Assistant Director Reunion Giving

The Assistant Director of Reunion Giving is a member of the Duke Annual Fund staff in the Office of Duke Alumni Engagement and Development (DAED). This individual is responsible for directing two or more reunion class gift campaigns and will develop strategies for achieving reunion class fundraising goals; travel nationally to solicit donors; recruit and train volunteers; and develop and manage relationships with university colleagues. The position reports to the Director of Reunion Giving, Duke Annual Fund.

Work Performed:

Reunion Gift Campaigns

• Utilizing data and prospect analytics, identify reunion class co-chairs (10-20 per class) and reunion class gift team (40-60 per class).
• Manage and train Networking Volunteers (10-30) per cycle. Networking Volunteers contact affinity groups and classmates to encourage reunion attendance.
• Recruit, onboard, train and manage all reunion volunteers; and solicit for Annual Fund gifts where appropriate.
• Set and achieve ambitious, yet realistic reunion fundraising goals for each reunion class. Using previous class giving history and detailed prospect analysis, determine dollar and donor goals.
• Develop presentations and toolkits to train volunteers who engage in peer-education and solicitation and take an active role in developing motivational strategies to enhance the volunteer experience.
• Conduct volunteer trainings via WebEx and hold monthly conference calls with reunion co-chairs.
• Using volunteer preference and prospect analytics, assign classmates to reunion volunteers for peer-to-peer solicitation with focus on leadership Annual Fund gifts.
• Actively coordinate with the Duke Alumni Association on Reunions Weekend programming, volunteer management, communications messaging and calendar and regional reunion events.
• Maintain on-going communication with volunteers and Duke staff regarding class progress toward fundraising goals.  

Qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward leadership Annual Fund prospects

• Travel 6-8 times per year to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward a portfolio of leadership Annual Fund prospects focusing on undergraduate reunion and inter-reunion alumni and non-alumni parents.
• Meet with and develop relationships with Duke prospects (described above) to personally qualify their financial capacity and inclination to make leadership Annual Fund gifts to Duke. Diplomatically ask qualifying questions to distinguish between prospects and suspects.
• Solicit prospects for gifts to the Annual Fund with focus on securing multi-year pledges in the five and six figure range and $5K+ single year gifts from inter-reunion alumni and non-alumni parents.
• Organize and staff Pre-reunion and Inter-reunion events in key cities to engage, recruit, solicit, and steward alumni.
• Develop initial strategies for on-going involvement including appropriate referrals to fundraising colleagues in DAED and across Duke.
• Provide timely post-visit follow-up including tracking moves and solicitations in DADD, sending personalized follow up to individual prospects, and making referrals to University Development and campus-wide gift officers as appropriate.

Serve as an active member of the Duke Annual Fund staff and the Alumni and Leadership Giving Team

• Work with members of the Alumni and Leadership Giving team to write operating plans, quarterly reports and mid-year analyses.
• Attend and participate in Annual Fund events and gift club receptions (i.e. Homecoming, Graduation, Parents’ Leadership reception, Annual Fund Executive Committee and Reunions Weekend).

Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this classification. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required of personnel so classified.

Skills:

• Ability to travel regularly and to work on weekends and evenings is required.
• Strong initiative, high energy level, creativity, and attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills for working with volunteers.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, working both independently and as a team member.
• Knowledge of Duke University preferred.

Education/Training: Work requires communications, analytical and organizational skills generally acquired through completion of a bachelor’s degree program.

Experience: Work requires one year of experience in alumni affairs, public relations, fund raising, sales and promotions, marketing, student activities or a related field in order to acquire skills necessary to administer and coordinate annual fund solicitations and other special fundraising activities. A bachelor’s degree from Duke University may be substituted for the required year of experience since the familiarity with the University and contacts with current students and recent graduates would be directly relevant to the job.

OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATIONAND/OR EXPERIENCE