Description

Bay Path University (Bay Path), a private comprehensive university with an innovative and responsive approach to student-centered, career-focused education, seeks an enterprising and purposeful Vice President for Institutional Advancement to lead university-wide fundraising and engagement efforts during an exciting time of expanded reach, impact, and preparation for a comprehensive campaign.

Known for its commitment to providing affordable, workforce-aligned programs that ensure graduates are career-ready, Bay Path educates and empowers students of all backgrounds, including working adults and first-generation learners, to lead with confidence and make meaningful impact in their professions and communities. Consistently recognized among Top Performers for Social Mobility in the North by U.S. News & World Report and respected for strong allied health, education, and business programs; accessible online options; and its supportive community, Bay Path’s practical, applied learning model successfully demonstrates the value of pursuing a college degree and continued career credentialing—serving as an exemplar for strategic academe/industry synergy at a time when educational ROI, workforce development, and economic mobility are pressing challenges across higher education and beyond. 

Bay Path offers a residential bachelor’s degree for women only on its Longmeadow, Massachusetts campus, as well as bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs for all learners on campuses in East Longmeadow and Boston, Massachusetts; Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; and online. In 2024, Bay Path expanded its reach and program offerings through the acquisition of Cambridge College, increasing its enrollment to approximately 5,000 learners, gaining new locations, strengthening its online presence, broadening its programs, and expanding its ecosystem of corporate and community partners, alumni, and philanthropic supporters. 

Reporting to President Sandra Doran, J.D., the Vice President for Institutional Advancement (Vice President and/or VPIA) serves as a member of the President’s Executive Leadership Team and will define a vision and approach to philanthropy that supports the University’s strategic priorities and emergent initiatives.  The Vice President manages and provides strategic guidance for a team that encompasses individual giving (annual, major, principal, planned giving), corporate and foundation giving, alumni and constituent relations, stewardship, and advancement services, ensuring the team collectively surpasses ambitious fundraising goals as well as activity benchmarks. Leading by example, the Vice President will manage a portfolio of major and principal gift prospects, and work closely with President Doran in expanding philanthropic support and raising public awareness of the relevance and impact of Bay Path’s initiatives, faculty, and student and alumni achievements.

Fostering an advancement enterprise that mirrors the dynamism, resourcefulness, inclusivity, and responsiveness that is emblematic of the Bay Path community, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement will serve as a thought leader and chief architect for Bay Path’s targeted and comprehensive campaign efforts, including charting a course for a comprehensive campaign. The Vice President will work internally and externally to accelerate collaborative fundraising and engagement activities and to deepen partnership around intersectional goals—inspiring and co-designing with colleagues across the faculty, student affairs and career services, finance, enrollment, and marketing. Leading through influence and example, the VPIA will engender a spirit of shared success and greater collective impact.

The successful candidate is expected to have at least ten years of increasing advancement leadership and fundraising achievement at a higher education, higher education-adjacent, or purpose-aligned institution with proven success building and leading adaptive and high-functioning teams, ideally in a campaign environment. They should have demonstrable success in identifying and securing major and principal gifts as well as cultivating mutually beneficial corporate and institutional partnerships. 

A skilled storyteller and clear communicator, the VPIA will bring an accessible and collegial leadership style and the energy to inspire open dialogue, connection, and collaborative action with varying constituencies and across multiple industries and geographic markets around new ideas and strategic directions. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are necessary, along with a philosophy of teamwork and hands-on implementation. The candidate will bring a data-informed approach to decision making and measuring outcomes and an appetite for leveraging technology and digital tools for smarter workflows and the optimization of resources. A bachelor’s degree is required. In accordance with its core values and mission, Bay Path is especially interested in recruiting members of diverse communities and individuals with a commitment to multiculturalism and serving the educational needs of all students.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree and/or graduate degree, preferred. CFRE is not required but will be a plus.
• At least ten years of increasing advancement leadership and fundraising achievement at a higher education, higher education-adjacent, or purpose-aligned institution. 
• Proven ability to acquire six-figure+ individual and/or institutional major gifts in higher education or nonprofit environments is required for this position, preferably in the context of a comprehensive campaign. Track record of prior professional coaching of staff resulting in the attainment of major gifts, planned or legacy gifts, and/or increasing annual funds. 
• A successful track record of working directly with the most senior levels of an organization and its transformational donors is critical, as is a sophisticated, nuanced understanding of the confluence of relationships that facilitate major and principal gift discussions and propel them forward.
• Strength in developing the case and support for strategic and complex fundraising plans. Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to shape messaging to move individuals across the spectrum of prospect development, culminating in significant and potentially game-changing solicitations appropriate to organizational priorities and donor interests.
• Ability to engage and motivate volunteers and other constituent groups and appreciate their role in building an effective fundraising network, inspiring them to action, and making the experience satisfying and fun.
• Diplomacy, tact, and the ability to work across diverse internal and external constituents, building credibility and constructive professional relationships. Demonstrated facility in cultivating relationships and operating through influence rather than authority.
• Capacity to build an advancement platform for a productive and effective division—one where staff are committed to the organization and feel ownership and pride in their work, and where openness and communication are valued.
• Knowledge and comfort with technology, including familiarity with analytic platforms for the purposes of both accurate donor base information and analytic planning.
• Ability to adhere to University policies and procedures and to use discretion in handling confidential information within FERPA and HIPAA guidelines.
• Comfort with ambiguity and change.
• Demonstrated tact, sensitivity, maturity, and good judgment.
• Proven record of professionalism, entrepreneurialism, organization, and creativity.
• Extensive travel, nights and weekends required.
• Respect for Bay Path students and alumni, many of whom are/were first in their families to attend college and/or are non-traditional students balancing their work and studies; the ability to act with shared purpose alongside the Bay Path ecosystem of students, alumni, faculty members, administrators, volunteer leaders, strategic partners, and supporters in to build affinity for philanthropic support.