Job Summary

The Assistant Director of Parent Engagement is responsible for maintaining a portfolio parent major donor prospects, and recruiting for and managing the Iona Parents Leadership Council, including two meetings/year. Major gifts work will involve the qualification, cultivation and solicitation of parent major donor prospects. The individual will manage a portfolio of approximately 75-100 individual parents capable of supporting the University with gifts of $25,000 or more. Work with prospects will include facilitating communications and strategy development with faculty, staff and volunteer leaders and will involve some travel. The candidate will be expected to understand higher education philanthropy and preferably have experience with prospect databases and moves management systems.

The Assistant Director of Parent Engagement is also responsible for working with the Annual Fund/Alumni Relations team to solicit all parents for the Fund for Iona and other areas of interest, including Athletics, in coordination with the Sr. AD for Athletics Development. In driving this support, the Assistant Director of Parent Engagement will work with Student Life and other campus partners to provide support for campus events for parents, such as Parent Weekend, Parent Orientation, and Graduation, and to provide support for Parent Communications, including Facebook.
 

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Identify 20-30 new parent prospects/year and secure visits to engage parents in the mission of Iona and to recruit those with the right skills to a Parent Leadership Council. (25%)
• Develop and implement a donor-centered and mission-centered cultivation strategy for each individual in the portfolio. Oversee two successful Parent Leadership Council meetings each year. Record all activities in Raiser's Edge and meet annual “moves” goal. (25%)
• Plan solicitation schedule and solicit gifts toward individual and team fundraising goals. Draft gift agreements and other documents as needed. (25%)
• Coordinate and support a calendar of parent-focused activities, events and communications. (15%)
• Other duties as assigned, including supporting team events and functions within and outside of Advancement. (10%)

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of 3 to 5 years in university advancement or transferable experiences
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills

About Iona University/EEO language

 Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, nursing, and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2024 national list of “The Best 389 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona's LaPenta School of Business is also accredited AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide.

Iona offers a comprehensive benefits package to all full-time employees that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement plans; life insurance; short and long-term disability; employee assistance program (EAP); tuition remission; and generous time off. For more information on our benefits and working at Iona visit the Human Resources section of our website.

Iona University values and celebrates diversity and is committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of our employees and does not tolerate discrimination based on any legally protected characteristic under applicable federal, state, or local laws. As an equal opportunity employer, Iona University encourages applications from qualified candidates who reflect the wider world in which we live, and in particular from historically underrepresented groups.