The Director of Annual Giving is a key practitioner who will work collaboratively across the division and the university to consistently grow NAU’s donor base of supporters that give up to $50,000/year. Constituents include alumni, parents, past-parents, faculty, retirees, staff, students, and friends. A successful Annual Giving program will inspire loyal annual support and identify a steady pipeline of leadership and major gift ($50,000+) donors for the future. The Annual Giving Director’s key fundraising metrics for success are total number of annual donors, annual giving dollars raised, number of donors retained, and number of new donors.

The Director will lead and execute Annual Giving fundraising campaigns and strategies to meet annual and long-term goals. The Director supervises a team of Annual Giving and Leadership Annual Giving staff, provides substantial input for performance and has significant influence over the team’s employment decisions. The Director will also serve as the program’s creative leader, applying research, data, and best practices. This position will report to the Associate Vice President of Advancement | Foundation.

Strategic Leadership – 40%

• Work collaboratively with Advancement | Foundation and NAU colleagues to develop and execute a comprehensive annual giving program that aligns with the division’s strategic goals and targets.
• Work collaboratively with internal partners including Alumni Engagement team, Communications team, Major Gift officers, Donor Relations, IT and Data Team, Finance, College Deans and Department Chairs, KNAU (Arizona Public Radio), and Intercollegiate Athletics.
• Serve as the program’s creative leader, using research, data, and best practices to develop themes, appeals, campaigns, methods, and stewardship activities.
• Conducts ongoing market research to identify and implement the appropriate approach to marketing the NAU Foundation and other relevant giving opportunities.
• Evaluates and analyzes the Annual Giving program successes and opportunities for improvement.
• Oversees the Annual Giving budget and stewards NAU resources effectively.

Development & Fundraising – 35%

• Manage and execute key fundraising metrics, including total number of annual donors, Annual Giving dollars raised, number of donors retained, and number of new donors.
• Responsible for meeting annual fundraising goals through all channels of NAU’s Annual Giving program, including direct mail, email, micro campaigns, crowdfunding campaigns, Giving Day, and social media.
• Lead strategists of campaign pipeline building, audience segmentation, and content direction.
• Work closely with Advancement | Foundation colleagues to analyze data to inform future communication and fundraising strategies. Provide strategic reports and recommendations to NAU administration.
• Ensure NAU maximizes the potential for corporate matching of individual gifts.
• Develop and maintain a deep knowledge of the university and its funding priorities to articulate relevant fundraising opportunities for all constituents.
• Maintain strong knowledge of leading industry practices.
• Participate, in partnership with the AVP, in all discussions related to benchmarking.
• Pays close attention to detail in work productivity while remaining flexible for big- picture/systems thinking.

Management – 20%

• Manage, supervise and mentor direct reports.
• Deliver regular and formal feedback to employees, develop work plans, resolve conflicts, and address performance.
• Align the departmental goals with the division targets.
• Develop and improve on existing standards to promote maximum team effectiveness.
• Identifies opportunities for change and improvement.
• Ensures open communication with all relationship managers.

Other – 5%

• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, and
• A minimum of 5 year’s experience in marketing/sales, fundraising, program management or communication/public relations, and
• A minimum of 3 year’s experience leading and managing teams; or
• Any combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted for the educational requirement on a year-for-year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with annual fundraising techniques and statistical analysis.
• Documented success as an innovator and creative problem solver.
• Significant experience with analyzing data and making data-driven decisions.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

Knowledge:

• Advanced knowledge of practices, developments, and techniques used in university development.
• Knowledge of common management tactics.
• Knowledge of university development industry trends in higher education.

Skills:

• Excellent written and oral communications skills.
• Project management skills.
• Financial planning and goal development.
• Conflict resolution and customer service.
• Strong leadership including planning, organizing, directing, and facilitating.
• Experience in extensive data analysis and data-driven decision making.

Abilities:

• Ability to organize and lead a multifaceted program.
• Coordinates team members and allocates tasks.
• Communicates effectively.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and build relationships with alumni, staff, and volunteers.
• Analyzes complex situations/problems, anticipates issues, and makes well-reasoned, sound decisions.
• Uses impartial judgement, diplomacy and equity while working with various stakeholders.
• Balances competing priorities.
• Communicates the benefits of change to team members.
• Manages and drives change.
• Promotes a diverse, inclusive environment.
• A motivated self-starter who will enjoy working in a fast-paced environment.

Salary range begins at $118,430.