Director of Leadership Annual Giving, Annual Giving, Duke Alumni Engagement and Development (AED)

Occupational Summary

The Duke Annual Giving and Affinity Engagement (AGAE) program is part of Duke's Office of Alumni Engagement and Development (AED). The AGAE team is comprised of more than 30 dynamic and motivated professionals who are responsible for facilitating the raising of more than $50 million in unrestricted support annually from over 52,000 donors. The Director of Leadership Annual Giving is a member of the Duke Office of Alumni Engagement & Development and reports to the Assistant Vice President, Parent and Leadership Giving in the AGAE. This individual is responsible for leading and directing the team that represents Duke in the university's top 10 regions and bridges the gap between regional volunteer engagement and giving to Duke with a focus on Annual Fund and Annual Giving support. The Director will direct the management of portfolios one or more Leadership Annual Giving Officers (LAGs), including his/her own portfolio, of unassigned leadership Annual Fund/Giving prospects with an emphasis on undergraduate alumni up to 20 years out of Duke, current + past non-alumni parents, and engaged volunteers who are not currently supporting Duke philanthropically. He/she/they will also develop and execute solicitation and stewardship plans for leadership prospects and donors, working with partners in Marketing, Communications and Stewardship. In addition, the Director will work closely with the Next Generation Philanthropy, Affinity Engagement, Duke Parents Program and Reunions teams to partner on the cultivation, solicitation, engagement and stewardship of those constituencies to expand the reach into the regions. Finally, the position will manage Senior Leadership Giving Officer with additional staff to come as the team grows.

The goal of the LAG team is to increase constituent giving in the regions by bringing greater awareness about the role philanthropy plays at Duke, the importance of giving to enhance the Duke experience, and the positive impact philanthropy has on the daily and future lives of Duke students and faculty. The LAG team will work in lockstep with the Regional Engagement Officers and the Regional Development Directors to ensure coordination and collaboration as they work together to broaden and deepen alumni and parent engagement with Duke regionally. In addition, they will work with members of the Affinity Engagement team to further outreach and engagement of this important constituency.

The Director will travel regularly to the assigned regions throughout the academic year with at least 8 trips between August and June. He/she/they will identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of Annual Fund/Giving prospects. Focus will be on acquiring new donors and moving current donors up the gift pyramid, growing the pipeline of leadership Annual Fund/Giving donors, and bridging the gaps between volunteer engagement and giving. The LAG team will be responsible for referring potential major gift prospects to the Regional Development Directors to expand and deepen the prospects' giving to Duke. Likewise, the LAG team will encourage donors to enhance their relationship with Duke through volunteerism in the regions, on-campus or virtually.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Program Leadership and Staff Management

• Provide overall leadership and oversight of the Leadership Giving program, with an emphasis on developing and implementing innovative strategies to engage, cultivate, solicit, and steward leadership prospects and donors with focus on alumni in our affinity communities, recent undergraduate alumni and current/past non-alumni parents.
• Assist with transition to move Duke from an Annual Fund only fundraising program to one that meets alumni where they are and allows them to give to and through Duke to philanthropic areas that most closely align with their interests and passions.
• Working with the Senior AVP, AVP for Parent and Leadership Giving, and the Director of Fundraising Strategy and Operations, create vision for Duke's Leadership Annual Giving Program launched in fiscal year 2026, and develop plan/goals/metrics and a roadmap for success.

• Create and track a list of all $25K+ annual giving prospects (particular focus on the top 100 prospects) to ensure thorough coverage for solicitation and stewardship. Work with the Director of Fundraising Strategy and Operations on the implementation and execution of processes to effectively track, code, and monitor leadership prospects.

• Serve as high-level liaison and convene quarterly meetings with partners in Principal Giving, Major Gifts, and Gift Planning to ensure coordinated strategy and approach.
• Coordinate with Director of Next Generation Philanthropy, Senior Associate Director of Parents Program, Director of Development for Affinity Engagement, and the Director of Reunion Program to create and execute a plan to support their efforts regionally and coordinate on prospect strategies.
• In partnership with Marketing Communications and Stewardship, oversee and implement a multi-channel direct marketing and stewardship plan to effectively engage leadership annual giving prospects throughout the year with an emphasis on acquiring new donors and moving current donors up the giving levels. Plan to include several touch points for cultivation, solicitation and stewardship using current methods and emerging technologies.
• Collaborate with the Prospect Research, Management, and Analytics team to create LAG officer prospect portfolios, and to establish process, structure and metrics for the LAG team as it relates to prospect work.

• Develop, track, and meet team goals related to the number of identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship visits and number of referrals to Major and Leadership Gifts.
• Meet regularly with Senior Leadership Giving Officer and LAG officers to discuss individual prospect strategies for cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.

• Manage the Senior Leadership Giving Officer. Note additional LAG positions may be created, recruited, hired, and onboarded in the future as the team expands.

Standard Management Duties

• Representative Duties - Appropriately represent Duke University as "employer" to direct reports and direct reports as "employees" to Duke University
• Programmatic Duties - Ensure alignment of given programmatic, departmental, and/or organization-wide activities with AED strategic goals, priorities, and expectations
• Financial Duties - Exercise fiduciary responsibility for given individual, programmatic, departmental, and/or organization-wide activities in accordance with Duke's financial policies, procedures, and standards, and AED expectations
• Personnel Duties: Supervise direct reports in accordance with Duke's human resource policies, procedures, and standards, and AED expectations
• Personnel Duties: Hire & Onboard new employees (and offboard separating employees) in accordance with programmatic, departmental, and organization-wide priorities, Duke's human resource policies, procedures, and standards, and AED expectations

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  • Direct staff activities and provide performance feedback. Encourage opportunities for professional growth within the context of the Annual Giving and Affinity Engagement team and AED.
  • Set clearly defined and measurable goals for the team; establish appropriate metrics to assess individual and team performance.
  
  
  
  

Qualify, Cultivate, Solicit and Steward Prospects

• Travel nationally to identify, cultivate, and solicit undergraduate alumni with a focus on recent graduates, current + past non-alumni parents, and unassigned leadership Annual Fund/Giving prospects. Conduct at least 8 trips and 75-100 meetings per year.
• Work with the Next Generation Philanthropy, Parents, Affinity Engagement, and Reunions teams to identify, cultivate and solicit prospects in support of their programs. Maintain a solid knowledge of those programs' efforts, volunteer opportunities and responsibilities, and giving levels in to have informed conversations with prospects to advance program goals and increase engagement with these programs.
• Visit with prospects to qualify their financial capacity and inclination to make gifts to Duke. Diplomatically ask qualification questions to distinguish between Annual Fund/Giving and Major Gift prospects.
• Create strategies to connect prospects to Duke, solicit leadership Annual Fund/Giving donations, and where appropriate, refer high-level prospects to the Regional Development Directors and other colleagues in AED and schools and units.
• Optimize momentum and insight gained in donor visits by developing strategies for on-going prospect management and engagement utilizing available Duke resources such as volunteer engagement and event attendance and introducing them to faculty, administrators, and other leaders. Complete formal referrals to Major Gifts staff and making connections with Regional Engagement Officers to explore regional engagement opportunities within other AED or Duke programs.
• Solicit prospects for gifts with focus on securing leadership Annual Fund/Giving donations and moving prospects into and up the giving pyramid.
• Acquire and maintain a working knowledge of Duke's regional volunteer and prospect base and regional activities.
• Provide timely post-visit follow-up including tracking moves and solicitations in DADD, sending personalized follow-up to individual prospects, and making referrals to AED and campus-wide gift officers as appropriate.

Programmatic Support in Regions

• Build customized cultivation activities in the assigned region(s) working with the Regional Engagement Officers and Regional Development Directors.
• Serve as philanthropic liaison between regional volunteer leadership boards and other relevant regional activity.
• Provide onsite regional event support for by attending events, helping to manage logistics, and assisting with any follow up.
• Attend Duke-wide events in regions as needed and appropriate, especially during the comprehensive campaign, to maintain presence at such events.

Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.

• Work with other Parent and Leadership Giving staff members to write operating plans, quarterly reports, and mid-year analyses.
• Attend all Leadership Giving and Parents + Leadership team meetings. Attend Parents Program and Next Generation Philanthropy team meetings as needed.
• Attend AGAE and AED staff meetings and team events.
• Participate in formal AGAE events (i.e. Homecoming, Parents Committee, Next G.E.N., Reunions Weekend, and Annual Fund Advisory Board meeting) as needed.
• Collaborate with the Reunions, Parents Program, Affinity Engagement, and Next Generation Philanthropy teams within AGAE to ensure coordination of travel, prospect coverage, and sharing of best practices.

Required Skills / Behavioral Competencies

Project Management

Donor Relations

MS Office

Donor Database Software (DAAD)

Ability to influence

Curiosity and information seeking

Dealing with ambiguity

Decisiveness and judgment

Organizational awareness

Goal and task management

Collaborating with others

Expresses ideas orally and in writing

Flexibility

Models integrity and ethics

Listening

Self-management

Coaching

Mentorship

Managing change

Performance management

Program management

Financial management

Continuous learning

Work requires communications, analytical and organizational skills generally acquired through completion of a bachelor's degree program.

Work requires seven years experience in alumni affairs, public relations, fund raising, sales and promotions, marketing, student activities or a related field in order to acquire skills necessary to administer, coordinate and/or participate in general fund raising activities and proposal development. OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

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