Responsibilities

• Provides leadership and strategic direction for a comprehensive annual giving program that establishes recurring annual giving, engages new donors, inspires alumni participation, and encourages campus-wide involvement.
• Develops and directs strategies to grow the program in support of the University's mission and campaigns.
• Monitors and evaluates program effectiveness, manages the donor pipeline of annual donors as prospects for higher levels of giving, supports crowdfunding and volunteer leadership-giving efforts, and supports cultivation and stewardship of annual fund donors.
• Directs external and internal-facing marketing and communications in support of the Annual Fund, Development and Alumni Affairs engagement goals.
• Plans and oversees segmented email, appeals, digital and web/giving-page content, and social media; ensures brand-aligned messaging through the transition to LSU New Orleans; directs audience segmentation and A/B testing; and coordinates with central University Marketing to maintain consistency with institutional brand standards.
• Oversees the production and management of the Student Outreach Center, a student-staffed program that conducts calls and outreach to alumni and friends of the University via telephone and other communication tools.
• Responsible for all aspects of the program, including supervising the student lead and student callers, hiring and training, approving scripts, monitoring statistics, and coordinating logistics.
• Uses past performance and current trends to inform annual giving strategy, and ensures accurate pledge fulfillment and compliant gift capture.
• Provides direction for the Foundation's shared stewardship, donor relations, and communications support; partners with Development data teams on segmentation and pipeline development; and collaborates on donor-database (Raiser's Edge NXT) data integrity, reporting, and gift reconciliation with Finance.
• Produces periodic reports as required for the Foundation's committee members, President/CEO, and Executive Director.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Progressively responsible experience in annual giving, marketing, communications, advancement, or a closely related field, including supervisory or team-leadership experience.
• Applied and analytical thinking skills, with demonstrated ability to set and manage to goals and objectives.
• Strong project management ability and capacity to respond to multiple demands concurrently.
• Demonstrated commitment to a high level of donor/customer service.
• Ability to effectively use marketing, social media, and digital platforms for outreach and communication.
• Strong team concept and experience leading or working within a results-oriented team environment.
• Professional demeanor and the ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including report preparation; solid writing, editing, and presentation ability.
• Proven ability to independently accomplish goals and establish priorities with minimal direction.

Preferred

• Master's degree.
• Experience in strategic planning, direct mail, tele-fundraising, marketing, donor relations/stewardship, and digital campaigns.
• Experience supervising professional and/or student staff.
• Proficiency with donor databases and digital platforms, e.g., Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT and NetCommunity, GiveSmart, MobileCause, VanillaSoft, Gravyty/Raise, Gratavid, and Drupal.
• Graphic design and web content experience; Adobe Creative Suite.
• Experience in the cultivation and segmentation of donor prospects.
• Knowledge of the New Orleans philanthropic and alumni community.