Reporting to the Senior Associate Director of Annual Giving, the Assistant Director, Annual Giving Direct Marketing will assist with developing an overall outreach strategy to renew, retain and acquire alumni, leadership, and parent donors through the execution of direct mail and email channels. This position will have direct contact with University Development colleagues, school/unit colleagues, external vendors, and donors.

The Assistant Director is responsible for several key processes supporting the Annual Giving direct mail and email marketing programs, including vendor relationship management, data configuration and processing, HTML email layout, project management, and internal partnership building.

Responsibilities:

Direct Marketing:

• Assist the Senior Associate Director of Annual Giving, with planning and implementing the overall strategy for direct mail and email marketing.
• Coordinate and implement direct marketing efforts (mail and email) that solicit alumni, parents, and friends. Includes: utilizing a marketing automation platform (Anthology) to schedule and send appeals, working in Boston University’s BBEC database (Blackbaud CRM) to create queries, segments and marketing efforts; designing and coordinating the production of appropriate annual giving materials including, but not limited to, solicitation letters, emails, data reports, and other fundraising materials; writing and editing communications and solicitation materials; editing and analyzing communications and solicitation material or content prepared by others; ensuring that all marketing and solicitation projects are completed, mailed or emailed on-time and error free; liaising with printing companies and other external vendors to produce school/unit marketing materials.

Consulting:

• Cultivate relationships with school/unit clients across campus.
• Work closely with development officers and communications professionals in schools/units across campus to identify annual giving needs and plan strategy and appeals.
• Strategically identify segments for appeals with school/unit clients.
• Communicate central annual giving strategies and current annual giving best practices with schools/units.

Reporting:

• Collaborate with Data Analyst to analyze and report past and present fundraising results to help inform future marketing strategies for schools/units.

Other Duties:

• Maintain master calendar and other duties as requested by the annual giving team to meet the goals of the department.

Required Skills: 

A cover letter is required for consideration.

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Three to five years of experience in higher education development, direct marketing for higher education or related experience.
• Working knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop), MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams).
• Experience with donor CRMs (Blackbaud), marketing automation platforms (Anthology), project management tools (Teams/Basecamp) and commercial printing/production processes is preferred.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with both internal and external audiences.
• Excellent editing skills and a strong attention to detail.
• The ability to work effectively and collaboratively as part of a team.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to organize and work on multiple and competing projects simultaneously.
• Superior customer service skills for school and unit clients.
• Ability to interact effectively in a comprehensive research university setting.
• The ability to work effectively, and maintain confidentiality, with a variety of campus departments including consultation and advisement of constituent school and unit colleagues.
• A high energy level and strong drive to be successful.
• Ability to think logically and strategically.

But that’s not all we’re looking for; we want someone who embodies our values:

• Teamwork, transparency, and mutual respect, because we value every member’s contributions and know that leadership can come from anywhere.
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and a commitment to ensuring that each of us knows we belong here.
• Integrity in how we work and how we treat one another.
• Strategic thinking and curiosity in the relentless pursuit of fresh approaches and measurable results.
• Continuous growth and improvement, both as individuals and as a team.
• Joy and shared appreciation for working hard toward goals that matter.

If this resonates with you and you want to help us in our ambitious next campaign—and maybe do some of your best work as an advancement professional— we encourage you to apply. If you are hesitant to apply because you have not previously performed every responsibility listed in the description, but you do possess transferable skills, our values, and the defined qualifications, we still want to hear from you and welcome your application as well.

Boston University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.