Associate Director of Engagement and Donor Relations

Summary

Position Title

Associate Director of Engagement and Donor Relations

Department

University Advancement

Status

Full Time/Exempt

Position Summary

This position garners support for Jacksonville University via ensuring proper stewardship of existing donors and growing our support via annual engagement.   

Description of Essential Job Duties: 

  • Stewardship  
    • Monitors and reports stewardship actions on a weekly basis to solicitors/liaisons based on gift list 
    • Analyzes stewardship process on an annual basis for opportunities or needed changes  
    • Faculty & Staff Dedicated Dolphins stewardship and programming 
    • Collaborates with the Annual Giving team on communications, website, event planning and strategy 
    • First time donor recognition 
    • Thank A Donor Day: Student involvement and event logistics 
    • Implement tracking and process to steward top 100 donors and work closely with Major Gifts to create stewardship reports for donors over $100,000 
  • Named Scholarship Program 
    • Develop action plans for scholarship donors, solicitors and student recipients including senior programming 
    • Program strategy and planning on annual basis  
    • Executes and plans programming for highest level scholarships including applicant interviews 
    • Executes and plans Scholarship Training for student recipients on an annual basis  
    • Coordinates Scholarship Hours and meetings with student recipients to ensure their success within the program  
    • Coordinates and assists with planning of the Fall Scholarship Event  
    • Works with solicitors to ensure scholarship renewal prior to last academic semester 
    • Records all engagement with scholarship donors for solicitor’s review  
    • Oversees the award process and notification to scholarship donors and student recipients  
    • Design and execution of Scholar profiles each Fall  
    • Plans and organizes scholarship meetings between scholarship donors and students  
    • Reports on engagement of each scholarship each academic year for Presidential review 
  • Scholarships  
    • Cross-trained in endowment and scholarship reporting and process innovation annually 
    • Attends monthly Advancement /Financial Aid meetings to ensure awards are in line with scholarship agreements 
  • Donor Relations  
    • Management of annual and lifetime giving societies including Shircliff Circle for consecutive giving 
    • Supports and assists with all stewardship events  
    • Manages and/or executes invitation calls for select stewardship events  
    • Constant management/design/ordering of stewardship gifts  
    • Aggregate stewardship outreach opportunities (WAVE story pitches, social media recognition, campus news for donors) 
  • Communications  
    • Execute annual endowment report with Marketing, Advancement Services, Controllers Office and Financial Aid 
    • Video projects, holiday cards, birthday cards, event follow-up emails, shared photo albums, etc.  
    • Writing for various projects/ needs 
    • Coordinate production of annual donor report (Honor Roll of Donors) 
  • Management 
    • Oversees accuracy of select RSVP reports  
    • Manage a portfolio of scholarship donors  
  • Trained in Rasier’s Edge, Argos, and Colleague  

Essential Job Duties

Goals and Objectives of the Position: 

  • Fundraising strategies and innovative techniques 
  • Effective and strategic communications for targeted constituencies 
  • Professional volunteer engagement 
  • The goals of the University Advancement Office 
  • The mission of the University 

Difficulty and Complexity: 

  • This position requires a high degree of professionalism, confidentiality and an ability to interact with a variety of entities and individuals to significantly increase the visibility of the University. 
  • Incumbent must be capable of conveying appropriate messages and representing the University to encourage and facilitate interest in and support of the University’s mission and goals. 
  • This position has a significant effect on the University’s ability to engage current and future donors in a meaningful way and is responsible for enhancing the University’s ability to identify, establish, create and maintain strong relationships. 

Environmental Demands: 

  • This position requires event participation and staffing; physical mobility is necessary. 
  • Work venues vary from office, to social events, to presentations, to large and small meetings and interactions with individuals, involving a variety of environments. 
  • Evening/weekend work is often required. 
  • No risks or discomforts are imposed upon this position by the physical surroundings or job situation. 

Special Skills

  • Knowledge of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies and techniques 
  • Ability to identify, cultivate and solicit gifts  
  • Demonstrated success in volunteer management  
  • Demonstrated supervisory experience 
  • Self-motivation and discipline to regularly set and achieve work goals. 
  • Excellent organizational, interpersonal and networking skills with large groups as well as with individuals are essential 
  • Ability to maintain a high level of poise and professionalism in all circumstances 
  • Ability to initiate and build relationships with prospective donors, and interact via electronic communications, telephone and in person with institutional peers 
  • Demonstrated ability to take primary responsibility for diverse number of projects and to complete them in a timely manner with limited supervision. 
  • Exceptional writing and editing skills in order to develop proposals, professional reports, strategic plans, and correspondence. 
  • Experience working in Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge

Work Conditions

  • Primarily indoors except when traveling between campus buildings
  • Some off-campus travel may be required
  • Work is performed under minimum supervision and requires incumbent to exercise independence and discretion

Physical Requirements

  • Manual dexterity to efficiently operate a computer keyboard and other business machines 
  • Near vision sufficient to read written communications and computer display screens 
  • Adequate hearing to communicate effectively in person and by phone 
  • Ability to lift and load event materials as well as set-up/break-down event displays. 

Prerequisites Required for Position

Minimum Education Requirement

  • A bachelor’s degree 

Preferred Qualifications

  • Preference will be given to candidates with fundraising experience or donor relations experiences, particularly with a private college or university. 
  • Knowledge of Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge preferred. 
  • Design capabilities in Adobe suite programs

Important Note

This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and/or skills required for this position. The University reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs.

All Jacksonville University employees who work on campus must be vaccinated for COVID-19. Documentation will be requested during onboarding. Our full vaccination policy is available online.

To Apply

Interested applicants, please send application materials to uajobs@ju.edu.