Executive Assistant, Principal Gifts

Position Summary

The Principal Gifts team within the Office of Alumni and Development supports the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of seven-, eight-, and nine-figure gifts and grants to Columbia University.

Principal gift officers maintain a portfolio of 25-50 high net worth individuals, families, and / or foundations and work collaboratively and independently to raise funds for Presidential and School / Unit priorities.

Team members often partner with the President, Provost, and school and unit- based development officers and / or deans and unit heads, and their teams, for gift cultivation and solicitation support.

Reporting to a Principal Gifts Officer and supporting that officer and a second officer on the team, the individual in this role provides executive level support.

The role requires good judgement, discretion, and the ability to work under pressure. It also requires effective teamwork and collaboration with peers, and with senior university leaders and top university donors and their teams.

The ability to work independently is also essential.

Responsibilities

• Manage an extensive calendar, including planning and booking national and international travel, scheduling on and off-campus meetings and events (with internal and external constituents), assisting in the preparation of briefing materials, agendas, and related correspondence.
• Assist planning and implementing volunteer meetings, writing relevant correspondence, preparing meeting materials, and coordinating with the OAD research team and other colleagues on gathering the necessary background on participants.
• Draft, edit, and proofread correspondence and presentations.
• Manage all travel, including arranging logistics, preparing itineraries and supporting the fundraisers during travel.
• Enter data into and pull reports, with analysis, from OAD databases, as well as enter gift proposals, contact reports and other documents as required.
• Create systems and spreadsheets to assist in management of donor as needed.
• Complete detailed expense reports and perform related duties as required.
• Offer professional and engaging customer service on a consistent basis with everyone encountered in the course of performing assigned duties, including donors, senior University officials, faculty, and senior staff of the Office of Alumni and Development team.
• Work closely alongside and provide support when required for other members of the Principal Gifts team and the Office of the EVP.
• Anticipate needs of principal gift officers from established workflows and proactively deliver on these needs.
• Work with Gift Systems to record new gifts and pledges along with pledge payments, send pledge reminders, and other items related to gift processing.
• Perform related duties and special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and / or its equivalent required. Minimum of 2-4 years of related experience.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, required.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with attention to detail and ability to handle confidential information with excellent judgment and discretion required.
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities and work with diplomacy and efficiency in a high demand environment essential.
• Willingness to work flexible hours when required.
• Must have working knowledge and experience using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as experience working in a database, are required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with fundraising and the desire to advance in development is strongly preferred.
1 day ago