Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary

The Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving leads Coker University's alumni engagement and annual giving efforts. This position develops meaningful relationships with alumni, friends, and donors through communications, volunteer engagement, events, annual giving initiatives, and stewardship activities.

The Director is responsible for increasing alumni engagement, annual giving support, volunteer involvement, and donor retention while strengthening the university's philanthropic pipeline.

Working collaboratively with advancement colleagues, faculty, staff, alumni volunteers, university leadership, and the Marketing and Communications team, the Director helps foster lifelong relationships that advance the university's mission and fundraising goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Create and implement a comprehensive alumni engagement and annual giving strategy that increases alumni participation and annual giving support.
• Serve as liaison to the Alumni Association Board and support alumni volunteer leadership, class agents, affinity groups, reunions, recognition programs, and alumni communications.
• In collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team, develop and manage alumni communications through various mediums that strengthens alumni relationships and participation.
• Develop and manage multi-channel annual giving campaigns, including direct mail, email, social media, giving days, audience segmentation, and digital outreach.
• Plan and execute a comprehensive calendar of alumni and donor engagement activities, regional events, and volunteer engagement opportunities, with follow-up strategies that strengthen relationships and identify future philanthropic opportunities.
• Maintain accurate constituent and engagement records within the university's CRM, utilizing data, reporting, and analytics to inform strategy and measure results.
• Collaborate with the Advancement team to support alumni engagement activities, annual giving initiatives, event logistics, donor pipeline and communications.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of the university's advancement and engagement objectives.

Proactive Expectations

• Execute a comprehensive annual calendar of alumni engagement, volunteer, and annual giving activities.
• Meet annual fundraising and participation goals established for annual giving, giving days, and related campaigns.
• Increase alumni participation, donor retention, and volunteer engagement through strategic outreach and relationship-building efforts.
• Manage a portfolio of 50–75 annual giving donors and prospects, maintaining documented engagement plans and next steps.
• Identify and qualify 25 prospective leadership donors ($1,000+) annually through engagement, discovery, and relationship-building activities.

Demonstrated Success Required

Applicants should provide evidence of:

• Achieving measurable fundraising, participation, engagement, or revenue growth results.
• Developing and executing successful alumni engagement, annual giving, and constituent engagement programs.
• Building meaningful relationships with alumni, volunteers, donors, and community stakeholders.
• Managing multiple projects, events, campaigns, and deadlines while maintaining strong attention to detail.
• Utilizing data, reporting, and analytics to inform strategy and improve results.
• Demonstrating strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Working collaboratively with leadership and colleagues to advance goals.