University of Kentucky
College Philanthropy Director Associate
🇺🇸 Lexington, KY
🕑 Full-Time
💰 $63K - $104K
💻 Development & Advancement
🗓️ December 15th, 2025
Edtech.com's Summary
University of Kentucky is hiring a College Philanthropy Director Associate. This role serves as the lead fundraiser for the Lewis Honors College, focusing on managing a portfolio of major gift donors and developing tailored cultivation and solicitation strategies. The Director actively engages with college leadership to align fundraising efforts with academic initiatives and leads philanthropic activities to secure transformative support.
Highlights
- Lead major gift fundraising efforts for the Lewis Honors College with a focus on high-capacity donors.
- Develop and manage a portfolio of major gift donors and prospects, creating personalized cultivation and solicitation strategies.
- Maintain an active schedule of donor visits, generate proposals, and sustain a pipeline of future philanthropic support.
- Provide strategic philanthropic counsel as a key member of the Dean's senior leadership team.
- Collaborate with associate deans, faculty, staff, and administration to align fundraising with academic and student success initiatives.
- Manage a volunteer philanthropy leadership council to enhance engagement and advocacy.
- Requires strong relationship-building skills, experience with planned giving, charitable gift arrangements, marketing, and persuasive writing.
- Minimum qualifications include a Bachelor's degree and at least 7 years of related experience.
- Salary range: $62,941 to $103,834 per year.
- Position requires ability to travel for meetings and conferences and occasional evening/weekend work.
College Philanthropy Director Associate Full Description
College Philanthropy Director Associate
Posting Details
Job Title | College Philanthropy Director Associate
Requisition Number | RE52579
Working Title | Director of Philanthropy - Lewis Honors College
Department Name | 14000:Office Of Development
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 | Managed jointly by the UK Philanthropy Office and the Lewis Honors College, the Philanthropy Director Associate (Director of Philanthropy) serves as the lead fundraiser dedicated to advancing the mission, vision, and priorities of the Lewis Honors College. With a primary focus on major gift fundraising at higher giving levels, this position is responsible for building and managing a robust portfolio of major gift donors and prospects, developing individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies, and engaging in progressively more sophisticated philanthropic conversations with individuals of significant capacity. The Director will be expected to maintain an active schedule of meaningful donor visits, generate strong proposal activity, and sustain a healthy pipeline of future philanthropic support.As a key member of the Dean’s senior leadership team, the Director of Philanthropy provides strategic counsel on all matters related to philanthropy in the Lewis Honors College. The incumbent will be actively engaged in the daily life of the colleges philanthropic activity by collaborating with associate deans, faculty, staff, and college administration to align fundraising efforts with academic and student success initiatives, and managing a volunteer philanthropy leadership council to deepen engagement and advocacy. This role is ideal for a strategic, relationship-driven fundraiser who is inspired by high-achieving students and eager to secure transformative support that shapes the future of the Lewis Honors College.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 | 01/04/2026
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 | RE52579
Working Title | Director of Philanthropy - Lewis Honors College
Department Name | 14000:Office Of Development
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 | Managed jointly by the UK Philanthropy Office and the Lewis Honors College, the Philanthropy Director Associate (Director of Philanthropy) serves as the lead fundraiser dedicated to advancing the mission, vision, and priorities of the Lewis Honors College. With a primary focus on major gift fundraising at higher giving levels, this position is responsible for building and managing a robust portfolio of major gift donors and prospects, developing individualized cultivation and solicitation strategies, and engaging in progressively more sophisticated philanthropic conversations with individuals of significant capacity. The Director will be expected to maintain an active schedule of meaningful donor visits, generate strong proposal activity, and sustain a healthy pipeline of future philanthropic support.As a key member of the Dean’s senior leadership team, the Director of Philanthropy provides strategic counsel on all matters related to philanthropy in the Lewis Honors College. The incumbent will be actively engaged in the daily life of the colleges philanthropic activity by collaborating with associate deans, faculty, staff, and college administration to align fundraising efforts with academic and student success initiatives, and managing a volunteer philanthropy leadership council to deepen engagement and advocacy. This role is ideal for a strategic, relationship-driven fundraiser who is inspired by high-achieving students and eager to secure transformative support that shapes the future of the Lewis Honors College.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 | 01/04/2026
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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