Sarah Lawrence College occupies 44 wooded acres in Yonkers, NY, near the Village of Bronxville—just north of New York City. A 30-minute train ride from the Bronxville station takes students into Midtown Manhattan.
Learn more about the area here.
Executive Brief
Major Gifts Officer
Sarah Lawrence College
The Organization: Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence is a prestigious, residential, coeducational liberal arts college. Founded in 1926 and consistently ranked among the leading liberal arts colleges in the country, Sarah Lawrence is known for its pioneering approach to education, rich history of impassioned intellectual and civic engagement, and vibrant, successful alumni. In close proximity to the unparalleled offerings of New York City, Sarah Lawrence's historic campus is home to an inclusive, intellectually curious, and diverse community.
Talented, creative students choose Sarah Lawrence for the opportunity to take charge of their education. In close collaboration with Sarah Lawrence's dedicated, distinguished faculty, students create a rigorous, personalized course of study and connect their passions across a wide array of disciplines. Their students graduate knowing how to apply the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking necessary for life after college.
Sarah Lawrence's faculty has a long tradition of serving as mentors, catalysts, and activators. It is no surprise that Sarah Lawrence has again earned the #1 spot on The Princeton Review’s “Professors Get High Marks” list.
Campus:
Facilities:
In addition to their round-table classrooms, Sarah Lawrence has outstanding theatres, art and performance studios, and music spaces; modern science labs; state-of-the-art graphic computing equipment; competitive sports facilities; a 60,000-square-foot visual arts center; and recently renovated dining facilities.
Student Body:
Sarah Lawrence's students share an enthusiasm for intellectual rigor, academic risk taking, creativity in all disciplines, and original and interdisciplinary work. They are particularly committed to having Sarah Lawrence's faculty, administration, and student body reflect the social, racial, and economic diversity that characterizes our society. The College’s undergraduate students come from nearly every state and from 50+ countries; more than 80 percent of undergrads live on campus.
Statistics:
Number of students:
- Undergraduate: 1,462
- Graduate: 234
- Total: 1,696
Undergraduate Student Body:
- Students of Color: 26%
- International Students: 6%
Graduate Student Body:
- Students of Color: 25%
- 71% between the ages of 22-29
State representation:
- 44 states plus Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam
- States sending most students: California and New York
International Representation in Recent Years:
Students come from 53 countries, including: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom.
Giving at Sarah Lawrence
Giving
Led by the advancement team, Giving at Sarah Lawrence College supports the community, and ensures the College continues its forward momentum.
Leadership Spotlight
Patricia Goldman - Vice-President of Advancement and External Relations
Patricia Goldman
Vice-President of Advancement and External Relations
Since 2018, Patty Goldman has been the Vice-President of Advancement and External Relations for Sarah Lawrence College. Prior to working in higher education, she was a marketing and revenue development consultant for non-profits and startups. She helped to establish The Feminist Institute and Makersfinders.com. In 2016, Patty concluded a 15-year tenure at March of Dimes, where she was the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing officer and a member of the revenue committee of the Board of Trustees. Her core responsibilities included all areas of marketing the organization with an emphasis on building the foundation’s digital content and fundraising capabilities.
Prior to her tenure at the March of Dimes, Patty was Co-Founder and President of e4media, a digital development company that specialized in content management and e-commerce deployment. She was also the head of production for NewsCorp., where she helped to create and manage a site that provided up-to-the-minute news to millions of consumers. She has also worked in the entertainment business, for both Disney and Warner Brothers. Patty is an active volunteer in her community, spent 9 years on an alumni board for a private day school, and is a capital campaign strategist for her local temple.
She holds a BA with Honors in Social Anthropology from Harvard University, and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California.
The Opportunity: Major Gifts Officer
Sarah Lawrence College - Major Gifts Officer - Job Description (PDF Download)
Position Summary
Sarah Lawrence College seeks a Major Gifts Officer whose primary objective is to increase giving and broaden its circle of supporters. The Major Gifts Officer will be an innovative development professional responsible for cultivating, soliciting, and securing major individual gifts as part of the Advancement Office team. The MGO will work closely with the Associate Vice President for Philanthropy, the Vice President for Advancement and External Relations and collaboratively with the College President, faculty, and volunteers. The successful candidate will be highly organized, have proven written and oral communication skills, strong follow-through, be self-motivated, and possess the natural ability to build trust-based donor relationships. The candidate will also possess a strong knowledge of the principles, ethics, and practices of successful fundraising.
Expectations and Qualifications
Principal Responsibilities:
- Identify, cultivate, and play lead role in soliciting and closing major gifts.
- Act as primary manager for a portfolio of up to 100 donors and prospective donors, moving them in an appropriate and timely fashion toward solicitation and closure, maintaining a balance between discovery, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Recommend and implement short, intermediate, and long-term individual major gifts cultivation and solicitation strategies for individual prospects (e.g. alumni, parents, trustees, friends of the College) working with administration, faculty, board members, volunteers (as appropriate) to identify and engage new prospects for purposes of meeting established fundraising goals.
- Cultivate and expand planned giving opportunities with new and existing donors and integrate planned gift objectives into major individual donor requests.
- Monitor weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual activity to achieve individual performance measures for a metrics driven position.
- Track and report relationship management activity using Raisers Edge/NXT database.
- Create top-level fundraising proposals for prospective donors.
- Know and follow the CASE Code of Ethics for Fundraisers.
Qualifications:
- 5 to 7 years of frontline fundraising experience in large scale not-for-profit organization.
- Must possess strong written, oral and presentation communications skills, and have experience in developing clear and concise funding proposals.
- Demonstrated ability to meet financial goals for major gift giving, with a proven track record of cultivating and securing six figure gifts and above.
- Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated record of meeting deadlines and goals with minimal supervision.
- Keen attention to details made evident in creating and executing strategy for bringing donors and prospective donors through the traditional Moves Management pipeline.
- Ability to travel periodically (including staffing the President) with occasional evening and weekend work required.
- Bachelor’s Degree required.
Applications & Nominations
To explore this opportunity further, please send your resume in confidence to:
Lisa Vuona
Managing Partner, Boston
lvuona@boyden.com
LinkedIn
Lisa Vuona has decades of experience in executive search and human resource management, primarily in the non-profit, healthcare and education sectors. She is distinguished by her track record and network, and by her approach, which combines the strategic power of data with a finely tuned ability to understand the client’s organization and identify high-caliber leaders who fit the culture.
Beth Parsons
Principal, USA
bparsons@boyden.com
LinkedIn
Beth Parsons specializes in the education and non-profit sectors, having held fundraising and leadership roles in prominent educational and social impact organizations for nearly 20 years. She partners with clients to develop search strategies on the basis of organizational needs and core values. Her extensive advancement network serves as a source of high-impact talent.
Leslie Smith
Executive Search Consultant, Boston
leslie.smith@boyden.com
LinkedIn
Leslie Smith has helped numerous individuals and organizations achieve their goals. She works with non-profits and educational institutions, helping to define leadership needs and connecting them with the right talent. Along with extensive knowledge of the non-profit sector, she has a passion for strengthening mission-driven organizations and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Don’t check off all the boxes or meet every single requirement? We have learned that potential candidates hesitate when applying for a job unless they meet every single requirement. Boyden Boston is dedicated to inclusivity and valuing diversity and equity in the workplace. If this opportunity excites you, but your background may not be a perfect match, we still encourage you to apply.
Boyden Confidentiality Notice
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This executive brief contains confidential and/or legally privileged information. Therefore, any disclosure, copying, reproduction, or distribution without the consent of Boyden is strictly prohibited.
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