Description
TITLE: Director of Advancement
STAFF LEVEL: Administrative
CLASSIFICATION: Exempt
STATUS: Full Time, 12 month
Overall Responsibilities
The Director of Advancement serves as the leader of Life Christian Academy’s comprehensive advancement strategy. This leadership role oversees and integrates admissions, development and fundraising, alumni relations, marketing, and communications to ensure mission-aligned growth, financial sustainability, and long-term institutional strength.
Reporting directly to the Head of School and serving on the LCA Leadership Team, the Director of Advancement seeks to cultivate a thriving enrollment pipeline, expand philanthropic investment, strengthen alumni engagement, and elevate the school’s brand in alignment with our mission and Strategic Plan.
Principle Responsibilities
Strategic Advancement Leadership:
· Develop and execute a comprehensive, multi-year Advancement Plan aligned with the LCA Strategic Plan.
· Establish annual and five-year measurable goals for enrollment growth, fundraising performance, alumni engagement, and brand awareness.
· Lead dashboard reporting and performance metrics to monitor progress toward revenue, enrollment, and engagement targets.
· Partner closely with the Head of School and School Council in major gift strategy, campaign planning, and donor cultivation.
· Provide regular performance reports to the Head of School and Council.
· Other duties as assigned.
Development and Fundraising:
· Lead all philanthropic efforts including annual fund, major gifts, events, corporate partnerships, and planned giving, in partnership with the Head of School.
· Cultivate, solicit, and steward major donors.
· Oversee campaign strategy for capital initiatives and long-term development growth.
· Ensure professional stewardship systems, donor recognition, and retention strategies.
· Manage advancement databases and reporting systems with accuracy and discipline.
· Develop a culture of philanthropy among parents, alumni, grandparents, and community partners.
· Seek out and apply for grant funding to support the mission of Life Christian Academy.
· Collaborate with the Life Christian Foundation Executive Director on fundraising initiatives as well as attend Foundation Board meetings.
· Other duties as assigned.
Admissions and Enrollment Management:
· Oversee all admissions processes from inquiry through enrollment.
· Develop enrollment growth strategies that prioritize mission fit, retention, and long-term sustainability.
· Lead continuous enrollment strategy and re-enrollment initiatives.
· Establish pipeline development strategies for key entry points.
· Analyze market trends, demographic data, and competitive positioning.
· Ensure a welcoming, relational admissions experience that reflects the core values.
· Other duties as assigned.
Marketing and Communications:
· Lead institutional branding and messaging to ensure clarity, consistency, and excellence.
· Oversee all internal and external communications including digital, print, social media, and public relations.
· Develop storytelling strategies that highlight student flourishing, academic excellence, and spiritual formation.
· Manage website content strategy and digital marketing campaigns.
· Ensure all communications reflect theological conviction, academic rigor, and institutional credibility.
· Other duties as assigned.
Alumni Relations and Community Engagement:
· Develop a comprehensive alumni engagement strategy.
· Establish meaningful alumni programming and events.
· Build alumni giving pathways and long-term philanthropic culture.
· Strengthen relationships with churches, community partners, and local businesses.
· Cultivate ambassadors who advocate for and advance the Academy’s mission.
· Other duties as assigned.
Leadership and Team Management:
· Directly supervise admissions, marketing/communications, alumni relations, and development personnel.
· Build, coach, and evaluate a high-performing advancement team.
· Establish clear expectations, performance metrics, and accountability structures.
· Foster collaboration between advancement, academic leadership, finance, and operations.
· Model professionalism, discretion, and Christian character in all leadership functions.
Role Competencies/Spiritual Expectations
· Strong theological alignment with the Life Christian Academy’s Statement of Faith.
· Demonstrates a passion for support of Christian education and positively able to support LCA’s practices and work collaboratively in a professional setting.
· Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
· Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and the ability to become proficient in new software applications.
· Truthful, positive, and purposeful when communicating with others.
· Flexible and adaptable in dealing with new, different, or changing requirements.
· Demonstrates attention to detail and follow tasks through to completion.
· Holds self accountable to accomplish tasks.
· Ability to organize multiple concurrent tasks and activities and set priorities within established parameters.
· Commitment to LCA’s Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Core Values.
· Ability to retain confidential information about LCA’s constituents.
· Strategic thinker with strong operational execution.
· Proven ability to cultivate high-level donor relationships.
· Data-driven decision maker with experience in CRM and advancement systems.
· Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
· High emotional intelligence and relational credibility.
· Financial literacy related to budgeting, forecasting, and revenue modeling.
· Demonstrates a mature and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
· Integrates faith and work in leadership practice.
· Upholds and models LCA’s core values in conduct and decision-making.
Key Performance Indicators
· Annual fundraising revenue targets met or exceeded.
· Major gift portfolio growth.
· Endowment and campaign growth benchmarks.
· Enrollment growth and retention targets achieved.
· Donor retention and acquisition metrics.
· Alumni engagement participation and giving rates.
· Brand engagement and digital performance metrics.
Requirements
Certifications and Licensure
- First Aid/CPR a plus but not required
Preferred Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred.
- Minimum of 3–5 years of progressive leadership experience in advancement, development, enrollment management, or nonprofit leadership.
- Demonstrated success in major gift fundraising and campaign leadership.
- Experience in Christian education or faith-based nonprofit leadership strongly preferred.
Cultural Attributes Required
- Passionate Personal Relationship with Jesus
- Biblical Ethics & Integrity
- Role Competent
- Stewardship
- Teamwork Minded
- Adapti-Positive
- Mission Focused
- Self-Developer
- Helpful
Supervisory Responsibility
This position will supervise various members of the LCA advancement team.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; crouch; stoop; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus. Safely handle typical chemicals used to clean and sanitize in a commercial setting.
Travel
· Travel to and from the worksite.
· Occasionally attend offsite training or conference.
Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Hours
Work hours are 40 hours per week (may occasionally require weekend and evenings). Monday – Friday during window of 8:00am – 4:30pm.
Benefits
Full Time: Paid holidays, vacation, personal day, sick leave, health insurance, life/ad&d/long term disability, and 403b match opportunity all in accordance with the Life Center Employee Handbook of Policies, Practices, and Procedures.