Associate Director, Annual Giving Programs (Twin Cities or Winona, MN)

Tami Belden

Overview and Responsibilities

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is seeking to hire an Associate Director, Annual Giving Programs for the Winona Campus. The Associate Director, Annual Giving Programs will promote a culture of philanthropy for Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota by cultivating a comprehensive annual giving program. This position is deeply involved in fundraising efforts in support of current-use annual giving philanthropic gifts from individual donors with an emphasis on new donor acquisition, upgrades, growing alumni participation and developing a pipeline for major gifts. Solicitations will be multi-channel, including, but not limited to, phone calls, mail, digital outreach, and personal meetings. The Annual Giving program is the cornerstone of Advancement efforts and must establish and maintain a thriving donor base; developing, implementing and subsequently evaluating an annual giving fundraising plan for all university constituents.

• Implement, evaluate and continuously improve a comprehensive, multi-year plan to increase donors and philanthropic dollars in support of annual giving programs, and strengthen alumni participation in annual giving . The plan will involve multi-channel messaging including direct mail, digital outreach, and personal solicitation to retain, upgrade and acquire donors.
• Strategically foster a culture of philanthropy among both external constituents and internal staff and community.
• Consolidate and design an extensive and collaborative Leadership Giving Society annual campaign and stewardship program, that elevates the experience for benefactors.
• Work with Cardinal Athletics on annual strategies and campaigns for each of the teams and ensure increasing support year over year.
• Advisor to the Cardinals Connecting Cardinals student organization, guiding them on their work connecting their peers with the work of the Alumni & Benefactor Engagement Office.
• Assist and direct other campus partner programs as well as external initiatives with their annual giving support needs, in coordination with other fundraising work done out of the Advancement Office.
• Monitor progress towards the annual and multi-year goals. Provide a rigorous, systematic review and analysis of all annual giving activities to find efficiencies.
• Provide effective reporting and analysis to volunteers, supervisor and colleagues for use in management decision-making.
• Partner with the Office of Marketing and Communications to design and implement a comprehensive direct mail and online giving campaign to sustain annual giving efforts.
• In collaboration with the Alumni & Benefactors Engagement, develop a comprehensive and coordinated email, mailing, social media, and other pertinent communications calendar.
• Work effectively and collaboratively with the major gifts team to develop goals, objectives and strategies to maximize the opportunities for annual giving from their target audiences. Involve the team in strategic discussions for leveraging the annual giving programs for qualification and cultivation of major gift prospects.
• Work with Advancement Services to develop segmentation, request data pulls, coordinate mail tests, and conduct post-appeal analysis.
• Ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the Saint Mary’s annual giving program through research and development of best practices and tools.
• In collaboration with the Senior Director Alumni and Benefactor Engagement, plans and implements annual reunion giving programs with particular focus on the 25 and 50 year reunions.
• Other duties as assigned.

Essential Skills and Functions:

• Willingness to support a benefactor-centric approach to fundraising.
• Detail-oriented, accurate, and able to work independently and as a part of a team.
• Ability to build effective working relationships both internally and externally.
• Organized, focused, and goal-driven, with a high level of initiative and energy.
• Ability to generate creative solutions for stewarding benefactors and think strategically about benefactor engagement.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills; ability to interact with benefactors, board members, volunteers, and other constituents in-person, by phone, and in writing.
• A self-reflective and positive disposition with a focus on continuous growth and improvement for self and others.
• A career history of commitment to the highest professional and ethical standards including confidentiality.
• Proven ability to interact with varied constituencies in a collegial and professional manner.
• Attendance and punctuality are essential functions of the position. Regular attendance is an essential job function to ensure teamwork and face-to-face interaction with faculty, staff, students, and alumni and friends of the University.
• Demonstrates multicultural competence – the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to work with others who are culturally different from self in meaningful, relevant, and productive ways. The incumbent is expected to support the Mission of the University through their work with faculty, staff, students, and alumni and friends of the university.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience; one year of professional experience in development/annual giving required.
• Three to five years of professional experience in higher education development/annual giving preferred.
• Experience working in constituent management databases required, experience in the Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge preferred.
• May consider other acceptable equivalent combinations of training and experience.

Application Requirements

Apply online at https://hive.smumn.edu/about/offices/human-resources/employment-opportunities and please include a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota believes inclusion and human dignity contributes to a robust academic and work environment and is critical to achieving the University's mission in an increasingly diverse society. Individuals with expertise and diverse skills from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The successful candidate must support, respect, and advance the mission of Saint Mary's University as a Lasallian Catholic institution.

Saint Mary’s offers a comprehensive benefit package including health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, flexible spending, retirement pension plan, and both undergraduate and graduate tuition remission plans.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.