The mission of the office of institutional advancement is to build and sustain positive relationships across multiple constituencies and to engage robust philanthropic support from many different sources in order to realize fully the academic mission and potential of Hampshire College. 

Commitment to Enduring Relationships 

• We foster constructive, long-term relationships with all external constituents of Hampshire College, including alums, parents, grandparents, trustees, friends, and donors
• We strive to build, improve, and sustain positive relationships on campus with faculty, staff, and students
• We model collaborative and collegial working relationships, within the office and across campus
• We treat all colleagues in the office and on campus, at every level, respectfully and with appreciation for what they bring to the college
• We listen carefully to others’ concerns, and respond quickly and appropriately
• We volunteer to serve on campus committees, we attend College events, and we participate in College activities outside our own areas

Commitment to Professionalism

• We each behave in a manner that is consistently and strictly ethical and legal
• We maintain optimal standards of quality and accountability in all we do
• We look, act, and speak with a professional demeanor
• We collaborate across and between units within institutional advancement, understanding that all of our work is a shared endeavor and a mutual responsibility
• We value the work that each and every person does, and we make sure to regularly express our thanks
• We foster an environment in which every person has a voice, and in which diverse voices are heard and appreciated
• We offer suggestions for improvement and critical feedback to each other, respectfully and in the spirit of shared ownership of our work
• We believe that a professional environment is one that values the whole person, and accordingly we are committed to providing a compassionate and family-friendly workplace
• We each take responsibility for stewarding the College’s resources through thoughtful and careful budgeting, spending, utilization, and maintenance

Commitment to Excellence

• We strive to hire and retain a diverse workforce, believing that we as individuals, our office together, and the College as a whole benefit tremendously and can better achieve excellence when we represent a broad spectrum of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives
• We, individually and collectively, take responsibility for always improving the quality of our work
• We offer assistance whenever we see a need, without having to be asked; and if we see a mistake, whether it is of our own making, we take steps to remediate it
• We make “going the extra mile” the norm
• We understand that ongoing excellence comes from learning and experimentation, and that learning and experimentation sometimes involve mistakes and failure; and we value an environment that encourages such learning and experimentation
• We encourage initiative and thoughtful creativity in all dimensions of our work
• We regularly give honest, specific, and critical feedback to those we supervise and offer the same to those who supervise us, doing so in a respectful manner oriented toward improvement and professional growth
• We complete formal performance evaluations, at least annually and more frequently when needed

Commitment to Best Practices

• We identify the best practices in our professions, including but not limited to annual giving; major gifts; gift planning; corporate, foundation, and government relations; alum and family relations; advancement services; stewardship; and research, and adapt them to the Hampshire environment
• We each master the technical skills necessary to perform our jobs in alignment with best practices, and we continuously develop those skills according to the state-of-the-art
• We engage in responsible and fully informed solicitations and stewardship
• We endorse and adhere to the Donor Bill of Rights
• We endorse and adhere to professional management and reporting standards established by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
• We make smart decisions based on the best available evidence, including gathering opinions from others
• We imagine and experiment with new ways of doing things more effectively and efficiently

Commitment to Education

• We know that our activities, every day, are informed by and are in support of the educational mission of Hampshire College, and that this is the greater good for which we all work
• We are committed to the principle that every one of us is an educator, by doing our part to contribute to the College’s educational mission
• We are committed to the principle that every one of us is a learner, taking every opportunity to advance ourselves professionally through trainings, conferences, and much else, and we encourage our colleagues to do the same
• We value the roles of educator and learner within our office as well, assuming that we all have something to teach and something to learn from each other
• We model the key educational commitments of the college within our own context, including in the realms of stewarding environmental resources, maintaining a global sensibility, fostering sustainability, and building and honoring diversity