Reporting to the Director of Fundraising Communications, the Senior Associate Director of Leadership Fundraising Communications plays a key role in the strategic development, execution, and management of fundraising communications that drive leadership annual giving, donor engagement, and pipeline growth. This position is responsible for crafting and implementing integrated marketing and communications strategies to cultivate, steward, and grow membership in the President’s Club leadership giving society and increase support for other leadership giving initiatives. Must be willing and able to work some evenings and weekends, particularly around key fundraising events and initiatives.

Essential Functions         

• Works closely with the Director to implement a strategy for the President’s Club, scaling it into a year-long engagement and solicitation plan. Develops an annual membership model with tiered benefits and engagement opportunities. Engages with current and prospective donors to build a strong culture of leadership giving.
• Partners with the regional advancement team on leadership donor pipeline development, ensuring strategic handoffs and collaboration to transition donors from leadership annual giving to major giving. Develops targeted communication strategies that support this progression.
• Leads integrated marketing efforts for leadership donors in milestone moments, including Reunion years, and affinity-based giving opportunities.
• Creates messaging and utilizes tactics to drive retention and acquisition. Provides strategic oversight of donor storytelling and marketing efforts, ensuring a donor-centered approach to all outreach.
• Manages stewardship initiatives for leadership donors, including developing automated donor journeys to share impact stories, crafting meaningful stewardship communications, and organizing donor recognition efforts.
• Uses data-driven insights to assess the effectiveness of communication strategies and donor engagement, leveraging analytics to optimize future efforts.
• Partners with internal stakeholders to align messaging and integrate leadership annual giving priorities within broader fundraising efforts. Leads or collaborates with colleagues to execute communication plans on schedule and provides best-practice guidance for fundraising communications and storytelling.
• Supports event planning and messaging for leadership donor events, including donor appreciation gatherings, campaign launches, and high-impact fundraising events. Ensures that event messaging and follow-up efforts align with retention and upgrade strategies.

Essential Functions Note

This list is not intended to be an exhaustive list.

The University may assign additional related duties as necessary.

Required Qualifications: Education and Experience         

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of five years of experience with marketing and communications.

Required Qualifications: Knowledge and Skills      

• Exceptional strategic thinking, writing, and project management skills.
• Ability to analyze donor behavior and apply data-driven insights to optimize engagement.
• Experience developing and executing multi-channel fundraising campaigns, including direct mail, email, phone, and digital fundraising.
• Demonstrated ability to craft compelling donor-centric messaging and engagement materials tailored to different audience segments.
• Strong interpersonal skills and confidence are necessary to engage with leadership donors.
• Experience working effectively in a complex fundraising setting, developing and sustaining productive and effective relationships with constituents, colleagues, and senior leadership.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to prioritize, multitask, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Solution-oriented mindset; strong analytical skills and professional judgment; personal comportment consistent with DAUR’s core values.
• Successful candidates should have a knowledge of and commitment to the goals of Jesuit Education

Preferred Qualifications  

• Experience working effectively in a complex higher education setting
• Experience with Marketing Cloud and/or Mailchimp.
• Experience working with a relational database (e.g. CRM Advance, Salesforce, Blackbaud, etc.)
• Familiarity with additional common higher education fundraising technologies (e.g.
• GiveCampus, ThankView, PledgeMine, EverTrue, Givezy, etc.)

Minimum Starting Salary: $90,000

 Maximum Starting Salary: $95,000

 Note: Salary is commensurate with qualifications, experience, and skills.

 START DATE: ASAP