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Winona Lake, Indiana
Posted: 24-Sep-24
Location: Wilmore, Kentucky
Type: Full Time
Categories:
Job Summary:
The Senior Director for Annual Giving and Engagement (Senior Director) is a seasoned fundraising professional with management responsibilities that will play an integral role within Institutional Advancement’s efforts to secure mission-driven resources to advance the vision for growth and Christ-centered formation of our students. The Senior Director provides leadership for annual giving, advancement communications, and grants. The position helps establish and affect policy and procedure, vision and execution as a member of the Institutional Advancement Leadership team.
Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Advancement, the Senior Director for Annual Giving and Engagement works to implement a multi-channel, donor-centric and data-driven annual giving program to increase philanthropic support to the University. The Senior Director will manage a portfolio of prospective and current donors to cultivate, solicit and steward for leadership annual gifts. The Senior Director will oversee the area of communication for Advancement and create communications that promote engagement and philanthropy among various stakeholders and that celebrate those who invest in Asbury’s mission. The Senior Director will also develop and execute a comprehensive grants strategy.
Key Responsibilities:
Annual Giving
- Develop, execute and manage a comprehensive annual giving multi-channel fundraising program to acquire, re-activate, retain and upgrade annual donors with a focus of growing our base of support, boosting retention rates, and growing the pipeline of major donors. This multifaceted approach includes mail, email, student engagement, social media, videos, events, personal visits, giving days, volunteer coordination, young alumni outreach, student philanthropy, and giving societies.
- Plan and execute solicitation strategy for the Fund for Asbury University: Student Scholarships to meet dollar goal annually.
- Engage alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff, and students to foster a culture of philanthropy throughout the University community.
- Create and execute donor-centered stewardship and recognition efforts for annual giving donors to show the impact of their giving.
- Analyze results of data trends to drive strategic planning of annual giving fundraising efforts.
- Assist with the management of the University’s President's Leadership Giving and Cornerstone Societies and manage the Hadassah Women’s Fellowship giving society. Develop strategies to increase membership and encourage members to move up to the next level of giving.
Personal Solicitations
- Build and maintain a portfolio of 30 to 40 leadership annual giving prospects.
- Work in all aspects of the gift cycle, including prospect qualification, discovery, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship, and complete a minimum of 30 substantive face-to-face visits and 10 solicitations annually.
- Collaborate with and be an integral part of the major gift team, including attending MGO meetings and strategizing on achieving annual fundraising goal for the Fund for Asbury University: Student Scholarships.
Communications
- Oversee the development and implementation of a compelling, comprehensive, and unified communications and marketing strategy and program that delivers powerful messaging and storytelling, enhances the brand, celebrates the generosity and involvement of alumni and donors, and furthers the philanthropic and engagement goals of Institutional Advancement and the University.
- Work with colleagues across academic and administrative departments to understand Asbury’s programs and funding priorities to convey the impact of philanthropy and create compelling donor- centric cases for support.
- Develop marketing strategies to attract new donors while maintaining existing donor loyalty and passion, creating a variety of communications tailored to specific audiences and channels.
- Oversee the creation of solicitation materials, case statements, campaign materials, event collaterals, stewardship materials, feature stories, videos, and articles for print, digital, social media and web.
Grants
- Collaborate with University leadership, faculty, academic personnel, and Advancement team members to develop fundraising strategies and priorities and to prepare grant proposals to secure revenue aligned with institutional goals.
- Create and manage a program to cultivate and solicit foundations for general scholarship support.
- Develop and implement stewardship plans to recognize foundation and grant donors, including providing regular updates and progress reports to donors on the use and impact of their contributions.
General
- Represent the University at various internal and external advancement related events and within the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce.
- Partner with Development Services in database management, reporting and analysis.
- Monitor budgets under purview and ensure maximum cost-benefit ratio is achieved.
- Work collaboratively to advance and achieve overall strategic fundraising plans and goals.
- Maintain the highest standards of data ethics and confidentiality.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
The Senior Director oversees the work of the Assistant Director of Annual Giving & Communications and the Director of Grants & Foundation Relations and supervises student workers as needed.
Qualifications:
The Senior Director for Annual Giving and Engagement should be a seasoned fundraising professional with a minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in the field. Bachelor’s degree is required.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to articulate complex concepts and initiatives in a clear and compelling manner. Excellent relationship building and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with diverse stakeholders. Strategic thinker with the ability to develop and execute fundraising plans to achieve measurable results. Highly developed sense of propriety in dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
The Senior Director for Annual Giving and Engagement should be intimately familiar with and thoroughly committed to the mission, vision and heritage of Asbury University, possessing the ability to relate to and communicate with the various constituencies of the institution in an effective manner. The successful candidate must model the spiritual, personal and professional qualities described in the University’s Handbook for Community Life and should be active in the Church and committed to the fundamental doctrines of the Wesleyan and Holiness movements.
Institutional Commitment:
Asbury University is an independent, Christian, liberal arts university in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. In the desire to be a more inclusive community, reflective of the Kingdom of God, we especially encourage applications from women and from candidates from various ethnic backgrounds. At Asbury University, employees must display a committed and dynamic Christian faith along with the ability to support the University’s theological position, lifestyle standards, and mission. Candidates must agree, support and adhere to University policies and procedures – including the Faculty Manual, Community Standards Guidelines, Human Sexuality Statement, and the Standard of Conduct for employees. Asbury University does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, or handicap in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices.
Application Process:
Interested parties may forward their completed Asbury University Application, signed Application Insert and required essay (located at the bottom of the application insert), and resume to the Human Resources Office via email at human.resources@asbury.edu or by mail at:
Human Resources
Asbury University
1 Macklem Drive
Wilmore, KY 40390