University of Kentucky
College Philanthropy Director Associate
🇺🇸
Lexington, KY
🕑
Full-Time
💰
$63K - $104K
💻
Development & Advancement
🗓️
February 26th, 2026
Edtech.com's Summary
University of Kentucky is hiring a College Philanthropy Director Associate to lead fundraising efforts, steward donor relationships, and deepen alumni engagement for the Lewis Honors College and Gaines Center. The role involves managing the donor portfolio, facilitating major gift fundraising, corporate participation, annual giving, and other philanthropic initiatives while shaping future fundraising strategies.
Highlights
- Lead and manage fundraising initiatives for the Lewis Honors College and Gaines Center.
- Steward donor relationships and deepen alumni engagement.
- Focus on major gift fundraising at high giving levels and engage with major gift donors and prospects.
- Manage and participate in donor portfolio activities including legacy giving, grants, galas, event sponsorships, and annual giving.
- Apply design thinking to redefine problems and identify innovative philanthropic strategies.
- Demonstrate strong collaboration, communication, and leadership skills in philanthropy.
- Must have a BA degree and at least 7 years of related experience in major gift fundraising.
- Salary range: $62,941 to $103,834 per year.
- Work within the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, which values collaboration, communication, mission focus, mutual respect, innovation, and transparency.
- Ability to travel for meetings and conferences; typical work shift is Monday to Friday with some evenings and weekends.
College Philanthropy Director Associate Full Description
College Philanthropy Director Associate
Posting Details
Job Title | College Philanthropy Director Associate
Requisition Number | RE53369
Working Title | Director of Philanthropy - Lewis Honors College
Department Name | 14000:Office Of Philanthropy
Work Location | Lexington, KY
Grade Level | 48
Salary Range | $62,941-103,834/year
Type of Position | Staff
Position Time Status | Full-Time
Required Education | BA
Click here for more information about equivalencies: | https://hr.uky.edu/employment/working-uk/equivalencies
Required Related Experience | 7 yrs
Required License/Registration/Certification | None
Physical Requirements | Ability to travel for meetings and conferences.
Shift | Monday – Friday
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
With some evenings and weekends
Job Summary | The University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College, Gaines Center and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement seek to hire a Director of Philanthropy to lead the College’s and Center’s fundraising efforts, steward donor relationships, and deepen alumni engagement. Managed jointly by the Lewis Honors College and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, the Director will be responsible for managing and actively participating in all initiatives related to the Gaines Center and Lewis Honors College’s donor portfolio, including sustaining alumni relationships, corporate participation, annual giving, and legacy giving, as well as other funding opportunities like grants, galas, event sponsorships, and major gifts. With a primary focus on major gift fundraising at high giving levels, the incumbent will engage in progressively more sophisticated philanthropic giving conversations with major gift donors and prospects of greater capacity.
The College and Center strives to nurture a culture of giving among our stakeholders, strengthen relationships with donors and prospective donors, and think creatively about new funding opportunities. We are looking for candidates with significant experience relevant to the above who can share fundraising knowledge with a capable, engaged staff and leadership team, and help to shape fundraising strategy for the College and Center well into the future. Additionally, we seek a leader who utilizes the components of design thinking—is ready to seek to understand our college, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and identify alternative strategies and solutions that are both novel and effective.
The culture within the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement (PAE) is built on our shared core values CoMMIT– Collaboration, Communication, Mission Driven, Mutual Respect, Innovation and Transparency.
By applying for a position within UK PAE, you are indicating your commitment and expressing your agreement to our six values. It is important you share these values in order to be part of our committed team!
Skills / Knowledge / Abilities | The ideal candidate will be a strong, collaborative leader with a proven record of success in building and sustaining relationships that foster major gift giving. This position requires an individual who understands person-to-person relationships and has the ability to convincingly articulate the vision and priorities of the College and University and match them to the interests of prospective donors. Familiarity with planned giving, charitable gift arrangements as well as demonstrated experience in marketing, philanthropic messaging and persuasive writing is also desirable. This person will have experience managing and developing a fundraising team in the environment in which accountability-based metrics are used as benchmarks for performance.
Does this position have supervisory responsibilities? | No
Preferred Education/Experience |
Deadline to Apply | 03/25/2026
Our University Community | We value the well-being of each of our employees and are dedicated to creating a healthy place for everyone to work, learn and live. In the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students, employees, patients and visitors, the University of Kentucky is a Tobacco & Drug Free campus.
The University follows both the federal and state Constitutions as well as all applicable federal and state laws on nondiscrimination. The University provides equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information or social or economic status.
Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.
Requisition Number | RE53369
Working Title | Director of Philanthropy - Lewis Honors College
Department Name | 14000:Office Of Philanthropy
Work Location | Lexington, KY
Grade Level | 48
Salary Range | $62,941-103,834/year
Type of Position | Staff
Position Time Status | Full-Time
Required Education | BA
Click here for more information about equivalencies: | https://hr.uky.edu/employment/working-uk/equivalencies
Required Related Experience | 7 yrs
Required License/Registration/Certification | None
Physical Requirements | Ability to travel for meetings and conferences.
Shift | Monday – Friday
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
With some evenings and weekends
Job Summary | The University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College, Gaines Center and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement seek to hire a Director of Philanthropy to lead the College’s and Center’s fundraising efforts, steward donor relationships, and deepen alumni engagement. Managed jointly by the Lewis Honors College and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, the Director will be responsible for managing and actively participating in all initiatives related to the Gaines Center and Lewis Honors College’s donor portfolio, including sustaining alumni relationships, corporate participation, annual giving, and legacy giving, as well as other funding opportunities like grants, galas, event sponsorships, and major gifts. With a primary focus on major gift fundraising at high giving levels, the incumbent will engage in progressively more sophisticated philanthropic giving conversations with major gift donors and prospects of greater capacity.
The College and Center strives to nurture a culture of giving among our stakeholders, strengthen relationships with donors and prospective donors, and think creatively about new funding opportunities. We are looking for candidates with significant experience relevant to the above who can share fundraising knowledge with a capable, engaged staff and leadership team, and help to shape fundraising strategy for the College and Center well into the future. Additionally, we seek a leader who utilizes the components of design thinking—is ready to seek to understand our college, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and identify alternative strategies and solutions that are both novel and effective.
The culture within the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement (PAE) is built on our shared core values CoMMIT– Collaboration, Communication, Mission Driven, Mutual Respect, Innovation and Transparency.
By applying for a position within UK PAE, you are indicating your commitment and expressing your agreement to our six values. It is important you share these values in order to be part of our committed team!
Skills / Knowledge / Abilities | The ideal candidate will be a strong, collaborative leader with a proven record of success in building and sustaining relationships that foster major gift giving. This position requires an individual who understands person-to-person relationships and has the ability to convincingly articulate the vision and priorities of the College and University and match them to the interests of prospective donors. Familiarity with planned giving, charitable gift arrangements as well as demonstrated experience in marketing, philanthropic messaging and persuasive writing is also desirable. This person will have experience managing and developing a fundraising team in the environment in which accountability-based metrics are used as benchmarks for performance.
Does this position have supervisory responsibilities? | No
Preferred Education/Experience |
Deadline to Apply | 03/25/2026
Our University Community | We value the well-being of each of our employees and are dedicated to creating a healthy place for everyone to work, learn and live. In the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students, employees, patients and visitors, the University of Kentucky is a Tobacco & Drug Free campus.
The University follows both the federal and state Constitutions as well as all applicable federal and state laws on nondiscrimination. The University provides equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information or social or economic status.
Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.
Posting Specific Questions
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
- * How many years of paid work experience do you have developing and managing a portfolio of major gift prospects?
- None
- More than 0, up through 1 year
- More than 1 year, up through 3 years
- More than 3 years, up through 5 years
- More than 5 years, up through 10 years
- More than 10 years
- * What are the three attributes/skills you deem most useful in developing strong alumni/donor/client relationships?
(Open Ended Question) - * The Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement (PAE) recognizes a set of values that guide us in our daily interactions. These values are collaboration, communication, mission driven, mutual respect, innovation and transparency. Please choose one of the PAE values and give a specific example when you exhibited this quality in your professional experience.
(Open Ended Question)
Applicant Documents
Required Documents
- Resume
- Cover Letter
Optional Documents
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