Rollins College has retained John Solmonese, president of Solmonese Search Partners, to conduct the search. All inquiries, nominations, and applications must be summitted to: jsolmonese@gmail.com.
Rollins College, one of the nation’s most highly regarded liberal arts colleges, seeks an experienced, strategic, and highly collaborative assistant vice president of advancement services & strategic operations (AVP) to lead, set goals, and establish priorities for its technology and reporting, gift and records, and research and moves management operations. The school, under the visionary leadership of President Grant Cornwell and supported by a robust institutional advancement (IA) office directed by Laurie Houck, is poised to achieve even greater fundraising success in the years ahead. Advancement services will be central to IA’s efforts to fund enhanced educational programs; provide faculty with the resources they need to conduct their research and drive innovation in the classroom; and provide students with the knowledge and skills they require to be successful in the twenty-first century.
The AVP will take a leadership role in the conversion to a new customer relations management (CRM) system for the IA operation; manage and mentor a team of six staff members who are well prepared to realize the ambitious development goals of the college; and ensure all areas within advancement services are efficiently and effectively well run, follow industry (CASE) best practices, and comply with Internal Revenue Services regulations.
The ideal candidate will be a strong manager who has a deep technical background and experience bringing teams together around big questions for innovative answers. Also imperative is an ability to listen to institutional and advancement needs, utilize the strength of a team, and partner with others to find productive solutions. The person must have a track record of success managing complex projects; deep knowledge of gift recording protocols, gift acceptance policies, and federal and state laws governing gift reporting; and the ability to maintain an advancement database, track data, and retrieve information critically important to the creation of a robust pipeline of donors, assessing current fundraising efforts, and projecting short-term and long-range financial goals.