Responsibilities: 

The Director of Annual Giving reports to the Executive Director of Development and oversees the comprehensive strategy and implementation of all annual giving activities for the university, including the development, coordination, and analyzation of a comprehensive multi-channel strategy to cultivate, solicit and steward annual gifts and develop a pipeline of major gift prospects. The Director oversees identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of annual giving donors.
The Director must demonstrate a strategic, data-driven approach to fundraising while having a successful track record of acquiring, retaining, and upgrading annual donors. Working closely with colleagues throughout the Division of University Advancement, the Director will establish cross-departmental collaborations to cultivate, solicit and steward annual giving prospects.

Departmental Leadership:

• Leads the overall strategic direction for the annual giving efforts in support of UL Lafayette and Division of University Advancement priorities.
• Directs and guides the day-to-day program operations, generating a broad base of support in donors and dollars.
• Oversees future team members and student workers who focus on solicitation of alumni and friends through telephone, digital platforms and in-person meetings.

Strategic Planning and Assessment:

• Oversees planning, forecasting, resourcing, and budgeting, management, creative development and execution of comprehensive, multi-channel annual giving efforts.
• Through ongoing research of best practices and evolving methods of annual giving practices, develops and implements strategic and innovative plans for various constituencies; assists internal stakeholders in developing short and long-term annual giving plans, including use of direct mail, email, telephone, and other digital channels as appropriate.
• Actively promotes donor-centric approaches to annual giving that take a holistic view of UL Lafayette communications and solicitations whenever possible.
• Provides strategic oversight and guidance for development of data reporting and maintenance processes to advance annual giving efforts.
• Works directly with the office of Advancement Operations and Advancement Communications to develop workflows, strategic processes and sustainable coding to achieve accurate reporting and donor-centric communication.

Implementation:

• Works with team to ensure solicitation and stewardship projects are productive, timely, cost-effective, accurate, and represent UL Lafayette well.
• Provides needed input and information to internal stakeholders and external vendors for completion of creative components for annual giving appeals.
• Manages vendor and internal relationships, including but not limited to direct marketing consultants and print and fulfillment companies.
• Manages and directs resources for planning and executing a successful annual giving solicitation program and related data services in support of UL Lafayette and fundraising priorities.
• Coordinates planning and information exchange with Advancement division staff as appropriate.

Measurement:

• Establishes methods to assess ROI on annual giving and data service activities, create routinized systems for reporting results to appropriate groups, and evaluate and refine scope of work based on evidence-based successes.
• Uses performance analysis to develop recommendations and future strategies in annual giving programs.
• Identifies trends and provide periodic data and analysis with recommendations as appropriate.
• Creates ongoing efforts for prospect lead generation to leadership annual giving and major gift officers.

Infrastructure Support and Development:

• Assists with creation of systems to build sustainable coding structures, request processes and data quality controls.
• Acts as liaison between Office of Development staff and Advancement Operations to ensure criteria and output of requests align with best practice standards.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: 

• Excellent computer, verbal, and written communication, as well as demonstrated organizational skills necessary.
• Superior interpersonal and collaborative skills.
• Ability to build/maintain relationships and solicit gifts.
• Capable of crafting multichannel solicitation pieces and other professional documentation.
• Task-oriented and self-motivated with ability to meet deadlines and work independently or as part of a team.
• Ability to both prioritize given assignments and multi-task effectively.
• Ability to think critically and exercise sound judgment and decision making.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.

Qualifications: 

• A Bachelor’s degree is required, Master’s preferred.
• 5 or more years of experience in the development field, particularly in higher education annual giving efforts.
• Sound judgment, integrity, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, strong work ethic, attention to detail, and the ability to think strategically are essential.
• The Director must be a self-starter and able to work as part of a team while demonstrating the flexibility and independence essential in concurrently managing multiple projects.