Career Center

Founded in 1891, Central Washington University (CWU) is a public, four-year university located in Ellensburg, Washington. CWU provides high quality undergraduate and graduate programs to over 10,000 students and employs about 1,800 faculty and staff. The University has distinguished itself through its high-quality teaching and academic programs and student-centered orientation and approach. Central is committed to providing a range of research, outreach, and international experiences for faculty and students that includes lifelong learning opportunities.

Wildcat Athletics compete in NCAA Division II with six men’s varsity sports teams and seven women’s varsity sports teams. Tomlinson stadium, which hosts football, rugby and soccer recently underwent extensive renovation and improvement funded by philanthropic support. Construction is currently underway to renovate the Nicholson Pavilion into a state of the art health education building combining athletic and academic programs, funded by state investment and donors.

Join us as either Associate Director (ADOD) or Director of Development (DOD) for Athletics. This position is an exciting opportunity for a frontline fundraiser to serve in a unit-based leadership role at one of Washington state’s best comprehensive universities with a growing advancement program. The fundraising position is responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of new and existing donors and prospects, including alumni, parents, friends, and other constituents and has a dual reporting relationship to an Assistant Vice President for Development and to the Director of Athletics. The ADOD or DOD will focus on fundraising priorities articulated by university department of athletics and university advancement leadership. The ADOD has a focus on mid-level gifts and will manage a portfolio of mid-level gift donors and prospects, with some activity with major gift donors possible as their portfolio grows. The DOD has a focus of activity on major gifts and will manage a portfolio of major gift donors and prospects.

The ideal candidate will bring the following skills and experience 

• An entrepreneurial, collaborative, and flexible leadership approach who projects intellectual and social curiosity by asking probing questions.
• A demonstrated understanding of the role of advancement as part of highly functioning university, and ability to work closely guiding academic leaders on planning and donor activity.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with an inspiring and persuasive ability, including superior written, verbal, research, critical thinking, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion with success in working collaboratively with many constituencies. Ability to bring multicultural perspectives and issues into everyday conversations would be an advantage.
• Travel throughout Washington state and occasional out of state travel is required.
• A bachelor’s degree is required, an advanced degree would be an advantage.
• Candidates for DOD will bring a minimum of three to five years of direct fundraising experience including success in soliciting and closing major gifts, and a proven record of effective relationship building, in particular pipeline strategy and comfort securing major and planned gifts.

Candidates for ADOD will bring a combination of education and experience in fundraising and a closely related field such as corporate sales which clearly demonstrates the ability to perform the essential functions of the job.

To apply, navigate to this link: https://www.cwu.edu/hr/careers and search Job ID: 4884.