Salary Range: Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications

Job Summary:

The Associate Director for Direct Marketing oversees seamless, comprehensive multi-channel mass marketing initiatives aimed at enhancing annual giving & engagement in support of key priorities that align with DEA’s goals and strategic plan.

The role serves as a primary project manager for AGAR to streamline communication efforts to general audiences and build a pipeline to improve participation, annual giving revenue, and constituent engagement. This includes managing the annual execution of a min. of 12 comprehensive, multi-channel communication & solicitation campaigns using direct mail, email, telemarketing, social & digital channels for alumni, parents, faculty/staff, students & friends.

The role also manages 3 staff that execute specific channel activity and serves as primary contact for outside vendors to develop and execute mass marketing plans. Continuously monitors and reports campaign and appeal results, adjusting tactics to improve results.

Essential Functions: 

• In consultation with DM Consultant, oversee all mass marketing elements for AGAR solicitations & engagement program execution, including a min. of 7 direct marketing fundraising campaigns (fully integrated, coordinated initiatives consisting of mail, telephone and digital communications & solicitations with up to 80 mail segments for 130K+ and multiple emails for audiences up to 80K+.)
• Coordinate and orchestrate with DEA departments to execute other mass marketing needs that cultivate, solicit and steward annual donors, engage specific annual giving prospects and activate certain constituent audiences.
• Serve as the primary liaison, clarify direct marketing objectives, determine necessary scope, timeline & goals for success, clearly communicating from project initiation to completion, setting appropriate expectations and ensuring alignment with SMU’s priorities.
• Collaborate to develop and execute select high profile communications for DEA clients, including the OVP Office. Maintain accurate records, and ensure completed jobs are properly archived and billed, providing results to stakeholders upon project completion in collaboration with DEA colleagues.
• Coordinate the direct marketing calendar featuring 500+ annual communications and fundraising campaigns across AGAR, seven schools, athletics, student affairs, and provost’s areas to effectively solicit for their annual giving priorities. Collaborate with colleagues to develop links between these multi-channel fundraising efforts and other AGAR cultivation/event/stewardship strategies.
• Oversee the day-to-day management of 3 full-time assistant directors (and students as needed) who execute the telemarketing call center, mail & email solicitations and communication & digital/social media execution. Orchestrate the management plan for project elements including copy/creative design development and acquisition, info gathering from campus partners, data list submission/auditing, vendor collaboration for mass production & distribution, and email, digital, social & phone execution.
• Execute giving day and crowdfunding plans, including gathering appropriate data to facilitate project generation and approval. Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure project execution. Oversee intensive communication strategy. Develop toolkits that schools and units utilize to generate support from their spheres of influence for campaigns.
• Manage day-to-day activity for external vendors responsible for executing AGAR’s mass solicitation efforts: including online, digital, mail houses, telemarketing, and others. Jointly develop tactics with the vendors, monitor performance targets against goals, and ensure optimal performance and ROI from all vendors through review, audit and analysis.
• Ensure regular tracking is in place for all campaigns, aliases are assigned and activated for tracking results and files are audited. Fully utilize marketing effort functionality and other analysis systems in conjunction with BBEC to track effectiveness of appeals, communications and solicitation efforts. Regularly report results of each campaign element, including costs, revenues and ROI for each communication while managing the direct marketing budget.
• Partner with Sr. Exec. Director and Consultant on planning, strategy development, forecasting, resourcing and budgeting, management, and creative development and execution for University-wide annual giving. Help evaluate annual acquisition, retention, and upgrade strategy effectiveness, using internal annual trend analysis and benchmarking reports.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in Business or Marketing.
• A minimum of three years of professional work experience with at least one year of supervisory work experience is required.
• The following work experience is also required:

• • Simultaneously managing multiple projects that have different stakeholders and collaboration with multiple team members required.
  • Serving as the primary point of contact for project stakeholders
  • Working on both digital and print project
• Experience working for a creative agency or in-house marketing team with significant stakeholder interaction is preferred. Experience creating project proposals is desirable. An understanding of university development setting and audiences is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: 

• Candidate must demonstrate strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate broadly across the University, as well as build and develop effective working relationships. Must also demonstrate strong written communication skills.
• Candidate must possess strong organizational, planning and time management skills with the ability to think strategically and manage multiple projects at a time. Must also demonstrate the ability to work in a deadline driven, fast-paced environment. Strong project management skills are essential.
• Candidate must have strong problem solving skills with the ability to identify, analyze problems and devise solutions. Must also possess strong leadership skills and ability to provide focus and motivation to a professional staff in goal-driven, fast-paced and changing environment.
• Familiarity with design, print production and social media marketing process required. Advanced knowledge and understanding of marketing principles strongly preferred while basic knowledge is also required.
• A working knowledge of email, calendar, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software (such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) required. Familiarity with project management and database software (such as AirTable and FileMaker) required with expert knowledge preferred.

Deadline to Apply: June 9, 2021

EEO Statement: 

SMU will not discriminate in any program or activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression. The Executive Director for Access and Equity/Title IX Coordinator is designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies and may be reached at the Perkins Administration Building, Room 204, 6425 Boaz Lane, Dallas, TX 75205, 214-768-3601, [email protected].