Associate Director Annual Giving and Volunteer Engagement

Tufts; Medford (MA); On-site; USD 74,000 - 111,000; Full time

Job summary

Tufts University in Medford is seeking an Associate Director of Annual Giving and Volunteer Engagement to lead a large alumni volunteer network and drive fundraising initiatives. You will recruit, train, and steward volunteers across reunion and class programs, guiding communications, data management, and campaign execution with senior Alumni Engagement and Development colleagues.

The role focuses on engaging volunteers to boost annual philanthropy, including TuftsGivingTuesday and year-end

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in a related field.
• 3–5 years of professional experience in volunteer management, fundraising, alumni relations or a related field.
• Experience with donor data systems (Access, Advance, Raiser's Edge) and MS Office.

Responsibilities

• Lead recruitment, training, engagement, and stewardship of alumni volunteers.
• Develop and implement volunteer engagement and fundraising strategies.
• Coordinate Class Volunteer programs and coordinate communication and reporting.
• Manage GiveCampus platform operations and data quality for volunteers.
• Oversee Reunions and annual giving volunteer activities and events.
• Monitor results and adjust strategies to strengthen fundraising outcomes.

Skills

Volunteer management

Fundraising / development

Alumni relations

Social media engagement

Education

Bachelor’s Degree BA/BS

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Access

Advance / Raiser's Edge

Job description

Overview

The Office of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving builds lifelong relationships between Tufts University and its alumni by creating meaningful opportunities to connect, engage, volunteer, and give.

In partnership with the Tufts University Alumni Association and colleagues across Tufts, the office leads a comprehensive portfolio of alumni programs, volunteer experiences, reunion and class-based engagement, and annual giving strategies designed to strengthen alumni connection and philanthropic participation. The office oversees the Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, which raises more than $13 million annually, and provides strategic leadership and centralized support for annual giving programs across the university. By intentionally aligning engagement, volunteerism, and philanthropy, the office creates a cohesive alumni experience that deepens lifelong affiliation, expands participation, and builds a strong foundation of support for Tufts and its future.

What You’ll Do

The Associate Director, Annual Giving and Volunteer Engagement leads the recruitment, training, engagement, and stewardship of more than 150 alumni volunteers, with a particular focus on reunion and class volunteers. The role develops and executes volunteer engagement and fundraising strategies, cultivates future volunteer leaders, and partners closely with Alumni Engagement and Development colleagues to increase alumni engagement and philanthropic support. The Associate Director leads volunteer efforts supporting key annual giving initiatives, including #TuftsGivingTuesday, Reunions, and fiscal year-end campaigns. The position also develops volunteer training and communications, is responsible for program operations, reporting and analysis, data management, and serves as the primary program lead for the GiveCampus volunteer management platform.

Class Volunteer Program

Tufts Class Volunteers inspire classmates to join them as engaged alumni and donors. They are a driver for the success of our vital outreach, engagement, and philanthropy efforts.

Program Strategy Development and Implementation

• Serve as strategic lead for Class Volunteer Decade Chairs, ensuring alignment with Annual Giving priorities and volunteer goals.
• Identify strategic opportunities and develop tactics to increase annual fund giving via peer-to-peer solicitation.
• Directly solicit class volunteers, including leadership-level annual fund gifts.
• Ensure a positive and coordinated volunteer experience, particularly for alumni who maintain multiple volunteer, donor, and engagement relationships with Tufts.
• Oversee program data management, program's online presence, reporting and analysis, communications, and day-to-day operations.
• As applicable, partner with colleagues to integrate Class Volunteers in fundraising initiatives, events, communications, and broader alumni engagement efforts.
• Evaluate program's engagement and fundraising results to strengthen efficacy.

Volunteer Recruitment, Management and Stewardship

• Recruit, train, engage, and steward Class Volunteers, responsible for approximately 20 classes (50 volunteers).
• Serve as staff lead for Class Volunteer Decade Chairs, the volunteer leads for this program.
• Create volunteer communications that provide university updates, fundraising progress, class performance data, recognition, and other resources as needed.
• Develop and deliver volunteer training materials that provide fundraising goals, peer-to-peer outreach and solicitation best practices, guide for use of GiveCampus volunteer platform, and Advancement policies and procedures.
• Responsible for quarterly Class Volunteer calls including content development, execution, and follow-up.
• Create and execute a stewardship strategy for volunteers to maintain a strong and sustainable volunteer network.
• Identify and cultivate emerging volunteer leaders to contribute to pipeline for future Reunions committees and other leadership opportunities.

Reunions Volunteer Program

Volunteers in this role serve as both engagement and fundraising volunteers, with a dual goal of driving attendance at Reunions and giving in honor of the milestone.

Reunions Volunteer Recruitment, Management and Stewardship

• Recruit, engage, train, and steward volunteers for two Reunions classes, building active committees focused on engagement, event attendance and giving.
• Identify, create, and manage relationships with key Reunions volunteers.
• Provide volunteers with necessary resources and training, including use of volunteer platform, to effectively engage classmates and achieve Reunions fundraising goals.
• Identify volunteers who may be appropriate for special opportunities (i.e. presenting on alumni panels, volunteer profiles or significant philanthropic potential).
• Staff Reunions weekend to ensure event success and positive volunteer experience.

Reunions Fundraising Strategy and Solicitation

• Solicit volunteers and key alumni in assigned classes, including leadership annual fund level asks.
• Monitor outreach and fundraising results for assigned classes, adjusting strategy as needed.

Volunteer Support of Fundraising Initiatives

#TuftsGivingTuesday Fundraising Volunteers

• Responsible for created and executing a parallel path for athletics volunteers on #TuftsGivingTuesday, and partner with athletics development staff and coaches.
• Develop and implement strategies to drive volunteer outreach and giving on #TuftsGivingTuesday, particularly leveraging the gamification elements driven by the GiveCampus social fundraising platform.
• Organize and lead two volunteer outreach calls to share campaign goals and plans in support of volunteer fundraising efforts.

Other Fundraising Initiatives

• Coordinate two all-volunteer calls to provide volunteers a "VIP" experience that incorporates updates from Tufts and information about their roles as volunteers.
• As appropriate, mobilize and train volunteers for peer-to-peer outreach for calendar year end, spring fundraising, and fiscal year end campaigns.
• Monitor volunteer activity and campaign results, using performance data to identify opportunities to strengthen future fundraising efforts.

Staff Lead, Volunteer Management Platform

Lead the strategic management of GiveCampus volunteer management tool, including: platform maintenance, template creation, troubleshooting, continuous improvement, and annual evaluation to support program growth.

What We’re Looking For

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree BA/BS
• 3-5 yrs of professional experience in volunteer management, fundraising/development, alumni relations or a related field.
• Some complex database experience (Access, Advance, Millenium, Raiser's Edge, etc.)
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite software applications, including Word and Excel.
• Must be proactive, self‑motivated, articulate, personable, well‑organized, service‑oriented, and able to drive multiple projects concurrently.
• Excellent interpersonal skills are essential.
• A solid understanding of social media engagement strategies
• Periodic night and weekend work required in addition to domestic travel.
• Valid US Driver’s License

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in annual giving
• Must be responsive and service‑oriented to internal (Faculty, Administrators, Staff, etc.) as well as external constituents (alumni, donors, etc.)
• Familiarity with Access and Advance (or comparable donor and information management system)
• An aptitude for and commitment to learning new systems and applications

Pay Range

Minimum $74,000.00, Midpoint $92,500.00, Maximum $111,000.00

Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.