The Assistant Director reports to the Associate Director for Constituency and Pipeline Development and performs complex duties in a team-based environment to ensure the successful execution of the house staff/trainee alumni annual giving program. Responsibilities include managing select departmental/divisional giving programs; working with the Major Gift Officers and departmental/divisional leadership to ensure successful bi-annual appeals,  producing reports as well as pulling, cleaning and managing data for all direct mail and email projects for up to 36 House Staff/Trainee Annual Funds; drafting, editing and producing acknowledgement letters for donor stewardship; coordinating with Donor Relations to ensure appropriate acknowledgment for gifts of $5,000 or more; tracking changes to School of Medicine trainee alumni and donor records and recording in the database; helping to ensure accuracy of the alumni and donor data in the central database; providing data for annual reports for Development and Alumni Affairs; providing event support for the Medical Alumni Association through data pulls and mailings and ensuring accuracy of donor database records;  assist with producing, stuffing and mailing correspondence; and assist when needed with large all-teams projects and events.

Manage and complete special projects as assigned by the School of Medicine Development & Alumni Affairs team in support of the philanthropic goals of Duke Health through project coordination, prospect and donor research, and process communications. Maintain confidential files and information. Demonstrate sound judgment when dealing with sensitive issues including donor and prospect records.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

House Staff/Trainee Alumni Annual Giving Program Management – 40%

• Manage select departmental/divisional giving programs (currently six) bi-annual appeals through mail and email
• Collaborate with assigned Major Gift Officers on strategy and pipeline development for select departments/divisions
• Maintain good working relationships with the departmental/divisional leadership to ensure consistent alumni engagement through cultivation and then solicitation
• Track leadership prospects and analyze donor data using Target Analytics and other relevant tools
• Develop and produce reports for internal tracking and future planning purposes for all Trainee Alumni partnerships
• Manage production of all direct mail projects for Trainee Alumni Annual Giving Program. This includes, but is not limited to: working with vendors for areas with 300 or more alumni, creating samples, formatting merge documents (letters, gift cards, and envelopes), printing mail pieces, and folding, stuffing, sealing, affixing postage, and delivering to post office.
• Work with Associate Director to plan and manage mail calendar for house staff/trainee alumni annual giving program. Calculate production time for various direct mail packages and track adherence to timeline. Ensure Development production calendar allows sufficient time for production and keep mail and reporting projects on timeline.
• Develop tools for program coordination, reporting, and evaluating. This will include adaption of Smartsheet.

Manipulate and maintain data from external/internal sources. – 40%

• Pull and clean data for all direct mail and email projects and other lists that may be requested by departments/divisions for cultivation pieces.
• Ensure all coding for House Staff/Trainee Alumni is updated properly and that on an annual basis in September that all new data is sent over from the GME office. Work with Alumni Development Systems to ensure coding is checked and correct in the system for easier data pulls for projects.
• Proactively capture information from all sources to update biographical data on School of Medicine alumni and donors; research and confirm for accuracy; enter biographical updates as needed.
• Manage data needs and prepare trainee annual fund direct mail/email throughout the year including data retrieval, data accuracy, standardize forms, data merge, and processing of mailings. Prepare data files for print vendors and update all biographical information in alumni and donor database.
• Pull data and reports to share with MGO’s so that all are aware of prospects that they should be cultivating or soliciting from our House Staff/Trainee Alumni group.
• Manage the accuracy of alumni and donor database records.
• Pull weekly database reports to ensure accuracy and that gifts are sent along to appropriate department/division.
• Pull donor and geographic reports as needed.
• Convert data using a variety of electronic formats.
• Maintain knowledge of current software products.
• Pull data in support of Medical Alumni Association events
• Keep Development staff apprised of data issues, concerns, and work with DHDAA leadership to improve trainee data in the Duke Alumni and Development Database (DADD).

Letter Writing, Acknowledgements, & Stewardship – 10%

• Independently manage stewardship/acknowledgement process for trainee alumni donors up to $4,999 gifts to Trainee Annual Funds.
• Conduct personal outreach to first time donors to thank them and to assess interest in further engagement.
• Draft correspondence and other materials, including but not limited to solicitation letters, thank you notes, proposals, and reports to ensure effective cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors, prospective donors, leadership, alumni and volunteers.
• Draft, edit and utilize copy for acknowledgement materials
• Prepare weekly reports of donations to be distributed to the MGO’s and the department/division leadership and staff members.
• Partner with Stewardship to coordinate personalization of acknowledgment letters for major donors and volunteers.
• Manage regular file download and file setup related to acknowledgement and stewardship activities.

Provide key strategic support for School of Medicine Development and Alumni Affairs. – 10%

• Engage in annual strategic planning process with other staff and conduct results analysis of direct mail program
• Perform quarterly reporting on house staff/trainee alumni statistics, alumni giving and donor support for the School of Medicine.
• Enhance and create procedures to ensure accuracy and continuity in acknowledgements and direct mail.
• Ensure standardization of procedures for Alumni Affairs response after notification of the death of trainee alumni, including research, confirmation, update of records, preparation of condolence letters, submitting obituaries for inclusion in MAA publication. Verify completion for all components of the process.
• Coordinate with other internal annual fund staff members on issues related to vendor relations, tracking costs, transferring data, and creating samples.
• Assist other employees in using software and donor database.
• Assist with Medical Alumni Weekend, Medical Alumni Council meetings, and other alumni events throughout the year.

Other duties as assigned.

Duke Health Development & Alumni Affairs is building a flexible and hybrid workplace. All team members must have access to and maintain a secure home office environment with high-speed internet service and work collaboratively with others using a variety of technologies and tools. Depending on the type of position and work performed, or as deemed by manager, some positions may be required to work intermittently in an office located in Durham, NC.

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this classification. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required of personnel so classified.

EDUCATION/TRAINING

Work requires communication and analytical skills normally acquired through a 4-year college education.

EXPERIENCE

3 years progressive fund raising/customer relations/marketing or sales and promotions experience in team environment. Proven verbal and written communication skills and computer experience with Windows environment. Occasional travel required.

Or an equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience.

SKILLS

• Exceptional interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
• Strong computer skills, including database management, word processing, spreadsheet.
• Full knowledge and ease with manipulating data and databases.
• Ability to adhere to deadlines while managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Self-starter with excellent organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to function as a team player.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a complex organization.
• Flexibility to adjust to pressing needs as they develop.
• Ability to think analytically, pay close attention to detail, and exercise good judgement.