The United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation in Annapolis, Maryland is looking to hire a full-time Executive Director, Annual Giving Programs to join the Development Team.

Alumni, parents, and friends from around the country work closely with the Development Team to enhance their engagement with the Naval Academy through the Naval Academy Foundation. Our team is committed to building lifelong relationships with highly dedicated donors and leadership volunteers to deepen their connection to the mission of the Naval Academy through philanthropy. Our mission is achieved by working one-on-one with donors as well as engaging others interested in supporting the Academy through high impact events featuring faculty, staff, and other alumni.

ABOUT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY (USNA) ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AND FOUNDATION

The United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and the United States Naval Academy Foundation are two independent, not-for-profit corporations sharing a single president and CEO and operating as a fully integrated organization in support of the Naval Academy and its mission. The organization’s focus and core competencies are engagement and philanthropy in pursuit of complementary and closely aligned missions.

Our Mission: The course set by Alumni Association founders in 1886 rings true today as our mission is to serve and support the United States, the Naval Service, the Naval Academy, and academy alumni by:

• Furthering the highest standards at the Naval Academy.
• Seeking out; informing, encouraging and assisting outstanding, qualified young men and women to pursue careers as officers through the Naval Academy, and
• Initiating and sponsoring activities that will perpetuate the history, traditions, memories, and growth of the Naval Academy and bind alumni together in support of the highest ideals of command, citizenship, and the government.

This position is responsible for the leadership, management, conceptualization, organization, and implementation of a comprehensive Annual Giving Program. The primary goal of these programs is to maximize unrestricted gifts in support of the Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation, from alumni, parents, and friends, and to sustain consistent long-term growth of that support. Providing strategic and creative vision for acquiring, retaining and renewing gifts, the Executive Director must have the ability to develop, test and employ new strategies for acquiring new and retaining lapsed donors.

The Executive Director will use wealth screening/target analytics to better inform initiatives that will further advance and engage new donors. Initiatives targeting young alumni (graduates of the last fifteen years), to include mobile-friendly online giving and social media, represent an area of needed emphasis, adding multiple channels of giving opportunities to existing, more traditional fundraising strategies such as direct mail/phone/email.

The position reports to the Executive Vice President at the U. S. Naval Academy Foundation and is a member of the Foundation’s Executive Leadership Team. The Class Giving team, Parent Giving team, and President’s Circle team will report to the Executive Director. Infrequent travel may be necessary.

Responsibilities

Program Design and Implementation

• Design and execute the Annual Giving program to achieve established goals for raising annual gifts, with a specific focus on unrestricted gifts. Specifically, this position is responsible for all aspects of the following programs: Naval Academy Fund phone/mail solicitation of Naval Academy alumni and parents of current and former midshipmen, Naval Academy Fund direct mail and electronic solicitation initiatives, and the annual Great Class Challenge.
  • Management of these programs will include:
    • Design of solicitation strategy
    • Coordination of collateral material, print and electronic
    • Management of data segmentation, preparation, and delivery to various vendors
    • Oversight of the annual entry of new parent data in the Foundation/Alumni Association’s CRM database
• Develop an integrated calendar and program of solicitation for constituents scheduled for unrestricted Naval Academy Fund solicitations.

  • Work directly with the phone-mail program vendor on the design and schedule for the comprehensive annual giving program.

  • Develop and implement specific fundraising strategies to increase both the percentage of alumni giving (participation) and total funds raised.

• Lead the Annual Giving team which consists of the Director of President’s Circle, the Class Giving Team, the Parent Giving team and the Annual Giving Coordinator.
• Serve as a member of the Foundation’s Executive Leadership team, providing guidance and execution for all Foundation efforts.

Coordination

• Work closely with the Regional Development Team to ensure the smooth coordination of Leadership Annual Giving donors/prospects.
• Plan and execute all activities connected with the Council on Annual Giving (CAG), the Annual Giving volunteer advisory group.
• In coordination with the Enterprise Communications team, develop appropriate print and electronic communications in support of Naval Academy Fund solicitations.
• Work with various departments across the Enterprise to successfully administer the annual Great Class Challenge

Progress Reporting and Accounting

• Monitor progress against established Naval Academy Fund goals and prioritize solicitation initiatives; make program adjustments as appropriate to maximize fundraising results.
• Coordinate, evaluate, and distribute internal reports as appropriate.
• Ensure correct accounting of goals and performance within the President’s Circle and Class Giving offices.

Budget

In coordination with individuals in Class Giving, Parent Giving and President’s Circle, develop and execute the budget for the Annual Giving Team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college
• At least five to seven years of annual fund experience.
• Fundraising experience in Annual Giving programs in an educational development environment, preferred.
• Advanced data management experience preferred.
• Volunteer management experience preferred.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented team player with unquestionable integrity and a solid work ethic. Must work well independently and meet deadlines.
• Superior oral and written communication and interpersonal skills, especially the ability to listen effectively and write clearly.
• Proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
• Proficient in the use of fundraising database/software, including Reports, Query, Export, Mail, and Constituent Management (preferably Blackbaud’s CRM or similar constituent management systems)
• Demonstrated success in managing multiple concurrent projects
• Ability to manage and maintain a budget.
• Customer service oriented.
• A sincere and enthusiastic belief in the mission of the U.S. Naval Academy.