Posting Summary:
Teachers College is seeking an Assistant Director, Planned Giving to join the Office of Institutional Advancement.  The Assistant Director, Planned Giving will be responsible for generating and sustaining a pipeline of planned giving donors. The successful candidate will cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of planned giving prospects at the five- and six-figure levels. 

Job Summary/Basic Function:
Teachers College is grateful to have an important group of friends, parents and alumni who are highly engaged and extremely committed to the mission. These donors seek multiple ways to deepen and continue their relationship with TC. They enjoy sharing their own lives’ most valuable lessons and wish to advance the Teachers College mission well into the future by making philanthropic gifts that have an impact on society both during their lifetime and by including the College in their estate plans.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Philanthropic Giving, the Assistant Director, Planned Giving is responsible for generating and sustaining a pipeline of planned giving donors. The successful candidate will cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of planned giving prospects at the five- and six-figure levels. The Assistant Director will work with frontline fundraisers, providing gift planning expertise and strategy for their top donors. The Assistant Director will also partner with colleagues throughout the Institutional Advancement department and other key stakeholders to increase the awareness of the institution’s planned giving program. The Assistant Director will collaborate Donor Relations and Stewardship to secure proposals, donor engagement communications and touch points, and stewardship reports. The Assistant Director will have proven experience in closing bequests, charitable gift annuities, other planned gifts, and outright gifts.

The Assistant Director will be a highly motivated and an entrepreneurial professional who excels at relationship building and administering all aspects of planned giving. A collaborative and strategic thinker, the Assistant Director will work closely with the Executive Director and with leaders across the College to ensure the College has sustainable resources to realize its mission.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Frontline Fundraising and Partnerships

• Manage a portfolio of approximately 75 prospective donors capable of making five- to six-figure planned gifts in all phases of development including cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Secure, plan and engage in visits.
• Partner with the frontline fundraising team, including the Vice President and Assistant Vice President, to develop gift planning strategies for individuals with the capability of making leadership, major and principal gifts to Teachers College; prepare and present innovative gift planning strategies and proposals that provide maximum benefit to both prospect and Teachers College, including gift illustrations where applicable.
• Partner with the TC Generation, especially the Omnichannel Integrated Marketing team, so that alumni and other prospective estate donors, who are either unmanaged or identified with no or low capacity (e.g., under $100,000) are aware of the benefits of making legacy gifts, are engaged with digital and paper communications, and are solicited by the Omnichannel’s Integrated Marketing team.
• Follow-up to assigned prospects responding to targeted marketing in areas such as bequests, donor advised fund, charitable lead trusts, and real estate.
• Travel as needed to meet with prospective and current donors

Gift Planning Administration

• Partner with the Donor Relations and Stewardship team to ensure that planned giving donors are stewarded.
  • Stewardship will include that Donor Relations generates any narrative proposals needed to make the case for supporting a program or restricted area of the college.
  • Collaborate with Donor Relations to generate specialized gift agreements that structure gifts using gift planning tools, such as life insurance, charitable gift annuities and charitable lead or remainder trusts, to ensure that they comply with standard College policies and practice.
  • Work with the Donor Relations and Stewardship team to recognize donors, and;
  • Rely on the Donor Relations engagement group to provide logistical support of the Grace Dodge Society.
• Lead the College’s efforts to report to State authorities on our planned giving tools, including coordinating with State Street Global Advisors to ensure timely and accurate transactions and reporting relating to gift annuities and pooled income funds.
• Oversee and partner with TC Generation team’s efforts in marketing to raise awareness of Grace Dodge Society membership and to communicate regularly with donors and prospective donors to the Grace Dodge Society and Emeriti groups.
• Communicate regularly with Prospect Development to manage and analyze the planned giving portfolio and identify and qualify new and emerging prospects.
• Ensure that all contact reports with donors are accurate, up-to-date and recorded in Raiser’s Edge, the College’s database of record for all donor information.

Gift Planning Strategy and Coaching

• Provide current expertise and guidance to the overall Institutional Advancement department on issues related to gift planning vehicles, tax implication of various gifts, federal and state legislative developments that affect charitable gifts, and other relevant items.
• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures for complex gifts, gift acceptance and crediting, and the like.
• Assist with development and presentation of gift planning trainings for frontline fundraising team.
• Build strong collaborative relationships by adding expertise and identifying and pursuing strategic opportunities to enhance giving through inclusion of gift planning components.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience required.
• 4-6 years of related work experience in a gift planning, legal, or financial environment, or other similar setting with a focus on philanthropic planning.
• Expertise in planned giving vehicles, current trends in philanthropy, and estate and financial planning for individuals, including tax implications of charitable giving.
• Ability to apply this knowledge to address individual donor needs and goals, and keep abreast of changes and emerging issues in Planned Giving.
• Demonstrated experience working successfully with high-net-worth individuals and successful closure of major level planned gifts.
• Ability to travel to meet with donors and prospects and to participate in some weekend and/or evening events.
• Experience using Raiser’s Edge and PG Calc required; technology expertise is important.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degrees and/or related certifications a plus.
• Experience working in higher education or comparable complexity and scale.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a diverse population of donors and prospects.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Sound judgment and discretion.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time.
• Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional team structure.
• Ability to manage and work through change in a proactive and positive manner.
• Have a can-do attitude with a flexible disposition to respond to fast-paced, shifting priorities.

Salary Range:

$105,000-$115,000

Work Modality:

Hybrid

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

The salary range reflects the College’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the compensation for the position at the time of the job posting.  Salary decisions are dependent on several factors including but not limited to market and organizational considerations, experience, and qualifications of a selected candidate as well as internal and external equity.

Our benefits contribute significantly to the total compensation package that includes medical, dental, vision, and supplemental insurance plans; flexible and hybrid work schedules; tuition remission; life insurance; short and long-term disability insurance; an exceptional employer retirement matching program; health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility, and a robust Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

If you would like to request any disability related accommodations to complete the job application or to participate in the interview process, please email:oasid@tc.columbia.edu.

Hybrid/Remote

Teachers College maintains a hybrid work environment, which provides employees with flexible work arrangements, while ensuring we preserve the important aspects of our unique in-person college-campus culture. Depending on role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite or in a hybrid model (combination of in-office and virtual days). Employees are expected to live within a 150-mile radius of the College.  

We will consider qualified candidates that reside beyond this radius based on the responsibilities and duties expected of the position.  All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

About Teachers College, Columbia University

Teachers College, Columbia University, is the oldest and largest graduate school of education in the United States, and also perennially ranked among the nation's best. Its name notwithstanding, the College is committed to a vision of education writ large, encompassing our four core areas of expertise: health, education, leadership and psychology.

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