Director, Leadership Annual Giving

OCCUPATIONAL SUMMARY

The Director of Leadership Annual Giving is responsible for identifying, soliciting, and stewarding annual giving donors who have the capacity and inclination to make $1,000 plus level gifts and move already established leadership annual giving donors to higher giving levels, with the goal of fueling the pipeline for special, major and planned gifts. This position reports to the Senior Director of Leadership Annual Giving. They will be highly motivated professionals who will be deeply involved in the fundraising efforts to support current operations from individual donors, emphasizing new donor acquisition, upgrades, and growing membership of DHDAA’s giving societies. Solicitations will be multi-channel, including, but not limited to, phone calls, mail, emails, and personal meetings.

WORK PERFORMED

Fundraising: 80%

• Plan, design, implement, and evaluate strategies to obtain outright annual gifts. Identify, qualify, cultivate, and solicit mid-level giving prospects to create and grow a pipeline of LAG donors.
• Conduct at least 75 personal contacts annually, averaging 5-10 monthly solicitations, with a minimum ask of $1,000 and a goal of closing 80% of gifts.
• Strategic development and management of a portfolio with approximately 150 prospects and donors capable of making a minimum gift of $1,000.
• Manage donors who have made gifts totaling $500-$999 in one of the last three years and invite them to become leadership annual giving donors. This “next tier” of donors is critical to growing the pipeline.
• Make donor referrals to special, major, and planned gift officers, as appropriate.
• Provide timely post-visit follow-up, including tracking moves and solicitations, and sending personalized follow-ups to individual prospects.
• Collaborate with colleagues to help align donors' philanthropic interests with various priorities across DHDAA.
• Coordinate stewardship efforts with appropriate DHDAA colleagues.

Program Management 15%

• Develop individual engagement strategies for top prospects and methodically work to engage prospects through the moves management process (qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship) while also achieving annual metrics for visits, meaningful contacts, and dollars raised.
• Maintain general knowledge of fundraising best practices, current tax laws, investments, and planned giving opportunities; use this knowledge in prospect cultivation and solicitation.
• Become an expert on the various entities and activities that annual giving supports and other programs at DHDAA for which gifts are being sought or may interest donors.
• Design and manage communications (e.g., mail, email, video, phone, and other channels) to maximize fundraising potential.
• Attend university-wide events and DHDAA-related meetings.
• Engage actively and collaboratively with the Individual Giving team and Duke Health Development & Alumni Affairs.

Analytics 5%

• Master the Salesforce platform for developing engagement strategies for all leadership annual giving donors and prospects.
• Partner with the Advancement Research team and the Senior Director of Leadership Annual Giving to identify prospective donors and strategically assess their philanthropic capacity and inclination.
• Work with the Senior Director of Leadership Annual Giving to develop fundraising goals and strategies; monitor and analyze results throughout the fiscal year; and revise strategies to accomplish goals.

Other Responsibilities

• Additional duties as assigned.

Departmental Skills\Preferences

• Strong data analysis, planning, and research skills with the ability to monitor and translate results into performance targets and objectives.
• Successful fundraising or related experience, particularly with direct mail and web-based fundraising products and programs.
• Skill in communicating persuasively, orally and in writing, with different external constituencies.
• Ability to analyze, evaluate multiple solutions, and solve complex problems using well-developed critical & analytical thinking skills. 
• Excellent time management skills needed to prioritize among many competing priorities. 
• Attention to detail needed to operate accurately and effectively in the regulatory environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with various internal and external constituents.
• Ability to adhere to deadlines while managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong computer skills, including all Microsoft Office programs, fund-raising databases, and marketing automation tools.
• Project management experience preferred.  
• Ability to be flexible in working independently and collaboratively with faculty and staff to achieve defined goals.

Experience

Work requires five (5) years of experience in alumni affairs, public relations, fundraising, sales and promotions, marketing, student activities, or a related field to acquire the skills necessary to administer, coordinate, and/or participate in fundraising activities.

OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.