Digital Engagement Center Program Manager

Colorado State Univ Foundation; Fort Collins (CO); On-site; USD 60,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Colorado State University Foundation in Fort Collins seeks a Digital Engagement Center Program Manager to lead the student-staffed DEC. You will hire, train, and supervise up to 25 interns, oversee daily operations, and partner with the Annual Giving team to develop scripts, cadences, and outreach campaigns across calls, text, email, and social channels.

The role requires a Bachelor’s degree and at least two years in nonprofit or service roles, exceptional communication, and ability to manage

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution by employment start date.
• Two years of experience – including internship or student employment – in a non-profit or customer-facing role such as sales, marketing, fundraising, or an administrative role such as project/office management.
• Ability to work an irregular, fully on-site schedule of Sunday-Thursday, 11am-8pm.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and effectively communicate with diverse audiences.
• Must have a valid driver’s license or ability to obtain one by employment start date.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations of the Digital Engagement Center, including opening/closing and staffing coordination.
• Hire, train, and evaluate performance of interns and intern leads.
• Develop strategies, cadences, scripts, and audience targeting with the Associate Director of Annual Giving for Digital Strategy.
• Administer DEC software and CRM to activate campaigns and track performance.
• Track, analyze, and report DEC results to CSU Foundation and university partners.
• Collaborate with gift processing and IT teams to ensure clean data usage.

Skills

Strong communication

Diversity engagement

Customer service

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Position Summary

The Digital Engagement Center (DEC) is Colorado State University’s calling and digital outreach hub. Each year, the center facilitates thousands of meaningful, personalized conversations between students and important audiences like alumni, donors, parents, employees, and friends of the university.

The DEC Program Manager is an essential member of the Annual Giving team who will function as the team’s subject-matter expert on student-driven fundraising. They will be responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the Digital Engagement Center and facilitating a professional, motivating, and energetic environment for the student interns who staff it. The position will hire, train, coach, and supervise up to 25 student interns. Additionally, the Program Manager will administer relevant software, identify key audiences, develop scripts and cadences, track individual intern performance and qualification toward incentives, track overall center goals and analyze results, cultivate campus partnerships, and more.

In addition to calling, DEC will leverage text, email, video, social media, and other digital channels to engage its key audiences. In addition to fundraising, DEC will execute outreach campaigns to thank donors, invite constituents to university events, survey constituents, share campus news, check in on alumni wellbeing, and other objectives.

This position is fully in-person/in-office and will work a non-traditional schedule of Sunday through Thursday from 11am to 8pm. They will supervise nighttime calling shifts and some daytime calling shifts.

Position Information

• Position Title: Digital Engagement Center Program Manager
• Organization Name: Colorado State University Foundation
• Reports To: Associate Director of Annual Giving for Digital Strategy
• Employment Type: Full-time
• FLSA Status: Exempt
• Location: Fort Collins
• Salary Range: $60,000 - $65,000 annually
• Priority Consideration Date: August30, 2026

Organizational Overview

Located in the beautiful town of Fort Collins, Colorado State University is a premier land-grant university with world-class programs in education, outreach, and research. CSU has a student body of over 34,000 students, 7,400 employees, 258,000 living alumni, and annual research expenditures exceeding $498 million. Since 1970, the Foundation has supported Colorado State University by receiving, managing, and investing donor funds to benefit CSU and its students, faculty, researchers, educational programs, and more. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, CSU continues to be an accessible, world-class university.

The Colorado State University Foundation (CSUF) is in the midst of exciting growth as the University Advancement division of CSU recently transitioned to the Foundation. This merger allows us to more effectively serve our donors, alumni, and stakeholders with a unified structure, strengthen accountability, and build the capacity to scale our fundraising enterprise. With one of the leading development teams in the country, we most recently achieved our highest fundraising year to date in 2025.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations of the Digital Engagement Center, including opening and closing the center daily, coordinating staffing and scheduling, and supervising shifts.
• Hire, train, and evaluate performance of Digital Engagement Center interns and intern leads.
• Partner with Associate Director of Annual Giving for Digital Strategy to develop strategies and cadences, draft scripts, and identify audiences and opportunities
• Administer Digital Engagement Center software(s) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to activate outreach campaigns and track performance.
• Track, analyze, and communicate Digital Engagement Center results with CSU Foundation and university partners.
• Partner with gift processing and information technology teams to ensure optimal tracking and usage of Digital Engagement Center data.
• Cultivate relationships with CSUF partners, college/unit partners, and other university partners to identify, acquire, and/or retain outreach projects.
• Solve issues quickly and effectively, understanding when to elevate situations to leadership.
• Maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the work and uphold that standard for all DEC interns and intern leads.
• Deploy student interns and intern leads to staff and support core Annual Giving team initiatives like giving days, crowdfunding campaign cohorts, etc.
• Be an active, engaged member of the Annual Giving team, identifying opportunities to partner and integrate student-driven fundraising into non-digital channels and projects

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution by employment start date.
• Two years of experience – including internship or student employment experience – in a non-profit role, customer-facing role such as sales, marketing, fundraising, or an administrative role such as project or office management.
• Ability to work an irregular, fully on-site schedule of Sunday-Thursday, 11am-8pm.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and effectively communicate with diverse audiences.
• Must have a valid driver’s license or the ability to obtain a driver’s license or access to a licensed driver by the employment start date.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supervising student interns and/or part-time, temporary employees.
• Experience in a higher-education environment.
• Experience with change management, innovating programs, and/or creating new programs.
• Strong organizational skills and experience tracking multiple projects at once.
• Ability to problem solve and exercise initiative and independent judgment.
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to meeting project deadlines.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office with an affinity for learning new technology.

We are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, vision and retirement plans; generous paid time off; and a robust Employee Assistance Program.

CSU Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) it is our policy to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless such accommodation would cause undue hardship.