Job Description

The Assistant Director of the Binghamton Fund is a full-time, professional fundraising position responsible for planning, directing, and implementing a successful annual giving program to raise unrestricted support from undergraduate alumni and recent graduates the first ten years out.  The position will also coordinate the Binghamton Fund stewardship efforts across all constituencies and serve as the primary development representative for the Parents Leadership Council. The Assistant Director reports to the Senior Director of the Binghamton Fund.

The position must have superb management skills to help manage and grow a well-established donor stewardship program for Binghamton Fund donors in addition to focusing on volunteer engagement in dollars raised and participation rates for young alumni, students and parents in support of the University priority of securing unrestricted annual giving. The position works closely with the Office of Development, the Office of Alumni Engagement, Parent and Family Programs, and other on-campus partners to integrate annual giving activity into efforts with students and parents.

The Assistant Director should be a strong advocate for the Binghamton Fund, both internally and externally.

Essential Roles and Responsibilities: 

BOLD Giving Program Management – 30%

• Develop a plan for solicitation and stewardship aimed to grow young alumni participation from Bearcats of the Last Decade (BOLD), increase donor loyalty, and provide general education about philanthropy to the University.  This includes providing input to direct mail, e-mail, and social media outreach for solicitation as well as stewardship.
• Serve as the point of contact for all young alumni questions related to giving.
• Work with the Senior Director to analyze and evaluate solicitation and stewardship strategy success.

Student Philanthropy Committee and Undergraduate Initiatives – 30%

• Plan, coordinate, supervise, and implement the various Student Philanthropy Committee (SPC) activities to reach fundraising goals and objectives while ensuring the committee reaches their full potential as a volunteer organization. This includes identifying, recruiting, training and supporting student volunteers.
• Manage the balance of (1) raising awareness about philanthropy among students to build a culture of philanthropy with (2) asking seniors to give back.
• Oversee email, telefund and event components of the SPC fundraising effort. Analyze and evaluate solicitation and stewardship strategy success.
• Develop a plan to strengthen giving from undergraduates on campus. Work collaboratively with the Office of Alumni Engagement, Student Affairs, and other student programs to build an awareness of philanthropy, class identity, and the larger alumni network.  This includes: leveraging and weaving philanthropy messages into events across campus in conjunction with other campus departments, creating publicity and marketing materials, providing volunteer opportunities, and other collaborative programming involving administration and alumni.

Donor Stewardship –  20%

• Coordinate stewardship efforts for Binghamton Fund donors, including donor acknowledgement cards and letters for Binghamton Fund Leadership Society members, first time donors, and loyal donors to the Binghamton Fund.
• Manage the annual TAG (Thank-A-Giver) Day event, an annual campus-wide and virtual celebration of donors for all that they make possible at Binghamton University.
• Work closely with the Senior Director of the Binghamton Fund, Associate Director of the Binghamton Fund, and the Donor Relations office to identify, plan and execute new stewardship strategies for Binghamton Fund donors.

Parents Leadership Council – 15%

• Assist with activities related to the Parents Leadership Council (PLC) in collaboration with the Assistant Director of Family and Parent Programs. This includes representing the Binghamton Fund and the Division of Advancement on the quarterly Parents Leadership Council (PLC) calls and on-campus annual meeting.
• Work closely with the Chair of the Development Committee within the PLC as the primary staff liaison for this committee. Establish fundraising goals and objectives for the committee and larger council. Develop opportunities for new generations of volunteers who can take on leadership roles and serve as solicitors for future fundraising efforts. Recruit, train and support these volunteers as appropriate.

Budget oversight and professional development – 5%

• Monitor the budget by preparing invoices and expenditures for approval.
• Forge relationships with colleagues at other institutions and organizations in an effort to learn best practices in the industry.
• Review fundraising trade journals, books, and listservs to improve the annual giving program and develop enhanced solicitation strategies. Stay current on trends in the annual giving industry and changes in technology that affect the program.
• As funding allows, participate in at least one professional development conference or educational program each year, if appropriate, in an effort to improve job skills and acquire broader knowledge of fundraising techniques used at other colleges and universities.

Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Three years in development; thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of higher education development and fundraising with an understanding of individual giving programs preferred, and detailed understanding of annual fundraising programs, such as direct mail, phonathon, and personal solicitation programs, strongly preferred.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, outstanding personal initiative. Very detail oriented, highly motivated.  Experience in short-cycle campaign fundraising preferred.
• Superior communication skills with the ability to connect to students; clarity, crispness, and persuasiveness in written and oral communications.
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment – with a mix of faculty, parents, alumni and staff colleagues.
• Proven ability to guide a broad range of volunteers with limited fundraising experience to successful outcomes aligned with the University’s strategy.
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends and travel.
• Experience in personally soliciting gifts.
• Conversant in relevant and contemporary technologies and how they can be used in support of communicating and marketing direct mail and electronic solicitation programs, including to increase participation, and measure and manage results.
• Ability to problem solve, work collaboratively and be an effective partner in a team environment.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office projects, especially Excel, is required.

Additional Information

Salary: $50,000 – $55,000

The Research Foundation for The State University of New York (RF) is committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action.  It is the obligation of each officer, manager, and supervisor to ensure all employment activities are conducted in an equal and equitable fashion, without regard to race, creed, religion, color, citizenship, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, predisposing genetic characteristics, genetic information, marital status, status as a domestic violence victim, arrest record, disability, military status, disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, Armed Forces Service Medal veteran, active duty or wartime campaign badge veteran, or other characteristic as protected by law.  Such activities include, but are not limited to: recruitment, advertising, selection, hiring, training, promotion, upgrade, demotion, transfer, layoff, discharge, return from layoff, performance evaluation, rate of pay, other compensation and fringe benefits.