Director of Annual Giving

The William Paterson University of New Jersey; Wayne (NJ); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

William Paterson University is seeking a Director of Annual Giving to lead the program and staff, designing multi-faceted strategies to meet short- and long-term philanthropic goals. The role focuses on donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and recognition across channels.

The position reports to the Assistant VP of Alumni Engagement and Philanthropy and requires strong data analysis, reporting, and collaboration with university partners to expand engagement and giving in New Jersey and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• Five (5) years of fundraising, strategic planning/implementation, and functional operations experience with donor data analysis.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• CASE standards knowledge or equivalent professional development preferred.

Responsibilities

• Designs and implements Annual Giving strategies to meet fundraising goals and objectives.
• Ensures gift counting, reporting, and benchmarking align with CASE standards.
• Analyzes donor data and campaign performance to inform strategy; builds reports and dashboards.
• Oversees traditional and digital appeal channels to achieve fundraising and engagement goals.
• Manages a donor portfolio in the Tri-State region and achieves personal fundraising goals.
• Hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates Annual Fund staff (two direct reports).

Skills

Written and oral communication

Networking and interpersonal skills

Data analysis and reporting

Pivot tables

Education

Bachelor's degree

CASE credential or CASE/AFP development

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

Job description

Thank you for your interest in working at William Paterson University.

William Paterson University is a purpose-driven, proudly diverse community-designated as both a public Hispanic-Serving Institution and Minority-Serving Institution-committed to creating transformative academic, professional, and personal experiences as a powerhouse of progress. We foster a workplace that values growth, flexibility, and community, and we are recognized as a 2024 and 2025 Forbes' Best Employers by State, 2025 Great College to Work For, and honored with the NJBIZ Empowering Women Award .

Our 1,000 dedicated staff members enjoy competitive benefits, a four-day summer workweek, tuition support, and strong opportunities for internal promotion. Situated on a scenic suburban campus just 20 miles from New York City, WP offers a diverse, inclusive environment where your contributions fuel student success, economic and social mobility, and community engagement. Together, we empower our students through intentional, holistic support within flexible, innovative, and inclusive settings-preparing graduates to thrive professionally and personally, and to lead with a commitment to progress in New Jersey and beyond.

JOB SUMMARY

Reporting to the Assistant VP of Alumni Engagement and Philanthropy, the Director of Annual Giving is responsible for providing overall leadership and management of the Annual Giving program and staff. In this role, the Director is responsible for designing and implementing multi-faceted strategies in collaboration that meet short and long-term philanthropic goals of the University.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Designs and implements Annual Giving strategies and programs, in order to support the achievement of agreed-upon fundraising goals and objectives including: identification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship and recognition; projecting annual giving revenue at the high/low levels, and monitoring and adjusting those projections, wherever necessary, throughout the fiscal year.
• Ensures gift counting, campaign reporting, and annual giving metrics comply with CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) standards and sector best practices.
• Analyzes annual giving data, donor trends, and campaign performance (retention, acquisition, upgrade/downgrade, and channel-level ROI) using pivot tables and other data analysis tools to inform strategy; builds and maintains reports and dashboards to track progress against fundraising goals and present findings to leadership.
• Manages and oversees the execution of traditional, current and emerging appeal channels ( direct mail, email, digital/social media, text-to-give, and crowdfunding ) to ensure the department achieves philanthropic and engagement goals.
• Manages a prospect portfolio encompassing the Tri-State region; secure gift at the annual fund and Annual Fund leadership level to meet personal fundraising goals.
• Maintains a schedule of personal visits and engagement activity that yield revenue and increase the University's base of support.
• Works closely with the major gift officers to maximize donor pipeline potential and coordinate timing of appropriate annual fund communication and solicitations to support major gift moves management and solicitations.
• Hires, trains, develops, mentors, disciplines, supervises and evaluates Annual Fund staff ( two direct reports ) in accordance with University policies and state regulations.
• Collaborates with the Alumni Engagement team and University staff campus-wide to partner and build engagement and Annual Giving solicitation strategies that encourage alumni involvement and increase annual alumni giving.
• Manages Annual Giving department budget allocation.
• Negotiates contracts with annual giving third party vendors.
• Serves on University committees as needed.
• Performs other duties as assigned that are appropriate for the position.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• Five (5) years of experience in fundraising, strategic planning/implementation, and functional operations, including experience analyzing fundraising and donor data to identify giving trends.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent networking, interpersonal and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing fundraising and donor data, including building reports and pivot tables to track giving trends, donor retention/attrition, and campaign performance.
• Knowledge of CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) standards and best practices for gift counting, campaign reporting, and annual giving benchmarking; CASE credential or active CASE/AFP professional development strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate collaboration while working as a part of the Advancement team.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite of products, including advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, formulas, and data visualization) for analyzing fundraising and giving trends, soci