Senior Advancement Officer, Major Gifts Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · PDF fileSenior...

RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE BACKGROUNDER | 1

Senior Advancement Officer, Major Gifts

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY

www.rpi.edu

Send Nominations or Cover Letter and Resume to:

Anne Norton

Search Director

617-262-1102

[email protected]

The Opportunity:

LOIS L. LINDAUER SEARCHES is proud to partner

with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Rensselaer)

in its search for the position of Senior

Advancement Officer, Major Gifts.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a widely

recognized, highly regarded institution with a nearly 200-year history and a growing international focus.

Rensselaer is a private, non-sectarian coeducational institution founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer

as the nation’s first technological university. Its original purpose “to apply science to the common purposes

of life,” has never been more opportune, and Rensselaer is poised at a time of great opportunity. As new

technologies drive the economy and shape society, its historic mission and core academic strengths position

the Institute to capitalize on this technological revolution.

http://www.rpi.edu/

mailto:[email protected]


Rensselaer continues to seek impactful ways to leverage its academic and research innovations in the global

arena, and the Division of Institute Advancement is poised to support the ambition of this work by

expanding its team of Senior Advancement Officers for Major Gifts.

This is the ideal opportunity for a proven fundraiser and skilled relationship builder to join an ambitious,

fast-paced, metrics-driven team and succeed in securing meaningful gifts from major donors. Candidates

who are self-starters and team players will thrive in this role, as will individuals who can work effectively

across a complex organization with dynamic leadership, faculty, staff, and stakeholders.

Position Overview – Senior Advancement Officer, Major Gifts

The Senior Advancement Officer, Major Gifts is responsible for cultivating and soliciting 150-200 prospects

capable of making gifts to Rensselaer of $100,000 to $2.49 million. The Senior Advancement Officer will

work in an assigned region and support a group of campus leaders to develop and implement strategies to

close gift commitments.

Senior Advancement Officers lead fundraising efforts around projects that are aligned with Rensselaer’s

signature research thrusts, which include: Biotechnology and the Life Sciences; Computational Science and

Engineering; Media, Arts, Science, and Technology; Energy, Environment, and Smart Systems; and

Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials. Senior Advancement Officers work closely with research and

academic leaders in this work, and will be critical support to Rensselaer leadership and will staff deans,

cabinet members, and vice presidents through the upcoming campaign.

Travel is required for this role, and each Senior Advancement Officer will be assigned a portfolio of

prospects. Portfolios will feature both a local component that includes some of the 11,000 prospects in the

New York region, and a community base, which represents a geographic cluster outside of the region where

highly-rated prospects and donors live.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Raise new commitments from prospects capable of gifts of $100,000 - $2.49 million.

Prepare and submit proposals.

Conduct pre-planned face-to-face prospecting and cultivation visits.

Interdepartmental team work:

o Provide staff support to Dean including briefings, solicitation meeting coordination, talking

points, and follow up as required.

o Meet with counterpart in Alumni Relations monthly including regional officers.


o Meet with Annual Giving team quarterly.

o Team with Major Gift officers and Principal Gift officers on strategic donor activities and

solicitations.

o Team with Corporate & Foundation officers on solicitations and cultivations.

Maintain up to date prospect information in Advance by utilizing and maintaining prospect tracking

system.

Participate and present in prospect strategy sessions.

Maintain strict confidentiality as outlined in the Institute’s Policy on Confidentiality of Constituent

Information.

Goals/Objectives:

Dollar goal – newly documented gifts:

o First Year: $750,000 – $1.0 million

o Second Year: $1.5 million – $2.0 million

o Third Year: $3.0 million – $5.0 million+

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree preferable.

Five to seven years of fund-raising experience.

Demonstrated record of cultivation and closing significant major gifts ($1M+).

Proven ability to establish and maintain relationships with major gift prospects and to close major

gifts ($100K+).

Ability to set priorities while also contributing to team effort in Institute Advancement.

Experience working in and/or comfort with data- and metrics-driven environment.

Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Must be able to travel 40-50% of the time.

Development Overview

The Division of Institute Advancement at Rensselaer consists of more than 50 professionals specializing in

alumni relations, leadership, planned, principal and major gifts, annual giving, corporate and foundation

relations, international advancement, and advancement strategies, services, and infrastructure. Staffers in the

department represent a blend of those who have been at the Institute for a number of years and those who

joined more recently. In the past two years, more than $100 million has been raised as the Institute prepares

for its bicentennial in 2024.


In September, Graig Eastin begins his third year as the Vice President for

Institute Advancement at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Eastin has had a

successful track record of leading fundraising organizations in higher

education and healthcare and is building a world-class advancement team at

Rensselaer that will make a transformational mark on the Institute.

Investments through philanthropy, and particularly Major Gifts, are of critical

importance to the Institute as it prepares to launch a new campaign and

works to meet the goals of The Rensselaer 2024 Plan, which includes

strategies to continue building its campus and growing the endowment.

Rensselaer’s integrated advancement team has thrived under Eastin’s

leadership, largely due to his skill at utilizing the strengths and abilities of

team members and his commitment to creativity and collaboration across

the division. Advancement officers work together, creating a collegial

environment where staff are given opportunities to contribute ideas, share

strategies, and grow professionally in their roles. In anticipation of the

upcoming campaign, the division is expanding, and newer members of the fundraising team are finding

tangible and encouraging success early, boosted by a warm response from alumni and robust prospect

pools. The overall Institute prospect pool to date exceeds 25,000 rated prospects.

Rensselaer was recently named as a 2015 winner for overall fundraising performance and overall fundraising

improvement for fiscal years 2012-2014, among private research/doctoral institutions with endowments

under $1 billion, by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Rensselaer has total assets of $1.5 billion and an endowment of approximately $650 million. Its annual

operating budget of $384 million includes in excess of $100 million in research expenditures. In September

2004, the Institute launched Renaissance at Rensselaer: The Campaign for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,

with a goal to raise $1.4 billion. This capital campaign was successfully completed in 2008.

Today, the Advancement team is working toward the goals outlined in The Rensselaer Plan 2024, an

ambitious strategic plan aimed at transforming the Institute though major investments in its people,

programs, platforms, and partnerships. Plans for an upcoming capital campaign are being developed, and

Senior Advancement Officers will have the ability to participate in the philanthropy summit and planning

sessions that are slated for the fall. This effort will continue to build endowment and current use resources

to support student scholarships and fellowships. It will also support programmatic and research enterprises

to propel Rensselaer forward in comprehensive growth across the campus, the nation and the globe.

http://news.rpi.edu/content/2015/05/21/rensselaer-named-2015-case-fundraising-winner


Client Overview

Rensselaer offers degrees from five schools:

Engineering; Science; Architecture; Humanities,

Arts, and Social Sciences; and, the Lally School

of Management, as well as an interdisciplinary

degree in Information Technology and Web

Science. Institute programs serve

undergraduates, graduate students, and

working professionals around the world.

Nearly 29 percent of undergraduate students

this year are from areas outside of the Northeast. First year students hail from 47 states, in addition to the

District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and from countries all around the world.

Rensselaer alumni/ae, 100,000 strong, have originated technologies and products and generated results that

have changed the world – from railroad systems, manufacturing, and newly emerging scientific and

engineering disciplines in the nineteenth century to space exploration, email and electronics devised in the

twentieth. Today, Rensselaer ranks among the nation’s top 50 research universities and is known for

educating students to be leaders who will address critical societal and global problems from a technological

perspective.

The Institute offers more than 145 programs at the

bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Students are

encouraged to work in interdisciplinary programs that

allow them to combine scholarly work from several

departments or schools. The Institute provides rigorous,

engaging, interactive learning environments and campus-

wide opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and

creativity.

For almost two centuries, Rensselaer has maintained its reputation for providing an undergraduate

education of undisputed intellectual rigor based on educational innovation in the laboratory, classroom, and

studio. In the last three to four years, undergraduate applications have tripled, underscoring Rensselaer’s

relevance and reputation for excellence in an increasingly competitive world.


Driven by talented, dedicated, and

forward-thinking faculty, Rensselaer

has dramatically expanded the research

enterprise by leveraging its existing

strengths and focusing on five

signature research areas:

biotechnology and the life sciences;

energy and the environment;

computational sciences and

engineering; nanotechnology and

advanced materials; and Experimental Media & the Arts. In the last three to four years, research dollars

designated for the Institute’s work have tripled.

The 2010 U.S. News & World Report guide to “America’s Best Graduate Schools” singled out Rensselaer’s

School of Engineering, ranking it in the Top 50 nationwide; the master of fine arts in electronic arts ranks

sixth in the nation in multimedia/visual communications; and the Lally School of Management MBA program

ranks 27th in entrepreneurship in the nation. The Institute is especially well-known for its success in the

transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions

benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development.

Over 15 major interdisciplinary research centers and several smaller ones, the Severino Center for

Technological Entrepreneurship, and the nationally known Rensselaer Technology Park offer undergraduate

and graduate students a wide range of opportunities for research and learning through interaction with

business, government, and industry. The Emerging Ventures Ecosystem Business Incubator Center, named

Business Incubator of the Year, nurtures 30 start-up companies; the Technology Park houses more than 50

companies and 2,200 employees. Approximately two-thirds of participating companies have evolved from

research at Rensselaer or have been started by Rensselaer alumni.

The Rensselaer Plan:

Galvanizing Rensselaer’s strengths and serving as a catalyst for change, The Rensselaer Plan is a

comprehensive strategic plan for the Institute conceived by Rensselaer’s President, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson.

The Plan has served as the driving force to achieve new prominence for the Institute in the 21st century.

This comprehensive plan defines Rensselaer’s core enterprises and sets forth the Institute’s goal to double

its doctoral program and virtually triple its research initiative with special focus on biotechnology

computation, energy and the environment, media and the arts, and nanotechnology.


Since 2000, under the leadership of President Jackson, Rensselaer has accomplished the following:

Designed and constructed the 220,000-square-foot Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and

Performing Arts Center facility, which opened in October 2008 as a bold platform at the intersections

of art, science, and technology.

Established the Center for Computational Innovations (CCI), a $100 million supercomputer

partnership involving Rensselaer, IBM, and New York State.

Designed and constructed the CCI platform and facility, made up of massively parallel Blue Gene

supercomputers, POWER-based Linux clusters, and AMD Opteron processor-based clusters,

providing more than 100 teraflops of computing power, opening it in September 2007 as one of the

most powerful university-based supercomputers in the world.

Constructed a 218,000-square-foot state-of-the-art research facility for the Center for Biotechnology

and Interdisciplinary Studies, opening it in September 2004. It facilitates multidisciplinary research in

the life sciences, applied sciences, and engineering that have led to new discoveries and

technologies that improve the quality of life.

Created the Office of Vice President for Research and developed “Signature Thrusts” in Media Arts,

Science and Technology; Biotechnology and Life Sciences; Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials;

Energy, Environment, and Smart Systems; and Computational Science and Engineering to drive

faculty recruitment and research leadership.

Created “constellations” of faculty researchers in Biotechnology, IT, and Physics including: Future

Chips, Tetherless World, Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering, Biocomputation and Bioinformatics,

and Physics, Information Technology, and Entrepreneurship.

Attracted $22.5 million in New York State funding for equipping the Center for Biotechnology and

Interdisciplinary Studies.

Completed Phase I construction of the $92 million East Campus Athletic Village, which opened in fall

2009.

Introduced 234 new faculty members (as of fall 2009) to the Institute since 2000, 74 of them in new

positions.

Improved the Institute’s ranking as one of the top 50 national universities (U.S. News).

Although Rensselaer has focused on research as a means of acquiring prominence, education – as always –

remains its mission. Research is the means to fulfilling this mission. It is the creation of knowledge through

research that completes the educational continuum and assures that students seeking careers at the leading

edges are taught by faculty who are themselves on those edges.


The Rensselaer Plan 2024:

Through the aforementioned major investments in its people, programs, platforms, and partnerships, the

Institute’s community has brought about a true Renaissance at Rensselaer. These investments have enabled

the Institute to transform into a top-tier technological research university with global reach and global

impact, and serves as a solid foundation on which it will build even greater achievements in the future.

Rensselaer’s journey of transformation continues under The Rensselaer Plan 2024. In the same spirit as its

precursor, the revised Plan is evergreen, prepared to grow and evolve, as the Institute grows and evolves. In

advancing The Rensselaer Plan 2024, it is moving from transforming Rensselaer to Rensselaer being

transformative – transformative in its students’ lives; transformative in its innovative pedagogy, nationally

and internationally; transformative in the global impact of its research.

As the university anticipates the bicentennial of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2024, it looks forward to

addressing the Global Challenges that face the world of the 21st century – to change lives, to advance

society, and, indeed, to change the world.

Leadership

Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.

President

The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, a theoretical physicist, has had

a distinguished career that includes senior leadership positions in

academia, government, industry, and research. She holds an S.B. in

Physics, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics–

both from MIT. She is the first African-American woman to receive

a doctorate from MIT – in any field – and has been a trailblazer

throughout her career, including as the first African-American

woman to lead a top-ranked research university.

Dr. Jackson recently received the National Medal of Science, the highest honor for scientific achievement

bestowed by the United States government. Since her appointment as President in 1999, Dr. Jackson has led

the extraordinary transformation of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York and Hartford,

http://www.rpi.edu/plan/summary.html


Connecticut. Rankings for Rensselaer among national universities have risen substantially under Dr.

Jackson’s tenure, and the number of students applying to join the freshman class has tripled.

Describing her as “a national treasure,” the National Science Board selected Dr. Jackson as its 2007 recipient

of the prestigious Vannevar Bush Award for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education, and

senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.”

Described by Time Magazine (2005) as “perhaps the

ultimate role model for women in science,” President

Jackson has held senior leadership positions in

government, industry, research, and academe.

Dr. Jackson’s initial vision of remaking Rensselaer was

captured in an ambitious strategic effort known

as The Rensselaer Plan. Over the last 14 years, more than $1.25 billion has been invested in The Rensselaer

Plan, and the campus has been transformed by state-of-the-art research platforms that include the Center

for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts

Center, and the Center for Computational Innovations, which houses the most powerful supercomputer at

an American private university. Dr. Jackson prepared Rensselaer for leadership in areas of research that are

of fundamental significance in the 21st century by focusing on “signature thrusts” in computational science

and engineering; biotechnology and the life sciences; nanotechnology and advanced materials; energy, the

environment, and smart systems; and media, arts, science, and technology. Her tenure has been marked by a

tripling of sponsored research awards and expenditures, and the hiring of over 325 new tenure track faculty

members, as well as advances in the curriculum, an increase in scholarships, growth of undergraduate

research, and bold innovations in student life, including the award-winning First Year Experience and

Clustered Learning, Advocacy, and Support for Students (CLASS).

Dr. Jackson secured a $360 million anonymous unrestricted gift for Rensselaer in 2001 – one of the largest

gifts in history to any university in the United States. In 2004, she launched the $1 billion Renaissance at

Rensselaer capital campaign, which was expanded to $1.4 billion in 2006. The campaign met that goal nine

months ahead of schedule in 2008, exceeding all previous fundraising efforts at Rensselaer.

The Rensselaer Plan 2024 is intended to make Rensselaer transformative in the global impact of its research,

in the lives of its students, and its pedagogy. Towards that end, forward-looking research initiatives at

Rensselaer are underway to address the greatest challenges of humanity in energy, water, and food security;

national and global security; human health; climate change; and the allocation of scarce natural resources.

These initiatives include The Rensselaer Institute for Data Exploration and Applications, or The Rensselaer


IDEA, which brings together the strengths of the university in web science, high-performance computing,

cognitive computing, data science and predictive analytics, and immersive technologies – and links them to

applications at the interface of engineering and the physical, life, and social sciences – in order to answer

complex questions that never could be answered before–questions at the root of global challenges.

In accordance with The Rensselaer Plan 2024, the university now offers a complete student experience for

graduate students as well as undergraduates, through CLASS. Rensselaer also is taking the lead in

pedagogical innovation, including creating the multiplayer and mixed reality classroom, as well as cyber-

enabled discovery and learning – all of which are informed by the cutting-edge research at Rensselaer in

data science, immersive environments, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science that takes place at

Rensselaer.

In 2014, United States President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Jackson as Co-Chair of the President’s

Intelligence Advisory Board. The Board assesses issues pertaining to the quality, quantity, and adequacy of

intelligence activities; the effectiveness of organizational structure, management, and personnel; and the

performance of all agencies of the federal government engaged in the collection, evaluation, or production

of intelligence, or the execution of intelligence policy.

From 2009 to 2014, Dr. Jackson served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

(PCAST), which assists the White House in policy formulation in the many areas of science, technology, and

innovation that are crucial to strengthening the economy and increasing opportunity. Dr. Jackson was also

co-chair of the President’s Innovation and Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), part of the PCAST. In

that role, in 2011 she co-authored a report to the President offering an overarching strategy for revitalizing

the leadership of the nation in manufacturing. In 2013, Dr. Jackson was named by President Obama to the

Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee 2.0, charged with making recommendations for

invigorating the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy.

Prior to her leadership of Rensselaer, President Jackson was Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission; a theoretical physicist conducting basic research at the former AT&T Bell Laboratories; and a

professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers University.

Please click here to learn more about Dr. Jackson.

http://rpi.edu/president/profile.html


Graig Eastin

Vice President, Institute Advancement

Graig Eastin joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in early fall 2014. With more than

25 years’ experience in the development profession leading academic institutions

and nationally recognized healthcare organizations, Eastin has demonstrated success

in foundation board development, management of capital campaigns,

comprehensive program development, as well as portfolio and prospect

management.

Prior to Rensselaer, Eastin served as Vice President for CHOC Children’s Hospital Foundation in Orange,

California. Eastin raised more than $80 million for this medical affiliate of the University of California, Irvine

while managing a $5.5 million budget and directing a team of 34, consistently raising the annual level of

fundraising. In addition, he completed a $125 million capital campaign exceeding goal, having raised $174

million. His partnership with the CEO of CHOC secured a $27 million naming gift for the new medical tower

at CHOC Children’s.

From 2003 to 2011, Eastin was at the University of California San Diego, first as Senior Director,

Development and External Relations at the Rady School of Management from 2003-2010, and from 2010 to

2011 as the Senior Executive Director of Development, General Campus. Following a successful tenure, he

was promoted to Associate Vice Chancellor for Development, General Campus in 2011.

His prior roles included Vice President-Institutional Advancement at the Harbor-UCLA Research &

Educational Institute (REI) from 2000 to 2003 as well as the Vice President, Director of Development at The

Whittier Institute for Diabetes from 1998 to 2000.

Eastin received his Master of Science in Education from the University of Southern California. He also holds a

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location

Troy, NY:

Troy is 10 miles northeast of Albany, New York’s capital, and 150 miles north of New York City. The area is

centrally located with easy access to Boston (three hours), Montreal (four hours), and Niagara Falls (five

hours). Troy and the Capital Region (population 873,500) are home to many well-known colleges such as:


Albany Medical College, The Russell Sage Colleges, Siena,

Skidmore, Union, University at Albany (SUNY), and the nearby

Williams College.

The area offers a relaxed lifestyle with a variety of cultural,

recreational and social opportunities. The Adirondacks, the

Berkshires, and the Catskills, all within an hour of Troy, offer

hundreds of areas for camping, hiking, and skiing. Many clubs sponsored by the Rensselaer Union take full

advantage of these natural resources.

Arts organizations of every description are also found in the area. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall,

considered by many experts to have the finest acoustics in America, is a short walk from campus, as is a new

downtown arts center. Nearby Saratoga Springs is the summer home to the New York Ballet and the

Philadelphia Orchestra. Albany’s Times Union Center hosts a wide array of top-name musical groups,

sporting events, and other entertainment options.

The Capital Region is central to New York State’s Tech Valley, an area that encompasses the Capital Region,

Adirondacks/North Country, Hudson Valley and Mohawk Valley. Tech Valley offers rewarding career and

business opportunities, world-class educational and research facilities, a vibrant arts and entertainment

scene and exhilarating year-round outdoor pursuits.

Background Checks:

Prior to submitting your resume for this position, please read it over for accuracy. LLLS does verify academic

credentials for its candidates, and our clients frequently conduct background checks prior to finalizing an

offer.


To learn more, call

Anne Norton, Search Director at

617-262-1102

or send nominations or cover letter and resume to

[email protected]

All inquiries will be held in confidence.

Setting the Standard in Development Search

420 Boylston Street, Suite 604, Boston, MA 02116

617.262.1102

www.LLLSearches.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.lllsearches.com/


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