The Assistant Director is a key member of central Annual Giving and School of Nursing (SON) development, with principle responsibility for SON annual giving. Reporting to the director of Annual Giving, the assistant director is responsible for developing SON annual giving campaigns, engagement strategies for SON alumni, and ongoing stewardship of SON donors. The assistant director will focus on engaging, cultivating, and stewarding donors through direct mail, email, telephone outreach, web content, and occasional face-to-face meetings. The assistant director will participate in overall strategic planning as well as program management and implementation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Comprehensive Annual Giving Campaign

• Plan, implement, and manage all SON annual fund programs including direct mail, phone-a-thon, and e-solicitations.
• Lead the development and implementation of annual giving strategies, activities, and timelines to solicit contributions from alumni, friends, faculty, staff, students, and other constituents for annual gifts.
• Provide guidance and direction to the Telefunding manager for the oversight and execution of the SON telephone solicitation program.
• Analyze data to establish goals and strategies to increase donor participation in the annual fund (donors & dollars).
• Manage the tracking and stewardship of annual gifts and pledge payments including endowment funds, scholarships, and other SON fundraising projects.
• Provide support tracking gift revenue for current use scholarships along with the awarding of scholarships.
• Oversee the accuracy and integrity of SON alumni and donor database records, including the thorough documentation of communication with SON alumni and donors.
• Assist in the identification of prospects with major gift capacity.
• Serve as leader/captain for the SON during the university’s annual Employee Giving Campaign.

Alumni Engagement

• Engage SON alumni by coordinating and implementing alumni outreach opportunities, programs, and services designed to foster a lifelong connection between alumni and the SON, in conjunction with the university’s central Alumni Relations office.
• Identify, cultivate, build, manage, support, and execute specific engagement activities, events, and programs for SON alumni.
• Coordinate volunteer programs and services to engage and cultivate a network of alumni volunteers.
• Work with SON student organizations to instill and promote lifelong participation and networking.
• Actively identify and act upon opportunities to highlight, promote, and publicize SON alumni and accomplishments through University Marketing and Communications and other University Advancement channels.
• Track and report key performance measurements of alumni engagement using the CASE AEM modes of engagement: Communication, Experiential, Philanthropic, and Volunteer.
• Create, schedule, and budget travel to meet with alumni, host/represent SON at university-wide alumni events (including Homecoming and Family Weekend), and support Torero Club chapter events across the country.

Leadership Annual Gifts

• Manage, solicit and steward SON President’s Club (PC) donors, the university’s leadership giving society with annual gifts of $1,500 or more.
• Manage the personal renewal of SON PC donors; develop and implement strategies to upgrade PC donors to higher levels of giving.
• Conduct occasional face-to-face meetings to cultivate and to solicit support to meet SON fundraising priorities and goals.
• Identify, cultivate, and solicit philanthropic support by developing and maintaining relationships with alumni and other potential donors to the SON.
• Identify and promote SON events to PC donors to strengthen their affinity to the SON and to add value to their PC membership.
• Utilize PC events to steward and engage SON donors.

Donor Stewardship

• In conjunction with the director, execute and manage a thoughtful and comprehensive stewardship plan.
• Create and execute personalized stewardship plans for leadership annual and major gift donors, including drafting acknowledgement letters on behalf of the SON’s dean.
• Track gifts and appropriately thank donors based on gift amount and consistency.

Professional Development/Other Responsibilities

• Responsible for keeping up to date with annual giving trends through research and professional development opportunities, particularly those related to SON annual giving.
• Assist with SON commencement, graduation awards, and training other staff on office operations and procedures as needed.
• In addition to the responsibilities outlined in this position description, other duties may be assigned by the director that fall within the mission of the Office of Annual Giving, the School of Nursing, and the University of San Diego.

Special Conditions of Employment:

• Some weekend and evening work is necessary related to student/alumni events and Telefunding Center shift supervision.
• From time to time, attendance will be required for purposes of professional development, training meetings, conferences, or volunteer committee meetings that relate to the work of this position.

The University of San Diego is requiring all employees to follow our Covid-19 vaccine requirement process. https://www.sandiego.edu/onward/

Background check:  Successful completion of a pre-employment background check.

Degree Verification Requirement: Persons offered employment in this position will be required to provide official education transcripts for degree verification purposes.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Three years’ experience in annual giving, development, or fundraising.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required as well as exceptional critical listening and thinking skills. Command of the English language, including AP writing style, and standard grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax, and proofreading skill.
• Self-starter with good project management skills and the ability to exercise good judgment in advancing projects toward completion.
• Strong organizational and planning skills for balancing multiple campaigns and tasks.
• Strong computer skills (especially Microsoft Excel and Word) and proficiency with donor database/prospect management systems is essential for success in this position.
• Must demonstrate strong analytical skills and superior attention to detail.
• Experience with budgetary management.
• Must be able to work independently, taking initiative and be able to ascertain priorities in a dynamic environment of regular interruptions, multiple projects, and deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to travel.
• Must be friendly and personable; remain professional under pressure.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in higher education or non-profit setting.
• Substantive experience working with volunteers and volunteer boards is strongly desired.

Performance Expectations: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Commitment to working as a member of a team and collaborate with colleagues.
• Strong sense of integrity and ethical conduct.
• Cultural competency and sensitivity a must; ability to understand different cultural contexts and viewpoints, demonstrate respect for others, adapt to different cultural settings; and accept cultural differences.
• Ability to work with donors one-on-one for solicitation and stewardship purposes.
• Knowledge of fundraising strategies and proven ability to secure gifts.
• Knowledge of online communication to increase contacts with alumni and others.
• Understand the role of technology in annual fundraising and exhibit the ability to effectively utilize sophisticated fundraising software.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships with volunteers, donors, and colleagues.
• Ability to understand and demonstrate an extremely high level of sensitivity to customer relations and embrace a donor-centric philosophy.
• Ability to handle confidential information with tact and discretion.
• Ability to exercise good judgment, problem solving, and decision-making.
• Knowledge of USD’s policies and procedures.

Posting Salary: 

$5,373.33 – $5,470.84 per month; Excellent Benefits

The University of San Diego is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion and is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the campus community.