VP of Advancement

Job Summary

Our Mission

The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation (TTEF) - following Jesus Christ’s example of serving those in need - makes a quality elementary education accessible to all children, regardless of faith, by providing need-based scholarships to attend faith-based and other private elementary schools throughout the footprint of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The Position

The Vice President of Advancement (VP) is a member of the TTEF leadership team, reports to the Executive Director, and leads the advancement team within the organization. Serving as a key partner to the Executive Director, the VP is both a strategist and a frontline fundraiser: this leader builds the advancement plan, carries a personal portfolio of the foundation’s significant donor relationships, and develops the team and systems that sustain giving over time.

The Vice President of Advancement is accountable for leading the Foundation’s advancement program and achieving annual fundraising goals across individual, corporate, foundation, and state and federal tax credit programs. This individual will strengthen the long-term health of the donor pipeline through retention, portfolio growth, and increased philanthropic investment.

• Strategic Leadership: Develop, implement, and refine a multi-year advancement strategy aligned with the Foundation's strategic priorities, leveraging data and fundraising insights to provide recommendations to the Executive Director and Board of Directors.
• Organizational Leadership: Build and retain a high-performing advancement team, serve as staff liaison to the Advancement Committee of the Board of Directors, and represent the Foundation with donors, volunteers, and community partners.
• Fundraising Leadership: Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors, corporate partners, foundations, and state and federal tax credit supporters, ensuring disciplined pipeline management across the donor base.

Job Responsibilities

Fundraising and Portfolio Management

• Personally manage a portfolio of 75–100 donors and prospects, including individuals, corporations, and tax credit supporters, consisting of current leadership and major donors and high-capacity prospects with an emphasis on cultivating and soliciting gifts of $25,000 and above.
• Grow participation in Missouri and federal tax credit scholarship programs as a distinct revenue channel, educating stakeholders, businesses, and advisors on the opportunity.
• Secure corporate sponsorships, including Gala sponsorships, as part of an integrated corporate giving strategy rather than as standalone event revenue.

Donor Strategy and Stewardship

• Design, implement, and oversee a comprehensive donor cultivation and stewardship strategy, establishing a disciplined portfolio management system that guides the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors across the advancement program.
• Build personalized engagement and stewardship plans that create sustainable, multi-year donor relationships, with success measured by retention rate, upgrade rate, and lifetime giving.
• Ensure accurate and timely donor data and reporting in Raiser’s Edge NXT, using analytics to prioritize fundraising opportunities, measure performance, and drive strategic decisions.

Leadership and Accountability

• Lead, coach, and develop advancement team members, with accountability for the team’s results, professional growth, and retention.
• Develop individual goals and portfolios for each team member, review pipeline and performance, and report results against goals to the Executive Director and Board.
• Serve as liaison to the Advancement Committee of the Board: set agendas with the committee chair, equip board members to open doors and make asks, and report progress against the advancement plan.

Job Requirements

• Seven-plus years of progressive advancement experience, including demonstrated success securing five- and six-figure gifts and leading fundraising teams.
• Experience developing philanthropic programs and working with state or federal tax credit programs, or a demonstrated ability to master a technical giving vehicle quickly.
• Proficiency with Raiser’s Edge NXT or a comparable CRM, including pipeline reporting.
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Willingness to work occasional evening and weekend hours for donor events and board meetings.

Key Competencies

• Relationship builder: Builds trust quickly and sustains authentic relationships with donors, board members, and colleagues.
• Strategic thinker: Translates mission into a fundable strategy and adjusts based on data and donor feedback.
• Accountable results: Sets clear goals, tracks progress openly and owns outcomes for self and team.
• Coach and developer of talent: Develops people, delegates ownership, and celebrates team wins.
• Compelling communicator: Communicates the foundation’s story with clarity and conviction, in writing and in person, to audiences from individual donors to corporations and foundations.
• Mission alignment: Genuine affinity for providing children a pathway to a brighter future through faith-based educational opportunity.