or principal relationship manager for internal and external partners.
• 5+ experience in program management driving large scale systems transformations.
• Prior employment with a top strategy or operational consulting or project management role ideally in philanthropy, healthcare, research, or higher education verticals.
• Experience with new business development, multi-site national initiatives, mergers, and acquisitions, supporting due diligence and integration activities.
• Experience in a high growth organization, scaling an organization (business or otherwise)
• Proven experience integrating complex, cross-organization processes, and information strategies. 
• Highly proficient in data management, analytics, governance, and reporting.