Senior Director of Annual Giving

Posted on 01/17/2020

University of Rhode Island

Kingston, RI

Overview:

The URI Foundation and Alumni Engagement is seeking an innovative and experienced development professional to serve as the Senior Director of Annual Giving. The Senior Director will lead and manage a strategic and comprehensive annual giving program that reflects industry best practices and maximizes charitable contributions. This is an exciting opportunity for a talented and collaborative professional to contribute to the growth, evolution and maturation of URI’s development organization, and to optimize the philanthropic potential of the University’s alumni, parents and friends during an ambitious comprehensive campaign. This key position reports directly to the Vice President for Development.

Annual Giving Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with the Vice President for Development in setting the overall strategic direction for the annual giving operation within the context of URI’s development program in order to strengthen current annual giving fundraising and contribute to the broader agenda for the University’s fundraising efforts during the current campaign and beyond.
  • Lead and mentor the Annual Giving team to build a high-performing team. Increase annual support of the University through the Annual Fund to exceed $4M at the conclusion of the comprehensive campaign. Mentor the Annual Giving officers in the direct solicitation of their assigned top annual giving prospects.
  • Personally, solicit leadership annual fund gifts at the $5K and greater level from an assigned prospect pool. Develop and implement comprehensive cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for assigned individual prospects.
  • Elevate the visibility of giving opportunities through broad communication with the University’s advisory councils, alumni, parents and friends. Collaborate with Chief Marketing Officer to develop a comprehensive marketing program that promotes annual giving.
  • Enhance operational efficiency in the annual giving office. Evaluate the annual return on investment on key solicitation programs including the student-calling program. Ensure that all systems processes—from gift documentation to systems reporting—are accurate and tailored to align with campaign reporting needs for management and the team.
  • Provide leadership in training and mentoring Annual Giving team in annual giving strategies, putting in place a systematic program that ties into overall training initiatives for staff, as well as faculty, volunteers, and campaign leaders.
  • Define optimal data segmentation and solicitation strategies to most effectively achieve annual giving fundraising targets, both annual and during the term of the campaign. Ensure timely collaboration with Advancement Services to identify targeted data sets needed for solicitations.

Parent Giving Responsibilities:

  • Lead and mentor the Annual Giving team to build a high-performing parent fundraising program. Increase annual support of the University through the Parents Fund to exceed $1M at the conclusion of the comprehensive campaign. Mentor the Annual Giving officers in the direct solicitation of their assigned top parent prospects.

Qualifications:

Successful leadership style characterized by an exceptional commitment to collaboration, creativity, and motivation. Demonstrates professionalism that wins the trust and respect of prospective donors and volunteers, development colleagues and University administrators. Excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as the ability to present information concisely and effectively. The ability to prioritize, take initiative, problem-solve, act independently and coordinate with team members, handle multiple tasks simultaneously. Exceptional judgment, personal integrity, strong interpersonal and organizational skills, accuracy and attention to detail required. Strong computer and analytical skills needed.

Education/Experience: A bachelor’s degree is required with five years or more educational fundraising experience including supervisory/managerial experience. Demonstrated competence in raising leadership annual fund gifts from alumni and parents. Experience in higher education and comprehensive campaigns is preferred.

Must be able to travel to locations on and off campus for university business required plus some evenings and weekends as needed. The highest degree of professionalism and discretion in dealing with donors and potentially sensitive matters of confidentiality is required.

To apply for this job please visit www.urifoundation.org.