Engagement Center Associate

Osugiving; Stillwater (OK); On-site; USD 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

OSU Foundation seeks an Engagement Center Associate to lead the Cowboy Caller Engagement Center, driving donor pipeline growth and managing student staff. The role includes strategy development, scheduling, payroll, and coordination with OSU Foundation partners to align outreach with priorities.

The position emphasizes data-driven decision making, confidentiality, and cross-team collaboration, with an atypical Monday–Friday schedule aligned to calling shifts and Student Foundation meetings.

Qualifications

• Experience in managing a call center and donor engagement programs.
• Proven ability to analyze data, set goals, and report results.
• Experience with nonprofit donor engagement and strategy.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to supervise student staff and manage training.

Responsibilities

• Oversee all aspects of the Cowboy Caller Engagement Center, including recruitment, hiring, scheduling, retention, training, and supervision of part-time Cowboy Callers and student managers.
• Direct operations: payroll, shift setup, supervision, and post-shift shutdown.
• Enforce policies on attendance and behavior; update policies as needed.
• Maintain a tidy, welcoming, and secure environment for staff and visitors.
• Plan incentives to boost staff retention; manage engagement center budget.
• Develop segmentation and calling pool strategies for donor engagement.
• Create year-long multi-channel engagement calendars coordinating outreach channels.
• Coordinate with partners to build lists for engagement and qualification activities.
• Maintain data confidentiality and comply with PCI and donor standards.
• Participate in reporting; analyze performance and donor behavior; adjust training.
• Mentor Student Foundation; support events and donor relations; attend meetings.

Skills

Call center experience

Data analysis

Leadership

Effective communication

Problem solving

Adaptability

Teamwork/Collaboration

Donor relations

Tools

Call center software

Job description

VISION: Transform the university through the power of generosity.

MISSION: Unite donor passions with university priorities to elevate the impact of Oklahoma State University.

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE: The Pipeline Growth and Readiness team contributes to the mission by creating a wide and deep pool of highly engaged donors to programs and units across Oklahoma State University, by helping donors discover their philanthropic passions and implementing strategic tactics and partnerships to aid donors in realizing their full philanthropic potential.

PRIMARY PURPOSE: The Engagement Center Associate position leads and manages all aspects of the Cowboy Caller Engagement Center, including program strategy and cadence development, engagement software operation and troubleshooting, and oversight of all student employees with the goal of donor pipeline development. This position also serves as a staff advisor to the OSU Foundation Student Foundation. To successfully manage the Engagement Center, this position is required to work an atypical schedule of Monday through Friday, that aligns with calling shifts and Student Foundation meetings.

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS:

Management of the Cowboy Caller Engagement Center (40%)

• Oversee all aspects of the Cowboy Caller Engagement Center, including recruitment, hiring, scheduling, retention, training, and supervision of part-time Cowboy Callers and student managers, who philanthropically engage all Oklahoma State University constituencies.
• Direct all aspects of operations, including student payroll, shift setup, supervising shifts and post-shift shutdown.
• Enforce Cowboy Callers policies for attendance and behavior, and recommend updated policies as needed.
• Ensure that the Engagement Center is a tidy, welcoming, and secure environment for staff and visitors.
• Plan and execute incentive programs for Cowboy Callers to increase staff retention.
• Propose and manage Engagement Center budgetary resources to maximize results.

Pipeline-Ready Outreach Strategy and Calling Pool Development (20%)

• In partnership with the Director of Pipeline Growth and the larger PGR Team, develop segmentation and calling pool strategies that identify constituents with potential for continued annual, mid-level, major, planned, or principal gift engagement.
• Build year-long, multi-channel engagement calendars that include cadenced outreach to strategic segments at-scale and align phone outreach with direct mail, email, texting, crowdfunding, days of giving, stewardship, and Pipeline Readiness priorities.
• Coordinate with Prospect Development, Pipeline Readiness, unit partners, and PGR leadership to build and refine lists of constituents in appropriate giving bands for engagement and qualification activity.
• Collect unit-specific information from OSU Foundation partners to improve outreach relevance and help constituents connect their Orange Passions with OSU priorities.
• Maintain a high degree of confidentiality on all sensitive constituent information and abide by OSU Foundation and PCI data security policies.

Evaluating Engagement Center Results (10%)

• In partnership with the Director of Pipeline Growth, make Engagement Center performance projections, set goals, and review/analyze relevant data sets.
• Provide regular reporting on Engagement Center performance to the Director of Pipeline Growth.
• As necessary, provide Engagement Center performance results to various OSU Foundation teams.
• Analyze outreach and fundraising performance, conduct analysis of donor behavior, and identify opportunities for improvement and optimization in growing the donor pipeline through multi-channel engagement.
• Analyze and redesign new hire training each cycle to strengthen learning outcomes, improve engagement, and increase retention.
• Analyze individual caller performance data to maximize coaching and caller results.
• Serve as the secondary Student Foundation advisor, spearheading student fundraising and engagement efforts in creating a culture of.
• Ensure all Student Foundation efforts follow OSU Foundation confidentiality policies and within its legal parameters.
• Assist with Student Foundation logistics for meetings and events.
• Regularly attend Student Foundation executive and general meetings.
• Mentor and supervise executive committee in planning events, interviewing new members, and building donor relations.
• Partner with primary advisor and Student Foundation membership to build a culture of student philanthropy within the Oklahoma State University System.

OSU Foundation Pipeline Growth and Readiness Intern Program Manager (10%)

• Oversee all aspects of the intern program, including recruitment, hiring, scheduling, retention, training, and supervision of student interns for the PGR team.
• Design and deliver onboarding, skills training, and ongoing professional development for interns, increasing retention, role readiness, and leadership pipeline growth.
• Partner with PGR directors to align intern assignments with team priorities, ensuring efficient workflows and project continuity.
• Oversee the matching gift program through the Double the Donation platform.
• Coordinate with Campus Facilities and OSUF Gift Management to oversee Brick Campaign workflows, maintaining data accuracy, fulfillment quality, and on-time donor outreach.

Technology, Data Integrity, and Compliance (5%)

• In cooperation with Records and Information Management, Gift Management, Information Strategy, and other internal partners, ensure the exchange of data between the OSU Foundation CRM and Engagement Center outreach platform is carried out in a timely manner.
• Identify concerns, discrepancies, and data quality issues that could affect outreach effectiveness, donor experience, or pipeline readiness insights; elevate issues to appropriate partners for resolution.
• Serve as the resident expert in implementation, testing, training, and adoption of new or updated Engagement Center technology that supports strategic phone outreach and pipeline-oriented engagement.
• Ensure Engagement Center practices comply with OSU Foundation confidentiality, data security, PCI, and donor communication standards.

Other duties as assigned.

JOB COMPETENCIES AND EXPERIENCE:

Education & Certifications:

• Ability to work an atypical schedule of Monday through Friday, that aligns with calling shifts and Student Foundation meetings.

Experience:

• Call center experience, preferably in a nonprofit environment.
• Experience analyzing data and setting goals.
• Experience with call center software.
• Experience building a collaborative and high-performing work culture.
• Proven sense of humor and ability to have fun.
• Effective Communication: Proactively ensures effective communication throughout the organization; makes relevant contributions to discussions and meetings, giving clear and concise explanations and sticking to the point; chooses language and communication method to suit the audience, reframes and articulates to help others understand; asks questions to check understanding when disseminating information.
• Execution & Initiative: Motivates self and others to achieve the best results, displaying energy, drive and a desire to succeed; enlists the support of others as necessary to overcome resistance; supervises cross-functional project team execution on tasks to meet stated objectives; helps other employees’ gain the skills and experience they need to contribute; proactively outlines milestones, outcomes and deliverables and effectively communicates them to internal and external stakeholders.
• Teamwork/Interpersonal Skills: Develops and nurtures formal & informal relationships with a wide circle of people beyond those involved in current activities, including potential donors, stakeholders, and information links; encourages collaboration among colleagues, departments and entire organization to achieve results; compromises, handles conflicts, seeks common ground, articulates own and others goals; stays focused on positive win-win outcomes; seeks input on how to leverage existing processes to improve the donor experience; translates ideas into action.
• Problem Solving/Judgment: Gains understanding of how to apply approved policies and procedures; when and why escalation of issues is needed and to whom and communicates decisions and desired outcomes to others; anticipates the outcome of a single decision; recognizes problems in advance, systematically gathers information to define the root cause, breaks down complex information into component parts, develops alternatives, seeks input from others, selects and recommends the best solution.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Embraces complex or first-time problems as opportunities to learn and incorporate new skills; flexes style based on immediate needs; accepts responsibility for implementing change; evaluates and manages resources needed to implement change; personally supports (in words and actions) organizational direction and change agenda.
• Courage & Conviction: Takes responsibility for individual & project outcomes regardless of success and learns from all results; encourages candid responses, feedback, new ideas and conflicting opinions.
• Donor Centered: Takes time to actively learn about the stated needs by asking questions, exploring how to unite the donors and university’s passions and priorities; anticipates customer needs and proactively makes recommendations.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Ability to communicate effectively in person, by phone, and via video conferencing. Requires frequent repetitive motions when operating computers, telephones, and standard office equipment. Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while working at a computer, attending meetings, or participating in events. Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends to support fundraising events and donor engagement activities. Ability to lift, carry, push, or pull materials weighing up to approximately 20 pounds.

Equal Opportunity Employer
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