Principia is looking for a strategic and dynamic Director of Annual Giving. In this role, you will be responsible for overseeing a substantial portion of Principia’s annual fundraising efforts – with an emphasis on building, successfully executing and growing an effective and progressive Annual Giving program. You will be developing and executing comprehensive annual fundraising strategies to engage a broad base of donors, increase donor participation and retention, and drive sustainable financial support for our institution. You will lead the team crafting, strategizing, planning, and managing Principia’s giving days (Giving Tuesday and All in for Prin) and ongoing appeals (monthly), as well as the Howard Society, student philanthropy, class agent, ambassador and reunion giving programs.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute annual fundraising strategies for giving days and general appeals
• Responsible for the strategy, management and execution of the Howard Society, student philanthropy, class agent, and reunion giving programs.
• Lead a team in implementing these strategies, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Engage with donors, alumni, and other stakeholders to strengthen relationships and build support.  
• Collaborates with broader advancement team and outside the department to ensure alignment and support of annual giving and broader institution goals.
• Hires, mentors, and evaluates staff members

Strategically drive and execute the development and enhancement of:

• Student Philanthropy Programs: Lead the implementation and oversight of student philanthropy initiatives to cultivate a positive environment marked by receptivity, loyalty, and class unity.
• Howard Society Program: In collaboration with the Development Programs Manager, devise and implement strategies to elevate the Howard Society, focusing on expanding membership and enhancing its impact as a leadership circle within the institution.
• Class Agent and Ambassador Programs: Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for the Class Agent and Ambassador Programs, engaging and empowering advocates to champion fundraising initiatives and strengthen their role as advocates for the organization.
• Reunion Giving: In collaboration with the Development Programs Manager, Formulate and implement a targeted plan for Reunion Giving, encouraging 50th reunion groups to unite in making a collective and impactful contribution, fostering a sense of unity and lasting legacy.

Data Management and Analysis:

• Use database for creating targeted and segmented annual giving strategies for appeals and analyzing trends.
• Willingness to do extensive training if needed to gain comfort in using the database to achieve Annual Giving goals.
• Develop, regularly review, and measure annual giving KPIs (key performance indicators)
• Collaborate with business insights team to generate reports, using the findings to strengthen the program.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date donor records and use data analytics to inform decision-making.

Audience Development and Communication:

• Take the lead in audience development, ensuring accurate and personalized communication strategies.
• Collaborate with the marketing team to tailor messaging for specific donor segments, ensure consistency in messaging and branding across all annual giving campaigns, and enhance overall engagement.

Vendor Management:

• Conduct regular reviews of vendor partnerships to ensure our needs are being met, programs are advancing, and that we have a donor-first approach to our giving platforms
• Lead the vendor selection process, negotiate contracts, and cultivate positive relationships with vendors.
• Work to optimize costs related to vendor services without compromising quality.

Budget Development and Monitoring:

• Collaborate with department head to develop and monitor annual budgets for the Annual Giving program.

Support broad advancement initiatives and events, including Reunions and Giving Tuesday

Core Competencies

• Leadership: Exhibits confidence in self and others; inspires and motivates others to perform well; effectively influences actions of others; inspires respect and trust; accepts feedback from others; provides vision and inspiration to peers and direct reports; gives appropriate recognition to others; mobilizes others to fulfill the vision; promotes a positive work environment.
• Team players:  Ability to collaborate and partner with peers and senior leaders is critical, with an ability to listen, give and receive feedback, and be comfortable exchanging ideas and speaking candidly in a professional and collegial manner
• Strategic thinkers: Ability to consider complex topics from multiple perspectives and offer innovative solutions.
• Innovative: Presents a problem-solving mindset that helps our team come up with creative solutions to challenging issues, with a mentality of self-improvement and organizational excellence; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas
• Results Driven and Productivity: Ability to prioritize and deliver results in a high-volume environment
• Project Management: Monitors status of projects, thoroughly deals with project details, holds project owners and participants accountable, delivers clear, accurate depiction of status

Minimum Qualifications

• Supportive of Principia’s mission, vision, and values as articulated here https://www.principia.edu/about/mission. Background in Christian Science preferred but not required.
• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of progressive management experience
• Minimum five years’ experience in annual giving or development
• Proficient with Microsoft Office suite (especially Excel); database management tool (Ellucian CRM, Raiser’s Edge, Sales Force, etc.) and able and willing to learn new software applications as needed.

The statements above describe the general nature and level of work but are not a complete list of responsibilities and are subject to change at the discretion of Principia.