The Senior Director of Annual Giving is responsible for daily oversight of the Annual Giving team for the University. The Annual Giving team is primarily responsible for increasing the alumni participation rate and raising unrestricted revenue to support schools, colleges, and units across campus. Serving as a leader for the unit, this professional supervises the team’s efforts in direct marketing utilizing phone, direct mail and digital approaches and special campaigns including Georgia Giving Day, UGA license tag program, faculty/staff campaign and more. Annual Giving Officers are engaged in a variety of coordinated fundraising activities and are assigned a variety of special constituency campaigns in addition to school/college-specific campaigns.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and/or Competencies

• Strong people management skills and time management skills
• Self-starter and highly motivated
• Collaborative style combined with the ability and desire to work in a team-based environment
• Excellent writing skills with extreme attention to detail and confident, strong verbal communication
• Problem solver who can take initiative and set priorities while being flexible
• Team-oriented strategist able to effectively manage complex situations
• Ability to establish the trust of colleagues and build strong relationships with key faculty/staff
• Highly organized and able to handle multiple projects
• Analytical, with adherence to self-guided goals and deadlines
• Adept at navigating complex environments with evolving priorities
• Ability to maintain high degree of confidentiality and responsibility regarding information related to university business and confidential donor and prospect information
• Skilled using Microsoft Office products such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
• Creative thinker with ability to receive constructive feedback on ideas
• Ability to respond to donors needs and concerns in a kind and professional way

• Through open, honest, and respectful communication, all staff, supervisors, and colleagues of the Division of Development & Alumni Relations are expected to interact with fairness, compassion, and decency. All employees will be held accountable for meeting the expectation of promoting a stable, productive, and healthy work environment.
• Adherence to CASE standards and commonly accepted industry standards relating to fundraising reporting are expected of all fundraisers. All fundraisers will be held accountable for meeting this expectation.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Supervise the Annual Giving team and other supporting personnel (including student interns) with a focus on team organization, direction, and motivation, provide training as necessary, evaluate performance, and ensure the team is working together to achieve department goals.
• Strengthen and expand the Centralized School/College annual giving campaigns and comprehensive Special Giving programs throughout campus including Parents, Presidents Club, Student Giving, Faculty/Staff Campaign, Matching Gifts, Recent Graduate Programs, Recurring Gifts, Unit-based “Friends” programs, and other specialized efforts. Serve as an annual giving consultant for the University’s schools, colleges, and units.
• Work with the Executive Director of Annual Giving and Advancement Services and the Annual Giving team to set goals, determine strategy and implement a comprehensive direct marketing plan for university-wide annual giving, including use of telemarketing, digital platforms, direct mail, and other channels to fundraise for restricted and unrestricted needs with a focus on meeting university priorities
• Evaluate progress toward goals and identify areas for improvement. Work with the Executive Director and Annual Giving team to create improved strategy based on analytical findings in collaboration with the Executive Director, create and maintain a series of internal and external facing reports that inform leadership of the performance and direction of the Annual Giving team.
• Build and maintain partnerships with key stakeholders in respective responsible units including DAR Communications, Advancement Services, Gift Accounting, and internal and external service providers for direct mail, email messaging, digital marketing, and benchmarking/data analysis.
• Prepare, administer, manage the annual budget for all activities associated with the Annual Giving programs and initiatives and approve budget expenditures throughout the year.
• Handle correspondence and stewardship of donors with various requests via email, mail and phone as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
Requires at least a baccalaureate degree in the field.  Please contact your Human Resources office for an evaluation of education/experience in lieu of the required minimum qualifications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree preferred or bachelor’s degree and at least 7 years of related higher education experience; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience related to sales, marketing, development, business administration, higher education, project management, or relationship management.
• Previous experience managing a team with a successful record of achieving goals and key performance metrics.

Physical Demands

• Work in a standard office environment
• Travel in and out of state
• Work nights and weekends as necessary
• Work using electronic mail, telephone, face-to-face discussions, paper form correspondence
• Communicate effectively in writing, speaking, and listening
• Organize and establish priorities; Remember detail; Multi-task
• Lift and/or move up to 20 pounds
• Walk, stand, stoop, lift, kneel, climb

Be advised a credit check will be required for all positions with financial responsibilities. For additional information about the credit check criteria, visit the UGA Credit Background Check website.

For questions concerning this position or recruitment progression, please refer to the Recruitment Contact listed below.
Development & Alumni Relations’ Office of Talent Management
[email protected]

About the Department
Division of Development and Alumni Relations
The Division of Development and Alumni Relations at the University of Georgia advances the goals, objectives, and priorities of the university by generating private financial support, building, and maintaining relationships with alumni and donors, and assisting students with career development opportunities.

Office of Annual Giving
The greatest quality in a Bulldog? Loyalty. Annual gifts are the evidence of loyalty. Establishing giving habits early is critical because most donors’ capacity and propensity to give increases over time. We’re raising donor participation rates year over year, building a pool of donors to advance through the pipeline. Without annual giving, fewer donors give to the University of Georgia.

On a daily basis, you’ll find our central annual giving office raising money for UGA’s campus-wide unrestricted funds and every school, college and unit through acquisition, renewal, and upgrade strategies. We closely track and analyze data to drive our tactics which include phone campaigns, direct mail, digital solicitations, advertising, digital appeals and more. Ultimately, our goal is to form stronger donor relationships and solidify the bond between UGA and our supporters.

About the University of Georgia
The University of Georgia (UGA), a land-grant and sea-grant university with statewide commitments and responsibilities, is the state’s oldest, most comprehensive, and most diversified institution of higher education (https://www.uga.edu/). UGA is currently ranked among the top 15 public universities in U.S. News & World Report. The University’s main campus is located in Athens, approximately 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, with extended campuses in Atlanta, Griffin, Gwinnett, and Tifton. UGA was founded in 1785 by the Georgia General Assembly as the first state-chartered University in the country. UGA employs approximately 1,800 full-time instructional faculty and more than 7,700 full-time staff. The University’s enrollment exceeds 39,000 students including over 30,000 undergraduates and over 9,000 graduate and professional students. Academic programs reside in 18 schools and colleges, as well as a medical partnership with Augusta University housed on the UGA Health Sciences Campus in Athens.

The University of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, genetic information, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or protected veteran status. Persons needing accommodations or assistance with the accessibility of materials related to this search are encouraged to contact Central HR ([email protected]).

The University of Georgia is a Federal Contractor as defined by Presidential Executive Order 14042 and subject to the requirement that Federal Contractors must ensure that all covered employees, including those working remotely, are fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022. You may be required to show proof of your fully vaccinated status at the time of your start date, or have received a medical or religious exemption from the fully vaccinated requirement at the time of your start date. For more information regarding the Federal Contractor fully vaccinated employment requirement please visit https://coronavirus.uga.edu/executive-order/ or call (706) 542-2222.