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Job Description:

Location: Wooster, OH Category: Staff Posted On: Wed Jul 17 2024 Job Description:

Summary:

The Director of Reunion Giving creates and executes a comprehensive reunion giving program with a special focus on milestone reunions. Collaborating with Alumni Engagement, Major & Planned Giving, and Annual Giving, this role significantly contribute to annual fundraising goals. The Director manages a portfolio of approximately 75 individuals capable of giving $50,000 or more, strategizing and coordinating initiatives to enhance alumni participation and integrate team goals. They will create a multi-layer pipeline for leadership annual gifts, major, and planned gifts. This position requires excellent organization, professionalism, volunteer management experience and communication skills.  This position offers a flexible work environment including the option of being fully in-office or a hybrid. 

 

Essential Departmental Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Creates, implements, and evaluates a comprehensive reunion fundraising program, including professional goals, objectives, and strategies.
  • Manages a portfolio of assigned prospects, comprised of primarily leadership level reunion volunteers to cultivate and solicit major, planned, and annual gifts.
  • Sets annual activity goals based on prospect pipeline, emphasizing the 25th reunion, 50th reunion, and classes leading up to those milestones.
  • Conducts monthly visits with assigned prospects, including reunion committee leaders and volunteers with major gift and planned gift capacity.
  • Partners when appropriate with Major Gifts Officers and Annual Giving Officer to supplement reunion giving conversations.
  • Collaborates with Associate Director of Alumni and Family Engagement (who is responsible for planning social aspects of reunion programs) to identify, recruit, and cultivate reunion committees.
  • Helps determine reunion giving goals that are powered by volunteers and guided by staff.
  • Recruits alumni volunteers to participate in rating, cultivating, and soliciting gift prospects for alumni without existing staff relationships.
  • Works closely with Director of Prospect Development to strategically identify classes with capacity and capitalize on class affinity when determining high value or milestone reunion classes.
  • Partners with annual giving and planned giving teams to advise and develop fundraising strategies for direct marketing and appeals.
  • Collaborates effectively with the major gifts team to develop goals and prospect strategies for those celebrating reunions or participating on reunion committees, meeting regularly to review progress.
  • Employs best practices in peer-to-peer advocacy, including social networks, capitalizing on class affinity, and emerging technologies to enhance awareness and engage reunion committee volunteers.
  • Implements effective tools and systems for recruiting, training, and managing a large-scale reunion fundraising program.
  • Develops and manages a budget for outreach, travel, and cultivation activities in partnership with Alumni and Family Engagement Office.
  • Coordinates donor visits and events with college representatives, including the President, and faculty and students when appropriate.
  • Facilitates and participates in donor visits with college representatives.
  • Prepares donor briefings and cultivation strategies. 
  • Attends all major on-campus alumni events and participates in regional events to engage donors and prospective donors. 
  • Maintains professional connections and knowledge of the field through conference attendance, participation in a robust professional development program, and college visits.
  • Seeks training necessary for proficiency in the appropriate use of gift planning techniques including gifts of appreciated property, charitable lead trusts, bequests, beneficiary designations, charitable remainder trusts, pooled income funds, gift annuities, retained life estates, and life insurance gifts.
  • Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements:

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

 

Education and/or Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree required with a minimum of 5 years major gift or related experience.
  • Experience in higher education development or non-profit setting preferred. 
  • Must have a demonstrated record of fund-raising success.

 

Knowledge Skills and Abilities:

Skills:

  • Demonstrates flexiblility in a fast-paced environment with multiple deadlines and pressures.
  • Exhibits strong organizational, interpersonal, and oral communication skills, coupled with exceptional writing, editing and public speaking skills. 
  • Proficient in solving practical problems and managing concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
  • Adept at interpreting a variety of instructions in various forms, including written, oral, diagram, and schedule.

Knowledge:

  • Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.        
  • Familiarity with word processing programs, spreadsheet applications, database concepts, financial and endowment accounting concepts, and planned giving software. 
  • Knowledge of Blackbaud, Raiser’s Edge, NXT is a plus.
  • Ability to work closely and congenially with volunteers and with members of the College’s administration and faculty.
  • Demonstrates high energy and a positive outlook.
  • Exhibits self-confidence in work and interactions.
  • Shows persistence in achieving goals.

Abilities: 

  • Ability to keep information confidential while navigating sensitive situations regarding giving history.
  • Capable of articulating the characteristics of an independent liberal arts education, and to make a compelling case for support of The College of Wooster.
  • Commitment to the College’s mission, vision and values and demonstrated ability to create and sustain an organizational climate based on inclusion, social justice, and equity.

 

Work Environment:

  • Ability and willingness to travel throughout the U.S. and attend meetings and functions at various hours as required.
  • The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.
  • While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.

 

Physical Demands: 

  • While performing the duties of this job, the staff member is regularly required to stand; walk; climb stairs; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. 
  • The employee is occasionally required to sit and stoop or kneel. 
  • The individual must regularly lift and/or move up to ten pounds and frequently lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. 
  • Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
  • Must have the ability to travel unassisted throughout the country using a variety of transportation options.

Additional Information:

The College of Wooster does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex/gender, gender identity, gender expression, medical condition, political affiliation, religion, creed, ethnicity, national origin (including ancestry), citizenship status, disability, age, marital status, family responsibilities, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, or any other characteristic protected by institutional policy, or by state, local, or federal law. All offers of employment are subject to verification of the legal right to work in the United States as required by federal law. The College of Wooster is committed by policy and practice to diversity, equity and inclusion. For more information see our nondiscrimination policy.