Who We Are:

Located in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. With a population of just over 53,000, Harrisonburg is one of the most diverse communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 20,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.

JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. The university is committed to expanding diversity, fostering equity and inclusion, and supporting superlative teaching and scholarship. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.

General Information: 

The primary responsibilities of the Associate Director, Campaigns are the planning and implementation of coordinated, omnichannel fundraising and donor stewardship activities for donor retention, reactivation, and acquisition. Campaigns will require close working relationships with colleagues in the Office of Annual Giving and others in the Division of University Advancement, particularly Advancement Marketing, as well as other campus partners and external vendors.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Assist the Director of Annual Giving in establishing annual program goals, as well as strategizing a comprehensive annual fundraising program based on university priorities.
• For JMU’s annual Giving Day, serve as campaign manager to produce a goal-driven, primarily online fundraising sprint that is promoted to target audiences through all channels, including direct mail, email, social media, and digital advertising.
• Collaborate on Annual Giving’s solicitation calendar/plan with a focus on creating an integrated, cohesive audience experience of our appeals as part of the holistic communication on behalf of the university; utilize systems that produce personalized mass appeals; oversee production and on-time delivery of solicitation materials to constituents.
• Maintain established procedures and initiate new ones that lead to meaningful performance metrics, including response and participation rates, returns on investment, conversions, and so on. Assist with interpretation of these metrics and their implications for future efforts.
• Supervise Annual Giving’s Outreach Coordinator, who oversees a staff of student employees engaged in discovery/pipeline development and personalized stewardship efforts, as well as conducting donor surveys.
• Ensure projects and programs under the purview of this position are produced on time and within budget constraints.

Required Qualifications: 

• At least two years of experience in fundraising.
• Strong project management and organization skills with demonstrated success in completing complex plans on time and within budget.
• Ability to work effectively with staff, administrators, faculty members, and students.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High comfort level with adopting emerging technologies and new systems.
• Willingness to occasionally work flexible hours, including some evenings.

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree
• Knowledge of annual giving practices, trends, opportunities, and challenges
• Experience in a higher education setting

James Madison University is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status.

We promote access, inclusion and diversity for all students, faculty, staff, constituents and programs, believing that these qualities are foundational components of an outstanding education in keeping with our mission. The university is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to this core quality.

Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity: (540) 568-6991.