Advancement Officer – Corporate Relations

The anticipated hiring range for this position is $65,000 to $70,000. Hiring offers will be determined based on the final candidate’s qualifications and experience. The recruiter can share more information about what the anticipated hiring salary would be based upon your specific qualifications during the selection process.

The CIA offers a substantial benefits package that includes medical coverage available at no cost to qualifying employees, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short and long term disability insurance, retirement savings plan with high employer contributions, a generous paid time off program, and more!

As the benefits package at the CIA results in a significant value above the base hiring salary for this position, we encourage you to apply so that our recruiters can share more information with you about the benefits of working for the CIA.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Advancement Officer – Corporate Relations is an integral part of the Culinary Institute of America’s (CIA) Advancement Division’s Corporate Relations (CR) team with responsibility for managing the Gift-in-Kind (GIK) Consumables Curriculum Program. As a member of a dynamic team of dedicated, goal-oriented fund-raising professionals, the Advancement Officer manages a highly integrated and seamless approach to furthering the strategic and financial goals of the Institute through the development and management of a robust GIK Consumable program. The Advancement Officer will work collaboratively with Advancement and other Division teams to manage a GIK program and other select partnerships and activities furthering the strategic and financial goals of the CIA. The Officer will be responsible for the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of annual gifts and establishing multi-year agreements with key prospects and donors totaling annual revenue targets of: GIK Consumables – $1.5 million or more, and personal portfolio – $250,000 or more.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Fundraising:

• Category lead for the GIK Consumable Curriculum Program responsible for securing $1.5M+ annually in donated quality ingredients that support CIA’s top quality culinary education across four domestic campuses and one international campus.
• Identify new industry prospective food manufacturers and expand current donor engagement with the goal of raising philanthropic support.
• Cultivate donors by hosting campus visits and tours, business meetings and other experiences that facilitate prospects towards giving.
• Responsible for identification, cultivation, development, management and solicitation of annual gifts with a portfolio goal of $250K+ supporting Annual Events, Alumni Relations and Auction activities.
• Develop and manage a portfolio of up to 250 donors, meeting or exceeding institutional performance metrics while monitoring progress towards achieving revenue goals.
• Effectively communicate with a vast audience of industry leaders representing the following: C-suite, Marketing, Business Development, Sales, and Corporate Foundations.

Management:

• Manage 70+ food manufacturing donors each with unique agreement terms based on donated goods, campus usage, allotments, distribution types, and other categories.
• Host monthly meetings with internal key stakeholders including procurement teams and educational committees.
• Complete monthly closing reconciliation of gifts with accounting department.
• Monitor monthly usage per company agreement and effectively communicate updates to internal procurement teams.
• Draft, design and prepare agreements/proposals needed for the solicitation of prospective donors.
• Foster cross-functional collaborative relationships and communications across all CIA campuses (including CIA Consulting/Strategic Initiatives Group (SIG)/Digital Media).
• Collaborate with other advancement officers and SIG to identify and qualify prospective GIK donors using best practices for matching donor interest with institutional priorities.
• Implement a strategically planned travel schedule to meet with prospects and donors individually and at industry and CIA-sponsored conferences aligned with strategies and outcomes. Collaborate regularly with CR team to focus on business development for overall GIK platforms and to constantly build CR pipeline. Monitor progress towards achieving revenue goals.
• Perform any and all other duties as assigned and required by The Culinary Institute of America.

Stewardship:

• Responsible for stewardship of individual’s portfolio and works with CR team as needed for support.
• Work with Advancement Communications Manager to develop cohesive stewardship strategies.
• Coordinate Annual GIK Consumable Thank You Letters and Annual tax receipts.
• Draft, design and prepare corporate foodservice case studies and various materials needed for the recognition and stewardship of donors.
• Collaborate with CR Team on monthly CR Donor Report Cards and provide input to weekly Mar/Com meetings.
• Maintain updated corporate contacts and track progress utilizing Millennium, Crystal reports and prospect tracking system.
• Maintain confidentiality and proprietary nature of all donor strategies and records.

Events and Outreach:

• Develop relationships with portfolio constituents who can help advance the CIA’s major events (i.e. CIA’s Leadership Awards , Thomas Keller Golf Classic, Alumni events, Thought Leadership Conference, etc.).
• Attend and support key Advancement fundraising events, as well as CIA Society of Fellows and Board of Trustees meetings focusing on business building and pipeline development.
• Attend industry foodservice conferences throughout the year.
• Any and all other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree with a concentration in fund-raising, advancement, development, communications, business, finance or related field.

Experience:

• Three (3) to five (5) years of progressive experience within fund-raising, sales, purchasing or higher education with documented success matrix.
• Successful track record to date in previous corporate, foundation and organizational roles, producing superior results.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Well versed within the food service industry and have experience with food products, equipment, technology, small-wares and services.
• Experience in purchasing, corporate fund raising or food and beverage operations within the hospitality and/or foodservice industries.
• Experience/knowledge of coordination with purchasing, accounting and distribution processes.
• Higher education working experience preferred.
• Previous business development experience.
• Preferred membership with a fund-raising or philanthropic organization, such as CASE, APRA, etc.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Must have outstanding strategic, tactical, and organizational skills.
• Must be very detailed oriented.
• Demonstrated strong facilitation and presentation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills required.
• Ability to have an approach to problem solving that is highly collegial and positive in outlook and approach.
• Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills; ability to be adaptable, dependable and handle multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to interpret and articulate vision.
• Ability to use sound judgment and discretion in handling sensitive Advancement information with confidentiality and discretion.
• Must have a high level of energy and self-motivation.
• Strong computer experience, which must include abilities to work effectively with e-Learning systems, fund-raising database systems and MS Office suite products, i.e. Word, Excel, Advanced skills in Power Point required.
• Highly organized with strong project management skills.
• Strong business development/skills.
• Ability to work under pressure to coordinate multiple requests and meet deadlines.
• Maintain a high degree of ethical conduct and personal integrity.
• Exhibit creative skills and entrepreneurial spirit.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Ability to travel due to business needs.
• Must be able to have the ability to sit for long periods of time.
• Must be able to work nights and weekends as required due to business needs.

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.
For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.