Primary Purpose: 

Responsible for the planning, execution, and analysis of direct solicitations to increase short term and long term annual support for OSU.

Key Areas of Focus: 

• Staff Management/Oversight of Business Plan Execution – 60%
  • Work closely with direct reports to ensure timely execution of business plans/master calendar.
  • Ensure staffing and responsible day to day management of the call center and student development staff. This includes budget tracking, segmentation strategy, reporting, talent development, and interdepartmental communication.
  • Administer performance evaluations and promote individual growth for direct reports.
• Analysis of Loyalty Giving Program Results and Opportunities – 30%
  • Monitor Annual Giving results for trends in donor behavior to contribute to strategic discussions with AVP.
  • Build Tableau dashboards to report on giving, constituency, and appeal assignment for college/units, internal partners, and other stakeholders.
  • Utilize historical data to drive decision making for new and existing Annual Giving communication and appeal goal setting.
• Partnership Support – 10%
  • Collaborate closely with Marketing and Communications, with assistance from Direct Marketing Associate, to develop meaningful case building and appeal design.
  • Collaborate closely with Information Strategies team members to ensure good analytics, information, and tools.
  • Support partnerships with external partners such as KOSU, Athletics, and the Alumni Association.
  • Assess unit requests for solicitations and provide guidance for their fit within the overall strategy and their ROI/benefit to units.
  • Support education of partners and stakeholders in direct marketing fundraising best practices and their application at OSU.

Education and Certifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience: 

• 3-5 years of professional fundraising or related experience.
• Professional management experience
• Demonstrated strengths in communications (verbal and written), coordination and design of direct marketing materials, and fundraising analytics.
• Experience with data management and reporting—experience with Tableau and Salesforce products preferred.

Organizational Competencies: 

• Effective Communication:Proactively ensures effective communication throughout the organization; makes relevant contributions to discussions and meetings, giving clear and concise explanations and sticking to the point; chooses language and communication method to suit the audience, reframes and articulates to help others understand; asks questions to check understanding when disseminating information
• Execution & Initiative: Motivates self and others to achieve the best results, displaying energy, drive and a desire to succeed; enlists the support of others as necessary to overcome resistance; supervises cross-functional project team execution on tasks to meet stated objectives; helps other employees’ gain the skills and experience they need to contribute; pro-actively outlines milestones, outcomes and deliverables and effectively communicates them to internal and external stakeholders
• Teamwork/Interpersonal Skills: Develops and nurtures formal & informal relationships with a wide circle of people beyond those involved in current activities, including potential donors, stakeholders, and information links; encourages collaboration among colleagues, departments and entire organization to achieve results; compromises, handles conflicts, seeks common ground, articulates own and others goals; stays focused on positive win-win outcomes; seeks input on how to leverage existing processes to improve the donor experience; translates ideas into action
• Problem Solving/Judgment: Gains understanding of how to apply approved policies and procedures; when and why escalation of issues is needed and to whom and communicates decisions and desired outcomes to others; anticipates the outcome of  a single decision; recognizes problems in advance, systematically gathers information to define the root cause, breaks down complex information into component parts, develops alternatives, seeks input from others, selects and recommends the best solution
• Adaptability/Flexibility:  Embraces complex or first time problems as opportunities to learn and incorporate new skills; flexes style based on immediate needs; accepts responsibility for implementing change; evaluates and manages resources needed to implement change; personally supports (in words and actions) organizational direction and change agenda
• Courage & Conviction: Takes responsibility for individual & project outcomes regardless of success and learns from all results; encourages candid responses, feedback, new ideas and conflicting opinions
• Donor Centered: Takes time to actively learn about the stated needs by asking questions, exploring how to unite the donors and university’s passions and priorities; anticipates customer needs and proactively makes recommendations