Director of Annual Giving

Eastern University; Chesterbrook (PA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Eastern University in Chesterbrook, PA seeks a Director of Annual Giving to lead strategy, execution, and growth of the comprehensive annual giving program, spanning direct mail, email, digital fundraising, and donor engagement.

This role manages a 40-60 donor portfolio, drives acquisitions and renewals, collaborates across Advancement, and embraces technology to streamline processes while aligning with the university's mission.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum of five years of professional fundraising experience.
• Experience with annual giving, direct response fundraising, or higher education advancement.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with donor-centered approach.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of Eastern University's comprehensive annual giving program from planning through execution.
• Develop and implement strategies for donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, renewal, and upgrades.
• Personally manage hands-on campaigns across direct mail, email, and digital channels.
• Manage annual giving budget, schedules, vendors, and workflows; evaluate ROI.
• Collaborate with University Marketing to align fundraising communications with brand standards.
• Oversee a portfolio of 40–60 annual and leadership-level donors/prospects with cultivation and solicitation.

Skills

Fundraising strategy

Donor stewardship

Portfolio management

Project management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CRM software

Excel

Job description

Position Description

The Director of Annual Giving leads the strategy, execution, andcontinued growth of Eastern University's comprehensive annualgiving program. As the University's primary annual givingprofessional, the Director develops and implements a coordinated,year-round program designed to grow philanthropic revenue andparticipation through donor acquisition, retention, reactivation,renewal, upgrades, recurring giving, leadership annual giving, andother strategies that strengthen Eastern's donor pipeline.

This is a hands-on fundraising role requiring both strategicleadership and strong execution. The Director personally drivesannual giving initiatives across direct mail, email, and digitalfundraising; University Giving Societies; faculty and staff giving;stewardship; fiscal year-end fundraising; and other Universitypriorities. The Director also manages a portfolio of approximately40-60 annual and leadership-level donors and prospects, withresponsibility for qualification, cultivation, solicitation,stewardship, renewal, and growth, while helping identify donorswith potential for deeper philanthropic engagement and future majorgiving.

The successful candidate will be a strategic, self-directed, andhighly collaborative professional who takes ownership, anticipatesneeds, manages multiple priorities, and brings ideas and solutionsforward. The Director will embrace technology, automation, andemerging tools to create smarter, more efficient, and repeatableways of working, reducing unnecessary manual processes and allowinggreater focus on fundraising and donor engagement. Working closelywith Advancement colleagues and campus partners, the Director mustbe adaptable and receptive to collaborative review and changingpriorities. Equally important, the Director will be a positive,value-added presence who contributes to a mission-centered teamculture and approaches the work with professionalism, humility,initiative, generosity, and a genuine sense of purpose and serviceto Eastern's mission, vision, and values.

Position Responsibilities

A. COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL GIVING STRATEGY & EXECUTION —40%

• Lead all aspects of Eastern University's comprehensive annualgiving program from planning through execution, evaluation, andcontinuous improvement.
• Develop annual and multi-year fundraising strategies, goals,budgets, solicitation calendars, audience segmentation, askstrategies, messaging, and integrated donor journeys for theEastern Fund and other University priorities.
• Develop and execute coordinated strategies for donoracquisition, retention, reactivation, renewal, upgrades, recurringgiving, leadership annual giving, faculty and staff giving, fiscalyear-end fundraising, and other annual giving initiatives.
• Personally manage the hands-on work required to move campaignsfrom concept to completion across direct mail, email, digital,personal outreach, stewardship, and other appropriate channels,including copy development, production coordination, proofing,timelines, and follow-up.
• Manage, monitor, and effectively steward the annual givingbudget; oversee campaign production schedules, vendorrelationships, and operational workflows; and evaluate return oninvestment.
• Serve as the primary annual giving partner to UniversityMarketing, ensuring fundraising communications align withUniversity brand standards, institutional messaging, visualidentity, and appropriate communications calendars.
• Continuously test and refine approaches based on results, donorbehavior, and emerging annual giving practices to increase donors,dollars, participation, and long-term engagement.
• Use annual giving response and engagement—including direct mailresponses, online gifts, first-time gifts, increased giving,recurring gifts, and other giving behaviors—to identify and qualifyprospective donors for deeper engagement and increasedphilanthropic support.

B. DONOR PORTFOLIO & LEADERSHIP ANNUAL GIVING — 20%

• Manage a focused portfolio of approximately 40-60 annual andleadership-level donors and prospects, with responsibility forqualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, renewal, andupgrading.
• Conduct meaningful donor visits and interactions, make personalgift solicitations, and achieve established goals for donoractivity and fundraising results.
• Identify annual donors with the capacity, inclination, andengagement for increased support and collaborate with IndividualGiving colleagues on appropriate movement into major gift orplanned gift portfolios.
• Document donor strategies, contacts, solicitations, and otherrelevant activity accurately and consistently in the UniversityAdvancement CRM.
• Proactively identify prospective donors through the annualgiving program, paying particular attention to direct mail anddigital response, first-time gifts, increased giving, recurringgifts, campaign engagement, and other giving behaviors that maysignal potential for deeper philanthropic engagement. Partnerclosely with Advancement Services and Individual Giving colleaguesto combine annual giving insights with available data and researchto qualify, cultivate, assign, and appropriately transitionemerging leadership, major and planned gift prospects.

C. UNIVERSITY GIVING SOCIETIES, STEWARDSHIP & CONSTITUENTPROGRAMS — 15%

• Provide strategic leadership for Eastern's primary UniversityGiving Societies, including acquisition, communications,recognition, stewardship, renewal, retention, and growth.
• Develop intentional strategies that encourage donors to deepentheir engagement and move to increased levels of support.
• Lead the University's Faculty and Staff Giving program andrecurring giving strategies, working collaboratively withAdvancement and campus partners to strengthen participation and aculture of philanthropy.
• Collaborate with Advancement Services, Alumni & FamilyEngagement, and other colleagues to ensure annual donors receivecoordinated, meaningful stewardship that demonstrates the impact oftheir philanthropy and encourages continued support.

D. DIGITAL FUNDRAISING & ADVANCEMENT ASSOCIATE PARTNERSHIP —10%

• Partner closely with the Advancement Associate to ensuredigital fundraising and communications are fully integrated intothe comprehensive annual giving program.
• Establish fundraising objectives, audiences, segmentation, askstrategies, timelines, and messaging direction; collaborate withthe Advancement Associate, who supports drafting and execution ofemail and digital communications and content for the Eastern Impactsocial media page.
• Collaborate on Day of Giving, Giving Tuesday, and theGraduating Class Gift, for which the Advancement Associate servesas the primary project lead given their significant digital andsocial media components; provide annual giving strategy, goals,segmentation, solicitation approach, and integration with thebroader program.
• Maintain clear roles, timelines, and communication within thiscollaborative partnership. Both positions report to the AssociateVice President for Advancement; neither supervises the other.

E. DATA, ANALYTICS & ADVANCEMENT SERVICES PARTNERSHIP —10%

• Partner closely with Advancement Services on campaignsegmentation, data requests, lists, reporting, gift administration,donor coding, Giving Society administration, CRM strategies, andother annual giving operations.
• Establish meaningful key performance indicators and analyzeresults by audience, appeal, channel, fund, giving level,acquisition, retention, reactivation, renewal, upgrade, recurringgiving, and other relevant measures.
• Move beyond activity reporting to interpret results, identifyopportunities or concerns, and provide specific recommendationsthat improve future fundraising performance and donor pipelinedevelopment.
• Use fundraising data, constituent analytics, and engagementtrends to inform decisions and collaborate with Advancementleadership and frontline fundraisers on qualification and movementof prospective donors.
• Regularly review annual giving and campaign response data inpartnership with Advancement Services to surface new prospects anddonors whose giving behavior and available data indicate potentialfor increased engagement, leadership annual giving, or future majoror planned gift cultivation.
• Leverage technology, automation, and appropriate AI-enabledtools to improve the efficiency and scalability of annual givingoperations. Identify opportunities to automate repetitiveprocesses, create repeatable workflows, strengthen personalizationand segmentation, and reduce unnecessary manual work whilemaintaining appropriate human review, data integrity, anddonor-centered communication.

F. COLLABORATION, LEADERSHIP & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES— 5%

• Serve as Eastern's annual giving subject-matter leader and anactive, collaborative member of the Advancement team, leadingthrough expertise, influence, initiative, and accountability ratherthan supervisory authority.
• Work effectively with Advancement leadership and campuspartners in an iterative review environment, bringing forwardthoughtful recommendations while incorporating feedback andmaintaining momentum.
• Anticipate needs, manage timelines, communicate proactively,adapt to changing priorities, and represent Eastern professionallywith donors, alumni, parents and families, volunteers, colleagues,and other constituents.
• Perform other related duties as required. Specific projects orresponsibilities may shift as institutional priorities, staffing,or fundraising opportunities evolve.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications (Education, Experience, Certifications,Skills):

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsibleprofessional fundraising experience, including demonstratedexperience in annual giving, direct response fundraising, highereducation advancement, nonprofit development, or a closely relatedfundraising environment.
• Demonstrated success independently planning, implementing,executing, and evaluating fundraising campaigns from strategythrough completion, with measurable results.
• Experience developing and executing integrated direct mail,email, digital, or other multichannel fundraising strategies.
• Experience personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewardingdonors and managing donor relationships toward increasedgiving.
• Demonstrated ability to use fundraising data, donor behavior,and campaign results to inform strategy, segmentation, messaging,and next steps.
• Self-starter with strong project-management and organizationlskills, able to manage multiple campaigns, constituencies,deadlines, vendors, and stakeholders simultaneously with limitedday-to-day direction while maintaining a positive attitude. Highlevels of executive functioning. Calendar-driven.
• Exceptional writing, communication, proofreading, editing,interpersonal, and collaborative skills, including the ability todevelop persuasive donor-centered fundraising communications.
• Demonstrated initiative, sound judgment, adaptability, andability to take ownership of work from concept throughcompletion.
• Experience working with a fundraising CRM/database and donorsegmentation.
• Ability to handle confidential information and donor matterswith sensitivity, tact, and discretion.
• Strong commitment to cooperative teamwork.
• Work Conditions and Additional Position Requirements:
• Travel is necessary to be successful in this position tosupport visits with prospects (alumni, parents, and friends) and tomanage and participate in special events primarily in the GreaterPhiladelphia region.
• Evening and weekend work are necessary in this position.
• Hybrid work flexibility may be considered following thesuccessful completion of the introductory 90-day review period andcontinued supervisor approval, based on job performance,departmental needs, and University policy.
• The work location/hours and use of accrued time off (annualleave, sick, personal, etc.) will follow that of the University andOffice of Advancement’s policies and procedures.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individualswith disabilities to perform essential functions.
• Commitment to the University's mission, vision, and corevalues.

Preferred Qualifications (Education, Experience, Certifications,Skills):

• Seven (7) or more years of progressively responsible annualgiving or fundraising experience, preferably within highereducation.
• Familiarity with and success in the complex environment of afaith-based university.
• Experience serving as the primary professional responsible fora comprehensive annual giving program or independently managingsignificant components of one.
• Experience managing a donor portfolio and personally securingannual or leadership annual gifts.
• Experience with leadership annual giving, donor GivingSocieties, faculty and staff giving, recurring giving, giving days,class giving, and other constituent-based fundraisingprograms.
• Experience with fundraising analytics, A/B testing,segmentation, donor acquisition and retention strategies, andevaluation of fundraising return on investment.
• Experience managing fundraising vendors, printers, mail houses,digital platforms, or other external partners.
• Proficiency with Excel and familiarity with Virtuous or similarfundraising/marketing software is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strategic Thinking - Keeps the University's strategicobjectives in mind when developing and contributing to plans andinitiatives for Advancement and donor engagement. Is able toexplain the link between program goals and the University'sstrategic direction to Advancement. Makes informed decisions basedon a clear understanding of the impact and consequences involved.Considers key financial factors (e.g., budget, revenue, resources)when making decisions.
• Adaptability - Stays focused on work and responsibilities in achanging work environment. Is able to quickly reprioritize toensure resources (e.g., staff, systems, tools, etc.) are in placeto achieve objectives. Responds positively and supports changeinitiatives.
• Communication and Networking - Articulates thoughts clearly andeffectively. Consistently communicates with colleagues and/or thesupervisor, ensuring everyone is well informed. Proactively buildsinformal networks and uses them to drive results within the EUcommunity.
• Results Driven - Self-motivated and can work independently andcollaboratively. Supports continuous policy improvement to reduceinefficiencies and better achieve goals. Respectfully holds peopleaccountable for the quality of their work and minimal errors.Strives to achieve challenging goals and works throughobstacles.
• Collaboration & Influence - Builds productive relationshipsand leads projects across functional areas without relying onsupervisory authority.
• Adaptability - Reprioritizes effectively in a changingenvironment and remains constructive, flexible, andsolutions-oriented as priorities, timelines, or approachesevolve.
• Communication - Communicates clearly, proactively, andprofessionally with donors, colleagues, University leadership, andcampus partners; produces strong, donor-centered writtenmaterials.
• Receptiveness to Feedback - Brings professional expertise andwell-developed recommendations while productively incorporatingreview, feedback, and refinement from multiple stakeholders.
• Technology & Organization - Manages multiple concurrentprojects and deadlines and uses CRM, fundraising, digital, and datatools effectively. Demonstrated curiosity and adaptability in usingtechnology, automation, and emerging AI tools to streamline work,create repeatable processes, improve productivity, and strengthenfundraising effectiveness.
• Integrity & Community - Handles confidential informationwith discretion and treats members of the University community withfairness, dignity, respect, caring, compassion, justice, integrity,competence, and affirmation.
• Positive, mission-centered team presence - Contributesconstructively to team culture, assumes positive intent, supportscolleagues, avoids unproductive conflict, and helps moveconversations toward solutions and shared goals. Demonstrates awillingness to go beyond assigned responsibilities whencircumstances call for it and approaches the work with a strongsense of purpose, service, and commitment to Eastern.