Assistant / Associate Director of Annual Giving

The Darden School Foundation at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business seeks a highly motivated professional to join the Advancement team. The Assistant/Associate Director of Annual Giving assists the Senior Director of Advancement in developing and implementing the strategic fundraising plan to increase donors and dollars raised for the Darden Annual Fund as well as other annual giving priorities. The Assistant/Associate Director is responsible for effectively motivating and managing class volunteers, coordinating annual giving society activities, assisting in planning and executing annual giving communications and managing a portfolio of leadership annual giving prospects. The incumbent works closely with advancement team members and others for the overall success of the Darden School engagement and fundraising efforts.

This position works to further the goals of the Darden School by identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and closing leadership annual fund gifts and coordinating the fundraising activities for specific alumni groups. The Assistant/Associate Director will coordinate reunion committees and reunion giving activities for classes in reunion years from those alumni groups.

Primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Collaborate with the Senior Director and advancement team to develop, implement and manage the goals and strategies for Darden’s Annual Fund program.
• Recruit, train, and manage class volunteers, both in and out of reunion years.
• Support strategic growth of affinity-based volunteer and fundraising campaigns in order to increase overall annual fund support.
• Develop, execute, and manage fundraising and engagement strategies for each class that aim to achieve dollar and participation goals and increase the number of leadership gifts in each class.
• Coordinate Darden Society and Hickory Club communication, activities, and events.
• Work to acquire, renew, and upgrade leadership level annual giving donors. Travel will extend to areas where there is the greatest concentration of prospects.
• Manage a portfolio of annual giving prospects and donors.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and close annual fund commitments, with agreed upon yearly proposal submission and close goals.
• Coordinate with the major and principal gifts team on prospect strategy and goal setting, closing multi-year commitments, using leadership annual fund giving opportunities as a pipeline for future major gifts.
• Assist with crafting annual giving marketing messages and oversee the production of multi-channel campaigns.
• Track results of solicitations, compile data and assist with analysis.
• Work on special initiatives in support of annual giving priorities.

Successful candidates will have a proven track record that includes:

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience for assistant director and 5 years for associate director in one or more of the following: fundraising, development, volunteer management, alumni affairs, or engagement.
• Experience working for a non-profit, foundation, or academic institution preferred.
• A complete understanding of philanthropic, sales or business development is required to perform effectively. Knowledge and understanding of various levels of philanthropy is preferred.
• An in-depth knowledge of school, business issues, and current developments affecting business, industry, and the economy is helpful.
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with students, alumni, volunteers, staff, the public, and vendors in providing or exchanging information and obtaining or providing service.
• Skill in exercising a high degree of initiative, judgment, discretion, and decision-making to achieve organizational objectives.
• Proficiency in word processing, spreadsheet, database, and presentation software required. Proficiency utilizing the Internet as a resource.
• Proficiency with Advance, Raiser’s Edge, or other fundraising databases preferred.
• Excellent research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to communicate information to the public.
• Being detail-oriented with strong oral, written, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to relate to people of diverse backgrounds, training, and experience.
• An ability to promote a positive image of the School and represent the School’s interests before the public, media, and other schools.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment independently when responding to inquiries and interacting with donors, alumni, students, parents, faculty, volunteers, and staff.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously and remain cognizant of deadlines and schedules.
• Ability to respond promptly to customer needs; solicit customer feedback to improve service.
• Ability to identify and resolve problems in a timely manner; gather and analyze information skillfully; develop alternative solutions and use reason even when dealing with emotional topics.
• Ability to synthesize complex or diverse information; collect and research data; use intuition and experience to complement data.
• Strong personal and professional integrity.
• Willingness for occasional travel and weekend work.

Please attach a cover letter and resume when applying for this position.

The Darden School Foundation is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity or expression), national or ethnic origin, race, religion, pregnancy, veteran status, or genetic information. We participate in E-verify.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 403(b)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Work Location: In person