NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school that seeks to elevate the leader in everyone.

NOLS Advancement builds meaningful and enduring relationships with our alumni and friends worldwide to engage our community in support of the NOLS mission. Internally, Advancement is dedicated to building a best-in-class culture of philanthropy at NOLS.

Key Logistical points:

• Start date: July 1, 2024

• This position is eligible for Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Flexible Spending Account, Life Insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Long Term Disability, Employee Assistance Program, Paid Time off, 403(b), 403(b) contribution, and more.

• Questions: Please contact peopleteam@nols.edu

What does an Advancement Services Director do?

The Advancement Services Director supports the essential work of our Advancement team, which leads all aspects of fundraising, communications, and public engagement. Advancement Services is the backbone of the Advancement department, providing all the operational support for the work of fundraising, and employs their expertise in managing, analyzing, and leveraging the data needed to inform organizational strategy and conduct the operations that engage and steward NOLS stakeholders, supporters, and graduates. The Director provides clear standards, training, analysis, and resources for gift and data processing, data integrity, and CRM data access and use.

This individual will work closely with the frontline fundraising team to support the annual fundraising plan and communications strategy.

This position requires a high degree of judgment, responsibility, organization, collaboration, and management. Implementing effective written and oral communication skills is essential. The ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, work across multiple departments, and meet continuous deadlines is a must. 

This role is at the director level which means you will be involved in the following activities:

• Providing broad leadership and administrative oversight in the evaluation, planning, implementation, and improvement of functions, operations, and resources within Advancement Services

• Supervising and supporting all Advancement Services staff (i.e., those responsible for gift entry, advancement research and reporting, and database management)

• Overseeing the development and implementation of policies (i.e., gift acceptance and counting guidelines), procedures, and business processes for Advancement

• Coordinating institution-wide compliance with all gift and endowment funds to facilitate effective stewardship of philanthropic funds and to ensure that all funds are aligned with NOLS policies and federal guidelines

• Serving as the primary contact with Finance in monthly and annual gift reconciliation, setting up new funds, troubleshooting gift entry adjustments, and providing appropriate documentation for auditors

• Preparing and managing the Advancement budget, which includes monthly expense tracking, projections, and regular reconciliation with Finance

• Creating and improving comprehensive reports to communicate fundraising progress to internal and external stakeholders

• Monitoring fundraiser progress to goals by managing projections and opportunities for the fundraising team while ensuring accountability and strategic consultation

• Building a donor pipeline through identification of major gift prospects, assigning prospects for cultivation and solicitation, and managing donor portfolio health 

• Identifying and developing key metrics and KPIs to report for fundraising goals and progress

• Providing support for the various functions within Advancement as needed and other duties as assigned

What makes a great Advancement Services Director at NOLS? 

We are looking for people who share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with the skills listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas.

• 3-5 years of experience working in Advancement/Development for higher education or a nonprofit; may be substituted with equivalent or similar experience in another relevant work environment

• A comprehensive understanding of Advancement Services as a functional area, including gift processing, stewardship, donor relations, customer service, prospect management, information security, and data maintenance

• At least 3 years of supervisory experience

• Positive approach to building team connections within a hybrid and remote work environment

• Strong analytical and organizational skills; sharp attention to detail

• Ability to prioritize workload, be proactive, take initiative, resolve problems, follow through, and simultaneously manage multiple priorities to ensure goals are met on time

• Proficiency with database management and reporting

• Focused on outcomes and the pursuit of personal performance improvement

In your first 6 months, you will: 

• Schedule meetings with each member of the Advancement team to learn and understand roles and the responsibilities of each work unit.

• Review the Advancement Plan to learn the essential contributions of the Advancement Services Director role in meeting goals and objectives. Identify personal training objectives to support department goals.

• Work with the Database Manager and Systems Analyst to enhance and transition to a newly implemented CRM donor database (Mission CRM). 

• Become proficient in processing gifts in the donor database and in using Microsoft and Google suites and other CRMs and software programs.

• Learn and provide basic database queries and reports for use by members of the Advancement Services team.

Who are we and what can we offer you?

We believe that anyone can be a leader; it is our role to provide the environment and training to help people discover their full potential. We do that in classrooms close to home and in remote wilderness areas around the world. We are an organization with heart, expertise, and wildness, and these qualities help us support powerful, authentic experiences.

NOLS really is a great place to work:

• We have locations in seven U.S. states and six countries, running courses in all 50 U.S. states and over 10 countries.

• We have fantastic employee discounts on top outdoor gear brands.

• We offer discounts on NOLS Courses for you and your family.

• All employees can benefit from free Outdoor Equipment "Rental" at our various locations.

• Insurance Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision benefits are available at a special NOLS rate to seasonal employees. Full-time employees are eligible for benefits package. 

• Wellness Time: Accrued leave that may be used for many HR-approved reasons throughout the season.

• Employee Assistance Program: Access to counselors who are available 24/7 to assist employees with work-life balance concerns.

Next steps

At NOLS we use the Applied platform for our recruitment. Applied aims to overcome unconscious bias in recruiting. Instead of using your resume alone, we'll be asking you to answer questions to test skills needed for the role. The responses are then anonymized, and reviewed in a random order by members of our team. 

The Applied platform also asks some demographic questions before you start your application. We at NOLS never see the responses to these demographic questions with your application. We only see summary statistics to help us check if our candidate pool is balanced and if everyone has an equal chance to get hired irrespective of their background. If you prefer, you can easily opt out of answering these questions.

All you need to do is start the process by clicking on the yellow button on the top right. 

Additional Information

NOLS currently can support remote employees with legal working rights in the US, states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

• A criminal background check is required from all NOLS employees.

• NOLS participates in E-verify for U.S. employees, Certificado de Antecedentes for Chilean or Mexican employees, and other relevant employment verification systems based on location.

• Current NOLS employees please note it is NOLS policy to conduct an internal reference check with human resources and/or your current supervisor as part of the reference check process. If you have any questions or concerns about this process please contact peopleteam@nols.edu.

NOLS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, genetics information, disability unrelated to job or admission requirements, or status as a protected veteran. The school’s nondiscrimination policy applies to all phases of its employment process, its admission and financial aid programs, and to all other aspects of its educational programs and activities. Retaliation directed to any person who pursues a discrimination complaint or grievance, participates in a discrimination investigation, or otherwise opposes unlawful discrimination is prohibited.

NOLS values community and fosters a sense of belonging for our employees and applicants. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations in the workplace because they embody these values, as well as our operating principle of promoting a positive, safe, and learning environment. Reasonable accommodations may be requested for disability; limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition; religion; and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment. Reasonable accommodations may be requested at any point of the employment process, including during recruitment. Please email peopleteam@nols.edu with your request.