Assistant Director Annual Giving and Donor Relations

The Assistant Director is responsible for the development, implementation, and management of the University’s Phonathon and Donor Engagement Center. They develop strategies and techniques to connect current students with university alumni and parent populations utilizing various communication channels including in-person, phone, texting, web, video, and other digital tools, raising over $500k from 4,000 donors annually. Their programming leverages the Engagement Center to grow Creighton’s external community through stewardship communications, event invitations, campus updates, and other opportunities. The Assistant Director also develops and implements a robust student giving program, securing and stewarding donations from current students and educating them on the importance of university philanthropy. The Assistant Director partners closely with the Annual Giving, Donor Relations, Alumni Relations, and Advancement Communications teams on a comprehensive donor acquisition and retention strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop the strategy and manage the ongoing operations of the Phonathon and Donor Engagement Center (may be in-person and virtual).
  • Serve as the functional lead for the calling software and other digital tools, including texting and video platforms, and leverage the tools’ functionality for fundraising, donor engagement, and reporting. 
  • Create and implement a donor engagement program where current students acquire, retain, renew, and steward University donors.
  • Using phone, video, email, texting and other digital tools, develop Division-wide outreach strategies, including fundraising phone calls, donor and alumni surveys, event invitations, stewardship videos, pledge reminder communications, and other revenue-generating efforts to help build the donor pipeline.
  • Recruit, hire and train 40+ student interns, overseeing payroll procedures and program budget.
  • Perform routine coaching and evaluations for quality assurance.
  • Develop training documents, scripts, and ongoing engagement-center activities.
  • Oversee a student intern incentive program, vendor relationship and pledge letters.
  • Serve as a champion for donor participation while fostering a motivating and dynamic workplace culture.

• Develop the student giving strategy for solicitations, stewardship, and education around philanthropy. 
  • Develop and manage a comprehensive student giving program that solicits, stewards, and educates student donors about philanthropy at Creighton.
  • Create student-specific initiatives that engage and inspire students to give back.
  • Strategies include but are not limited to crowdfunding, events, annual Giving Day, and senior class gift.
  • Oversee and manage program budget.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, marketing, communications, or related field.
• 3-5 years related experience in development, fundraising, student affairs/student life, and/or telemarketing. Annual giving experience in a college or university setting and/or previous telemarketing experience preferred.
• Supervisory experience, including performance evaluation, motivation, compensation, and administration.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Willingness to work nontraditional hours; position includes routine evening and weekend work.
• Knowledge of development/fundraising concepts and corresponding mass solicitation and donor stewardship techniques.
• Demonstrated success managing digital communication tools (email marketing, calling software, texting, etc).
• Strong interpersonal/human relations skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work with a diverse group of students and constituents.
• Ability to learn new technology quickly.
• Strong verbal and professional written communication skills.
• Proficient software skills in Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Must be detail-oriented, goal-oriented, and have a high level of initiative.
• Commitment to the university’s mission and values and ability to clearly articulate said values.

At Creighton, you are part of something big. Your skills and passions unite with thousands of faculty, staff and students inspired to change the world. Here, we offer meaningful work driven by a 475-year-old Jesuit tradition committed to social justice and serving others. Through this tradition, we push the boundaries on innovation. We pursue new knowledge for the betterment of society. We seek to improve our world through Catholic and Jesuit values. And it all starts with you.â?¯