About UT Austin:

Why Join Texas Development?

What starts here changes the world. What starts here starts with you.

The University of Texas at Austin is on the front lines of the future: sparking the imagination, driving discovery and transforming lives. And it’s only possible because generous supporters believe in the power and promise of our state’s flagship university to change the world. We strive to reach the highest levels of achievement and success in all that we do by creating meaningful and powerful experiences for our donors.

Together, through one the largest fundraising efforts in our state’s history, we will unlock student potential, recruit world-class faculty, transform health and care, and create a vibrant future for Texas and beyond. With nearly $4 billion raised so far in the past five and a half years toward our record-breaking $6 billion What Starts Here capital campaign, Texas Development is quickly becoming one of the very best fundraising programs in higher education.

Texas Development fuels the ambitious vision of The University of Texas at Austin’s 10-year strategic plan launched in April 2022 which is to:

“Become the world’s highest-impact public research university, unleashing knowledge, opportunity and innovation from the heart of Texas.”

Texas Development is a dynamic and growing community of 450 team members across the Forty Acres. Like the university we serve, we are committed to promoting a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging along our staff and donor communities. We honor the idea that if what starts here changes the world, what starts here should reflect the world.

Must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis for any employer.

Purpose: To direct and manage all annual giving programs for the colleges, schools and units (CSU’s) at The University of Texas at Austin that are managed through the University Development Office to secure unrestricted gifts from prospective donors.

Responsibilities:

• Be a core member of the Donor Engagement Leadership team, along with other leaders including, the AVP for Donor Engagement and the heads of the following teams: Donor Relations, Digital Engagement, and Marketing/Communications.
• Work with the AVP for Donor Engagement and other Donor Engagement Leadership on overarching department goals and how to foster collaboration between teams.
• Design and direct the strategic plan for all solicitations to alumni, parents, faculty/staff, students, and other constituents for the various colleges, schools and units managed through the centralized annual giving programs office.
• Provide leadership to the colleges, schools, and units (CSU’s) to create campaign strategies, themes and messages for the acquisition of new donors, reactivation of lapsed donors, as well as the renewal and stewardship of annual donors in collaboration with other Donor Engagement Team leaders.
• Lead a growing team of 15 FTEs, including but not limited to creatives, project and program managers, CSU liaisons, and coordinators to execute donor growth and retention strategies.
• Manage direct reports, meeting regularly as a team to ensure the successful completion of both departmental and individual business plans.
• Oversee the development of customized individual programs for each CSU, including the analysis of university databases to develop targeted prospect lists based on alumni and constituent demographics and other historical data using available Texas Development systems and technology stacks.
• Strategically manage and coordinate multiple solicitation channels, including phone, direct mail, email, crowdfunding, giving days, texting, and social media, to increase overall participation and income for each unit.
• Understand and implement best practices in constituent and donor audience segmentation for mail, phone, and digital channels.
• Work with external vendor to maximize the effectiveness of our on-premises student phone center to achieve team goals.
• Work with external vendor to devise and launch strategic donor engagement through our new Donor Engagement Center (a digital outreach center driven by students, video, and automated journeys) in order to achieve net donor growth goals.
• Manage relationships with vendors for direct mail and telemarketing to create maximized outcomes and provide best value to the University.
• Supervise and manage annual giving staff and student workers, including the University of Texas Student Foundation.
• In partnership with the Reporting and Analytics Team prepare and deliver detailed donors, revenue and performance reports on a regular basis.
• Work collaboratively, proactively, and in a professional, service-oriented manner with all University development colleagues to further the development goals of the University.
• Serve on committees as the Annual Giving representative in meetings throughout the development department. (i.e. new CRM RFP and implementation committee, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud implementation core team)
• Regular analysis of broad base and leadership-level donor metrics at the UT-wide level and at individual CSUs for the purpose of providing strategic optimization and recommendations.
• Regular data-driven analysis of the effectiveness of the Annual Giving Team’s activities to ensure we are executing and recommending the right things that best lead to the Donor Engagement Team’s goals for long-term healthy, sustainable, scalable net donors growth for UT Austin and individual colleges, schools, and units.
• Develop employees by helping them with career development opportunities, as well as to exercise their strengths, and grow their experiences.
• Foster a culture of teamwork, which mirrors organization values and places equal importance on results and relationships.
• Serve as a campus resource, expert, and administrator for all aspects of annual giving.
• Identify methods for streamlining and enhancing efforts, particularly as they relate to donor engagement and annual giving.
• Other duties as assigned.

Core Traits:

• Exhibits an ongoing proactivity and relentless pursuit of excellence and growth, for the Annual Giving program, for our relationships with CSUs, for the team, and personally.
• Proves to be quantitatively goal-centric in driving strong growth toward key goals for CSUs, for Annual Giving overall, for UT Austin giving days, and for key entity types like Alumni, Parents, Faculty/Staff, Students, and Other.
• Demonstrates proactive, strategic ideation for optimization, growth, and innovation, as well as proactive problem-solving skills.
• Proves to be forward-thinking regarding the strategic buildout of the Annual Giving team in conjunction with AVP Donor Engagement in order to achieve our goals.
• Has command of all annual giving analytics and outcomes, macro and micro, using data to drive strategic recommendations.
• Exhibits a dedication to always be improving, testing and optimizing strategies in all Annual Giving channels.
• Exhibits a command of the Annual Giving team fiscal year budget, as well actual cost and revenue tracking; this includes making key staff and operations budget recommendations to achieve ambitious short and long-term goals well in advance of each fiscal year.
• Demonstrates resourcefulness and ability to break through barriers to tactfully lead the Annual Giving team in order manage increasingly robust and integrated fundraising strategies, keeping projects on schedule with a small team.
• Exhibits ability to boldly, optimistically lead and manage Annual Giving team to give their best effort, as well as successfully challenge the team to grow and achieve their maximum potential.
• Plays active role in digital innovation in close collaboration with the Digital Engagement Team.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Deep knowledge of all direct marketing channels.
• Makes strategic recommendations and adjustments rooted in data analytics and results.
• Strong people management. High level of integrity and servant leadership.
• Driven by mission and impact. Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications:

• At least three to five years experience and successful track record leading Annual Giving teams at a major university in a complex environment.
• Highly strategic, analytics-minded, data-driven problem solver driving annual giving program to accomplish most important KPIs.
• Can provide specific evidence of being a lifetime learner, via specific industry-related marketing or fundraising certifications or other direct qualifications.
• This could also include an M.B.A. or Master’s-level marketing degree.

Salary Range:

OPEN

Working Conditions:

Hybrid /Flex working environment.

Required Materials:

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. This position has the option to elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) instead of TRS, subject to the position being 40 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.