A history of successful searches for leadership in Higher Education

About Trinity College

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Trinity College, founded in 1823, is one of the nation’s leading independent liberal arts colleges. Located in Hartford, Connecticut, the College’s 2,200 full-time undergraduate students are drawn from all parts of the United States and approximately 30 foreign countries. Trinity, committed to a classic, rigorous liberal arts education, offers 38 academic majors, nine of which are interdisciplinary. Trinity is one of only a few liberal arts colleges whose engineering program is certified by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology. Trinity has approximately 200 full-time faculty and 60 part-time faculty. For more information on Trinity, its people and programs, please visit the college website.

Trinity’s President, Dr. James F. Jones, Jr., is completing his 7th full year at the College. Prior to Trinity, he presided over Kalamazoo College for 9 years, and earlier held leadership academic positions at SMU and Washington University, respectively. Since his arrival, President Jones has recruited several new senior administrators, including the Dean of the Faculty, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Advancement Officer.

About the Position

Trinity closed its FY10 fiscal year realizing 55% alumni giving participation, placing Trinity in the Top 10 highest rates among America’s colleges and universities. Trinity has achieved this level of participation four of the past five years. The College’s $300 million Cornerstone Campaign was launched in 2006 and last year total gifts to the College topped $28 million, with the Trinity College Fund achieving a record of $9 million in gifts. Included in the Trinity Fund totals, the Parents Fund ($1.5 million in fiscal year 2010) achieved a new record for giving as well. The Senior Class Gift campaign achieved a 90% participation level for the 5th year in a row. The College’s endowment is approximately $400 million and the College’s operating budget has been balanced for each of the last six years.

Reporting to the Director of Development and partnering with advancement staff, this senior leader develops and implements the College’s annual fund strategies and programs that include the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of annual gifts from trustees, alumni, parents, friends, including personal solicitations, direct mail, social media and telemarketing. The Director manages eight staff members in the Annual Giving office. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Meets Annual Fund cash and participation goals for alumni, parents, and friends.
• Trains, supervises, and evaluates the Annual Fund staff to support them to succeed in executing their responsibilities;
• Works with the Annual Fund staff to develop, plan, and execute the Annual Fund marketing plan; sets goals, determines and executes strategies, and manages the Annual Fund budget;
• Coordinates with the Leadership Giving team on the annual fund solicitation strategies of their prospective donors;
• Coordinates and collaborates with the Director of Alumni Relations on volunteer recruitment, training, and stewardship, and event development and execution;
• Works with the Director of Planned Giving to incorporate planned giving efforts into the Annual Fund plan, including collaboration on the execution of the 50th Reunion Giving program;
• Coordinates the solicitation of the Board of Trustees, National Alumni Executive Committee, and Board of Fellows
• Develops high-level stewardship events on- and off-campus and oversees execution of such events working in collaboration with the Director of Development, the Vice President for Advancement and events management staff.
• Works with the Director of Development Services to author reports and analyses and provides progress reports for internal use.

Successful Candidates

The successful candidate will be a strategic and innovative thinker, as well as a self-starter who demonstrates strong interpersonal, verbal and written communications skills and energy, creative vision, and a sense of humor and charisma; has strong organizational and analytical ability, in addition to a positive attitude and human relations orientation; is an articulate and persuasive communicator, both verbally and in writing; is goal-oriented and able to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously and meet a myriad of deadlines; and possesses a strong sense of personal and professional integrity with the ability to exercise authority and accept responsibility.

In addition, the director must be able to work independently, while consulting with his or her supervisor on a consistent basis; must demonstrate capacity to make sound recommendations in a fluid environment. The next director will be able to perform all essential job functions accurately and efficiently; be willing and able to work with, and cooperate with, staff at all levels and as an integral part of the entire College team; be able to exercise tact and diplomacy; work with tight deadlines; and produce first-rate, highly accurate work, with meticulous attention to detail. The successful candidate must be able to use sophisticated development database and report writing software to retrieve data, and perform comprehensive analysis and data manipulation related to all aspects of the Annual Fund program.

The next director of the Trinity Fund will be presented with the opportunity to grow an established annual giving program, focusing on three areas of opportunity and need: growing the membership of Trinity’s giving societies, The Long Walk Societies; building a strong reunion giving tradition; and developing a robust annual athletics fundraising plan. Special emphasis will be given on improved programs for Annual Fund leadership programs and reunion giving. The director of the Annual Fund will work in concert and collaboration with his or her colleagues, especially the director of alumni relations, on volunteer recruitment and stewardship, and, the director of planned giving on 50th reunion planning.

The winning candidate will have demonstrated qualitative success in his or her prior development experience. The ideal candidate will have the demonstrated ability to lead and manage others, with preference being given to those who have been fundraising professionals in college, university or secondary school settings.

How To Apply

Interested individuals should send a letter describing their interest in and qualifications for the position, a résumé, and contact information including email addresses for five references. The packet should be sent electronically (Microsoft Word attachments preferred) to Bill Spelman at trinity@wspelman.com . In the subject line of the email, please include TC and your full name. Documents that must be mailed should be sent to William Spelman Executive Search, Stony Point Landing, 667 Midship Circle, Webster, NY 14580. Confidential inquiries will be received at 585.787.0325. Confidentiality will be maintained, and references will not be contacted without prior knowledge or approval of the candidate. For full consideration, all materials should be received by June 14, 2011. The process will continue until the position is filled.

Trinity College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.