Assistant Director for School of Leadership and Education Sciences Annual Giving

The assistant director is a key member of central Annual Giving and School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) development, with principle responsibility for SOLES annual giving. Reporting to the director of Annual Giving, the assistant director is responsible for developing SOLES annual giving campaigns, engagement strategies for SOLES alumni, and ongoing stewardship of SOLES donors. The assistant director will focus on engaging, cultivating, and stewarding donors through direct mail, email, telephone outreach, social media, web content, and occasional face-to-face meetings. The assistant director will participate in overall strategic planning as well as program management and implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Comprehensive Annual Giving Campaign:

• Plan, implement, and manage all SOLES annual fund programs including direct mail, phone-a-thon, and e-solicitations.
• Lead the development and implementation of annual giving strategies, activities, and timelines to solicit contributions from alumni, friends, faculty, staff, students, and other constituents for annual gifts.
• Provide guidance and direction to the Telefunding manager for the oversight and execution of the SOLES telephone solicitation program.
• Analyze data to establish goals and strategies to increase donor participation in the annual fund (donors & dollars).
• Manage the tracking and stewardship of annual gifts and pledge payments including endowment funds, scholarships, and other SOLES fundraising projects.
• Provide support tracking gift revenue for current use scholarships along with the awarding of scholarships.
• Oversee the accuracy and integrity of SOLES alumni and donor database records, including the thorough documentation of communication with SOLES alumni and donors.
• Assist in the identification of prospects with major gift capacity.
• Serve as leader/captain for SOLES during the university’s annual Employee Giving Campaign.

Alumni Engagement:

• Engage SOLES alumni by coordinating and implementing alumni outreach opportunities, programs, and services designed to foster a lifelong connection between alumni and SOLES, in conjunction with the university’s central Alumni Relations office.
• Identify, cultivate, build, manage, support, and execute specific engagement activities, events, and programs for SOLES alumni.
• Coordinate volunteer programs and services to engage and cultivate a network of alumni volunteers.
• Work with SOLES student organizations to instill and promote lifelong participation and networking.
• Actively identify and act upon opportunities to highlight, promote, and publicize SOLES alumni and accomplishments through University Marketing and Communications and other University Advancement channels.
• Track and report key performance measurements of alumni engagement using the CASE AEM modes of engagement: Communication, Experiential, Philanthropic, and Volunteer.
• Create, schedule, and budget travel to meet with alumni, host/represent SOLES at university-wide alumni events (including Homecoming and Family Weekend), and support Torero Club chapter events across the country.

Leadership Annual Gifts:

• Manage, solicit, and steward SOLES President’s Club (PC) donors, the university’s leadership giving society with annual gifts of $1,500 or more.
• Manage the personal renewal of SOLES PC donors; develop and implement strategies to upgrade PC donors to higher levels of giving.
• Conduct occasional face-to-face meetings to cultivate and to solicit support to meet SOLES fundraising priorities and goals.
• Identify, cultivate, and solicit philanthropic support by developing and maintaining relationships with alumni and other potential donors to SOLES.
• Identify and promote SOLES events to PC donors to strengthen their affinity to the SOLES and to add value to their PC membership.
• Utilize PC events to steward and engage SOLES donors.

Donor Stewardship:                

• In conjunction with the director and SOLES senior director of development, execute and manage a thoughtful and comprehensive stewardship plan.
• Create and execute personalized stewardship plans for leadership annual and major gift donors, including drafting acknowledgement letters on behalf of SOLES’s dean.
• Track gifts and appropriately thank donors based on gift amount and consistency.

Professional Development/Other Responsibilities:                 

• Responsible for keeping up to date with annual giving trends through research and professional development opportunities, particularly those related to SOLES annual giving.
• Assist with SOLES commencement, graduation awards, and training other staff on office operations and procedures as needed.
• In addition to the responsibilities outlined in this position description, other duties may be assigned by the director and SOLES senior director of development that fall within the mission of the Office of Annual Giving, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, and the University of San Diego.

Special Conditions of Employment:

• Some weekend and evening work is necessary related to student/alumni events and Telefunding Center shift supervision.
• From time to time, attendance will be required for purposes of professional development, training meetings, conferences, or volunteer committee meetings that relate to the work of this position.

Effective June 1, 2023, based on CDC guidance, the University strongly encourages all campus members to stay up to date with Influenza and COVID-19 vaccination recommendations.  For more regarding information USD's COVID-19 protocols, please visit sandiego.edu/onward.

Background check:  Successful completion of a pre-employment background check.

Degree Verification Requirement: Persons offered employment in this position will be required to provide official education transcripts for degree verification purposes.