Executive Director of Institutional Advancement

The Executive Director of Institutional Advancement provides strategic leadership for the College’s fundraising, donor engagement, alumni relations, and advancement operations. Working under the direction of the Vice President of Institutional Affairs, the Executive Director develops and implements a comprehensive advancement program that strengthens relationships and secures private support for scholarships, academic programs, facilities, student success initiatives, and other institutional priorities.

The Executive Director works closely with the President, Vice President of Institutional Affairs, Northwest Mississippi Community College Foundation Board of Directors, Board of Trustees, alumni, donors, corporate and community partners, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders to advance the mission and strategic priorities of Northwest Mississippi Community College.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. 


• Demonstrated professional experience in fundraising, institutional advancement, nonprofit leadership, alumni relations, external relations, business development, or a related field. 


• Evidence of success in building relationships and securing financial or organizational support. 


• Experience managing multiple projects, budgets, deadlines, and stakeholder relationships. 


• Strong written, verbal, interpersonal, and presentation skills. 


• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends and travel as required. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in higher education, business administration, nonprofit management, communications, public administration, or a related field. 


• Five or more years of progressively responsible advancement or fundraising experience. 


• Experience in higher education, particularly within a community college environment. 


• Successful experience with major gifts, capital campaigns, annual giving, planned giving, corporate partnerships, or foundation relations. 


• Experience working with a governing or nonprofit board. 


• Knowledge of advancement databases, donor-management systems, prospect research, and fundraising analytics. 


• Familiarity with charitable-giving regulations, gift agreements, endowment administration, and nonprofit financial practices. 


• Certified Fund Raising Executive designation or other relevant professional certification

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Develops and implements a comprehensive institutional advancement plan aligned with the College’s strategic priorities, including measurable goals for fundraising, donor acquisition, donor retention, alumni engagement, and stewardship. 


2. Leads annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, employee giving, and other fundraising initiatives designed to increase private support for the College. 


3. Plans and manages comprehensive and capital campaigns supporting scholarships, endowments, facilities, academic programs, student success, and other priorities approved by College and Foundation leadership. 


4. Identifies, cultivates, solicits, and stewards individuals, alumni, corporations, foundations, and community partners with the capacity and interest to support Northwest. 


5. Maintains an active portfolio of prospective and current donors and personally conducts meaningful donor visits, solicitations, and stewardship activities. 


6. Develops a strong pipeline of prospective donors through research, relationship building, data analysis, and coordinated engagement strategies. 


7. Provides leadership for alumni relations, including alumni communications, events, volunteer involvement, affinity programs, and opportunities for alumni to engage with and support the College. 


8. Plans and evaluates fundraising and donor-engagement events, ensuring that each event supports clearly defined advancement goals and provides an appropriate return on investment. 


9. Coordinates fundraising activities across College departments, divisions, campuses, athletic programs, and affiliated organizations to ensure consistency, proper authorization, accurate reporting, and alignment with institutional priorities. 


10. Partners with the Office of Strategic Communications to develop campaign materials, donor communications, impact reports, digital content, social media messaging, and other materials that effectively communicate the case for supporting Northwest. 


11. Serves as the primary administrative liaison to the Northwest Mississippi Community College Foundation Board of Directors and works with Foundation leadership to prepare meetings, agendas, reports, orientations, committee activities, and strategic planning initiatives. 


12. Recruits, educates, and engages Foundation Board members as ambassadors, advocates, relationship builders, and philanthropic leaders for the College. 


13. Oversees gift acceptance, acknowledgment, documentation, designation, and stewardship processes in accordance with Foundation policies, donor intent, applicable laws, accounting standards, and institutional procedures. 


14. Ensures that accurate and timely donor, gift, pledge, scholarship, endowment, and prospect records are maintained in the College’s advancement database or customer relationship management system. 


15. Works collaboratively with the appropriate College financial officers and external financial professionals to support accurate financial reporting, reconciliation, budgeting, auditing, investment reporting, and internal controls for Foundation funds. 


16. Develops and administers the Institutional Advancement and Foundation operating budgets and monitors fundraising expenses, campaign performance, and return on investment. 


17. Oversees the Foundation scholarship program, including the administration of scholarship agreements, application and selection processes, award notifications, donor reporting, and recognition of scholarship recipients and sponsors. 


18. Develops effective donor-recognition and stewardship programs that demonstrate the impact of private support and encourage continued engagement with Northwest. 


19. Supports the development and administration of endowments, naming opportunities, memorial gifts, tribute gifts, planned gifts, and other philanthropic arrangements. 


20. Provides leadership and coordination for institutional grant-seeking activities, particularly grants from private foundations and corporations, and collaborates with appropriate College offices on state and federal funding opportunities. 


21. Establishes policies, procedures, and performance standards that promote ethical fundraising, donor privacy, regulatory compliance, transparency, and responsible stewardship. 


22. Tracks, analyzes, and reports key advancement performance indicators, including dollars raised, cash received, donor participation, donor retention, new donors, major-gift activity, campaign progress, alumni engagement, scholarship growth, and fundraising return on investment. 


23. Provides regular advancement reports and recommendations to the Vice President of Institutional Affairs, President, Foundation Board of Directors, and other appropriate College leaders. 


24. Represents Northwest at College, alumni, community, corporate, and civic events and builds relationships throughout the College’s service district and beyond. 


25. Collaborates with the Vice President of Institutional Affairs and other College leaders in planning dedications, groundbreaking ceremonies, donor-recognition events, campaign announcements, and other special institutional events. 


26. Recruits, supervises, develops, and evaluates Institutional Advancement and Foundation personnel and promotes a collaborative, accountable, and service-oriented culture. 


27. Maintains knowledge of current trends, technologies, regulations, and best practices in community college advancement, fundraising, alumni relations, nonprofit governance, and donor stewardship. 


28. Performs other duties as assigned by the Vice President of Institutional Affairs. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to develop and execute a comprehensive advancement strategy. 


• Strong relationship-building, solicitation, negotiation, and stewardship skills. 


• Ability to communicate Northwest’s mission and priorities through a compelling case for support. 


• High degree of integrity, professionalism, discretion, and respect for donor confidentiality. 


• Ability to work effectively with senior leadership, trustees, Foundation directors, donors, alumni, employees, students, and community partners. 


• Strong organizational, analytical, financial-management, and decision-making skills. 


• Ability to use data and performance measures to evaluate results and guide strategy. 


• Ability to lead employees, volunteers, committees, and cross-functional projects. 


• Commitment to the mission and values of Northwest Mississippi Community College. 

Application

To apply, all applicants must attach and submit the following:

• Application for employment at www.northwestms.edu


• Resume


• Three (3) Professional References (Name, Email and Telephone Number)