Horn Entrepreneurship serves as the University of Delaware’s creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement. Built and actively supported by successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders, Horn empowers aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs as they pursue new ideas for a better world. Due to its growing and nationally recognized impact, Horn personnel and programming are transitioning to serve as the foundation for a new School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which will be housed in the Lerner College of Business and Economics.

The Associate Director, Partnerships and Outreach is responsible for securing major gifts, grants, and sponsorships from foundations and corporations with an emphasis on Horn Entrepreneurship (current) and the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (future). In this position, the Associate Director will split their focus between foundation and corporate partners. The Associate Director will create and execute foundation and corporate development strategies by working with the Horn Director and program leads to assess current relationships, identify opportunities for increased engagement, and solicit philanthropic support. The Associate Director’s work will emphasize gifts and grants of $50,000 or more and sponsorships of $10,000 or more.

The Associate Director reports to the Founding Director of Horn Entrepreneurship with dotted line reporting to the Senior Director of Development for the Lerner College of Business and Economics.

 

 

• Identifies, qualifies, cultivates, solicits, and stewards foundation and corporate prospects with a focus on major gifts, grants, and sponsorships.
• Establishes multi-faceted, program-wide value propositions for foundation and corporate engagement and identifies key stakeholders with whom to build mutually beneficial partnerships.
• Works with the Founding Director, Senior Director and program leads to develop, implement, and assess partnership and outreach strategies to increase engagement and philanthropy within Horn Entrepreneurship (and the future School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship).
• Works closely with Horn Entrepreneurship faculty/staff and the members of various Horn-led boards on partnership, engagement, and development activities.
• Coordinates activities and provides stewardship reports and acknowledgements for engaged foundations and corporations with appropriate Horn Entrepreneurship and Lerner College personnel.
• Works collaboratively with development colleagues from across the University who have overlapping interests and relationships with foundations and corporations.
• Manages a pool of 50+ organization-level prospects (which may include 100+ individuals) and makes 12+ prospect Zoom/video calls and in-person visits per month.
• Maintains accurate and robust engagement/visit records and notes using Horn (Salesforce) and the Office of Development’s relationship management systems.
• Develops draft grant, gift, and sponsorship proposals and agreements for priority initiatives, including those offering naming and other meaningful recognition opportunities.
• Provides guidance to individual team members for editing, preparing, and submitting major grant, gift, and sponsorship proposals to foundations and corporations.
• Participates in the prospect tracking and solicitation clearance process.
• Performs other job-related duties, as assigned.

 

 

• Bachelor’s degree required; minimum of five years of progressively responsible sales and/or fundraising job experience.
• Experience in major gift fund raising is highly desirable, preferably in a university or college environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with representatives from an array of foundations and corporate partners as well as Horn and development team members.
• Ability to communicate effectively and persuasively, both orally and in writing.
• Ability to utilize/leverage customer relationship management tools, especially Salesforce.
• Ability to use independent judgment and to perform tasks on own initiative, many of which have no precedent.
• Strong self-motivation.
• Strong sense of purpose for innovation and entrepreneurship education.
• Skill in developing and implementing new, creative outreach and engagement strategies.
• Skill in planning, goal setting, organizing resources, establishing priorities, and executing plans.

Special Requirements:

• Local and domestic travel required.
• Ability to work nights and weekends, on occasion and as needed.