The Pennsylvania State University
Penn State’s Office of University Development
Office of Recruitment and Professional Development
Creating Strength for the Future
In February, we wrote and asked for your help in building Penn State’s development team, and we were delighted by all of the positive and helpful feedback we received in response. It was great to hear from so many Penn Staters who are dedicating their careers to fundraising for an extraordinary range of great organizations and institutions. This month, we’d like to share a story about how Penn State has helped one of our graduates build her own development career. Lauren Steinberg ’01 started fundraising for the University as an undergraduate Lion Line caller, and she returned after a few years with the American Lung Association to join our Office of Annual Giving as the assistant director for young alumni programs. She earned her master’s degree in higher education while working full-time for Penn State, and today she is the director of major gifts for the College of Agricultural Sciences. Lauren credits mentoring as a key to her success. “Both formal and informal relationships with established Penn State professionals have helped me to learn and grow as a fundraiser. Through the division’s official mentoring program, I was paired with directors of development who shared great insights about the University and the field of development, and they helped me to understand
Since it was established in 1855 on land donated by a central Pennsylvania business leader, the institution now known as Penn State has been a pioneer in higher education, and philanthropy has been both its inspiration and its strength. Through a series of successful campaigns, the University has secured an endowment of more than $1.8 billion, creating and sustaining programs ranked among the best of their kind. In recent rankings, Penn State was named in the top one percent of higher education institutions worldwide; as one of the leading producers nationwide of Fulbright Scholars; and as one of the top ten academic institutions in the country for research expenditures. The Office of University Development is an essential partner in that success. With more than 310 employees working together on the central level and at colleges and campuses across University Park and the Commonwealth, our team is recognized across higher education as a leader in the field of fundraising. Dedicated offices for research and prospect management, gift planning, and annual giving, among others, support the work of frontline fundraisers who secure more than 300,000 gifts each year.
what it’s like to work on the front line by sharing case studies and even taking me along on visits with alumni. I learned how you build a relationship over the years and how you close a gift, and I learned that this really is the right field for me. Informally, I have been able to connect with so many people across the University, and everyone has been willing to talk about their experiences and my concerns, whether it’s a question of how to be an effective leader or approach a particular prospect. The Office of University Development also offers a wide range of training opportunities, and they’re a great way not only to learn about what others are doing but also to strengthen your ties to your colleagues. Our business really is about relationships: not just with alumni and friends of the University, but also with each other.” So many of Penn State’s development professionals share Lauren’s gratitude to the colleagues who have helped them grow. We’d like to hear from you about how mentoring has shaped your career, and we welcome suggestions about how we can make our mentoring opportunities more meaningful and helpful. Please send your thoughts to us at advancementprofessionals@psu.edu, or give us a call at 814-865-0964. And, as always, we’d love to hear from you about development professionals who might want to join the Penn State team. Thank you.
The majority of our positions are based at the University Park campus, located in State College, Pennsylvania. State College is ranked among the lowest-stress and safest small cities in the country, and along with the surrounding communities of Centre County, it offers excellent public schools, beautiful public parks and other natural assets, and a broad range of cultural and athletic events and venues, including the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and a minor league baseball stadium shared with the University. As Penn State employees, development professionals receive excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage; retirement contributions and plans; substantial tuition discounts for themselves, their spouses and same-sex domestic partners, and their unmarried children; and access to life and long-term care insurance. The University also offers a range of personal and professional development programs. Above all, Penn State provides a supportive and inclusive environment in which every employee is encouraged to fulfill his or her potential for achievement.
The Division of Development and Alumni Relations | The Pennsylvania State University | 102 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802