Cultivation Coordinator, The Pomona Plan

Job Posting Location:

Claremont, CA

Job Posting Title:

Cultivation Coordinator, The Pomona Plan

Job Description:

ABOUT POMONA COLLEGE: Located near Los Angeles, California, Pomona College is widely regarded as one of the nation's premier liberal arts colleges. Established in 1887, Pomona College is known for small classes, a challenging curriculum, close relationships between students and faculty, and a range of student research and leadership opportunities. Pomona is a member of The Claremont Colleges.

JOB PURPOSE: The Cultivation Coordinator provides cultivation and analytics support for the Office of the Pomona Plan, serving as primary to answer and screen inbound calls from prospective donors and the primary administrative support for the cultivation and stewardship of life-income donors. The Cultivation Coordinator works independently and collaboratively, performing a broad range of marketing, analytical, clerical and administrative support for the Office of The Pomona Plan. This position is also responsible for helping gift officers to plan and follow-up on donor visits and assists staff with projects and assignments.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Under the direct supervision of the Associate Director of the Pomona Plan, this position collaborates with others to carry out the following essential duties and responsibilities:

 Donor Cultivation and Stewardship

• Is the primary to answer inbound calls from prospective Pomona Plan donors in response to advertising. Screens these calls using a cultivation script and program knowledge to answer initial questions, capture marketing source and ensure the caller is connected with the appropriate gift officer for further cultivation. Uses friendly, open, and engaging language along with substantive knowledge to put prospective donors at ease, welcome their interest and convey the expertise available within the team as a whole.

• Serves on the Pomona Plan marketing subgroup and acts as liaison to the Advancement Communication team coordinator for marketing strategy, implementation and tracking.

• Provides primary administrative support for the gift officers (the Senior Director, Director and Associate Director) in their cultivation and stewardship activities for life-income donors. In particular, the position finalizes and mails proposals and other responses to inquiries from donors and prospective donors.

• Primary responsibility for maintaining the CRM related to donor cultivation and stewardship activities, including entering new prospects, new and updated proposals and opportunities, call reports and marketing sources and appeals.

• Collaborates with the gift officers to plan visits with and other stewardship activities for our life-income donors and prospective donors. For gift officer visits away from campus, may prepare visit letters, visit  files, and reports as requested by the gift officers, and may telephone donors and prospects in advance of visits and otherwise as requested by the gift officers. For donor visits to campus, negotiate schedules with campus partners to build out meaningful agendas for donors when they visit campus, serve as either the lead or the key resource for all arrangements, troubleshoot problems and provide exceptional customer service for the entirety of their visit.

• After gift officers complete visits, prepares or finalizes call reports and any correspondence  necessary. Enters visits in the CRM and updates other information in the CRM.

• Coordinates with the gift officers on a system of reminders (through the CRM and the Outlook Calendar) for future visits and other cultivation and stewardship activities.

• On a monthly basis, independently pulls the list of relevant life-income donors, develops and hand inscribes a standard birthday message on stewardship birthday cards and ensures timely mailing and CRM documentation, as needed.  On an annual basis, leads the effort to send holiday gifts to select life-income donors, including pulling the list of relevant donors and interfacing with the holiday gift vendor. 

• Leads the office to select and procure stewardship gift items like Pomona Plan polo shirts and notebooks.  Oversees and maintains the relationship with the stewardship gift vendor and ensures expenses for yearly purchases align with budget 

Data Management and Analytics

• Independently develops and pulls lists through the CRM for (i) all standard Pomona Plan print and email marketing, (ii) office statistics and metrics, and (iii) ratings and portfolio management.  Provides expertise on data management questions. Also serves as lead liaison to Advancement Services for custom list pulls.

• Leads the monthly close for cultivation analytics and related reporting metrics, including a report on the leading cultivation indicators.  Also pulls or works with Advancement Services to pull custom reports on proposal activity and other cultivation activity as requested. 

• Acts as the lead point of contact with Advancement Services on CRM implementation, customization, enhancement, and maintenance

• Researches and maintains a database of key industry statistics including comparative commercial annuity rate information and an IRS discount rate projection.

Administration

• Serves as the primary point of contact for the Pomona Plan Office for inquiries from the Advancement division.  Develops and maintains relationships with peers across the division with an eye toward spreading expertise about life-income giving.  Also answers phones and routes calls from donors, prospects, beneficiaries, and others to the appropriate person in the Office or at the College.

• Greets visitors. Receives, opens, date­ stamps, and routes mail received in the Office.

• Assists the Senior Director, Director and Associate Director as requested to organize workflow, including picking up and routing outgoing paperwork, organizing mail, returning phone calls and other matters as requested.

• Prepares correspondence and reports from various sources. Requires accurate preparation of a variety of documents and proficiency in the use of Windows, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Outlook and other software, as necessary.

• Maintains electronic Outlook calendar for the Pomona Plan Office, reflecting staff trips, vacations and commitments.  Helps lead the weekly team meeting by preparing the template agenda and collecting submissions for meeting topics.  Captures notes from the weekly meeting.  Works with the Senior Director to plan and execute team events such as the yearly team retreat and convocation lunch celebration.

• Leads the Office in coordinating office space requirements, supplies and facilities requests.

• Leads the Office on expense reporting and processing.  Helps oversee and track Office expenditures against budget.  Leads the Office on the project to digitize all files in the Office while ensuring that important historical data and files continue to be available as needed.

Donor Relations

• Provides clerical assistance to the donor services team on routine tasks.

• Supports the donor services team as requested in maintaining the CRM related to gifts and donor services.

• On a transitionary basis, until the Complex Assets and Principal Gifts Team is fully staffed, may assist as requested with bequest administration, including finalizing correspondence, preparing mailing labels, setting up files, copying and mailing, and other such clerical matters.

Professional Development

• Maintains current knowledge of planned giving by regularly reviewing professional newsletters and publications.

• Pursues training on the CRM and other database programs through Webcasts, IT seminars and other means.

• Develops proficiency in general software, including MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Outlook, and other programs as needed. 

• Expands training in Project Management.

•  Develops training in PG Calc Manager planned gift calculation software.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Education: High School Diploma or GED is required, or equivalent combination of education and experience. College or advanced degree is preferred.

• Experience: 3 years of experience in development at a major academic institution is preferred. 2 years of experience in planned giving preferred. 

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND CRITICAL SKILLS: The Cultivation Coordinator must have, or be able to demonstrate, the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, including applying related skills not specifically listed below:

• Demonstrated effectiveness and clarity of verbal and written communication with excellent interpersonal communication in a diverse environment. Must handle all activities with discretion, tact, and a keen eye for detail. Proven ability to establish and sustain positive working relationships within Advancement and across the College.

• Working knowledge of basic math and statistics to create analysis and reports as needed. A working knowledge of best practices for data management in the planned giving field.

• Able to operate computers with basic Microsoft Office software (such as Word, Excel, Outlook), associated professional software (such as Raiser's Edge, Salesforce Ascend, Cognos, Tableau, PG Calc PG Manager/Anywhere, prospect research tools, Internet research, menu-driven databases) and social media networking. Demonstrated understanding of the use of technology in assessing and improving departmental systems and processes to achieve annual goals and maintain confidentiality.

• Able to meet multiple deadlines and work both independently and as a collaborative member of the College in support of the College's strategic vision and the division's annual goals with a high standard of integrity and ethics.

REQUIRED HOURS: The regular hours for this full-time position are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday.  Holiday, weekend and evening work hours may be required.  Travel may be required.  Regular hours may vary due to needs of the College or division. Pomona College has a remote work policy that may be implemented at the discretion of the manager and is subject to business needs.

HOURLY RATE: The hourly rate for this role is $26.50 to $30.98 per hour with a competitive benefits package. The specific factors that the College will consider when offering a salary to an individual will include, but not be limited to: education, training, relevant prior experience, and performance in prior roles. All staff positions are ineligible for visa or permanent resident card sponsorship. As a California employer, Pomona College requires all employees to be residents of California.

ADA/OSHA: This job description defines the essential job duties of this position.  The College expects that employees hired for this position can perform the essential functions of this job without imposing risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of themselves or others.  It may also include marginal functions, generally defined within Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

DISCLAIMER: This job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification.  It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this position.  When duties and responsibilities change and develop, the College will review this job description and make changes of business necessity.