Assistant Director, Direct Marketing Solicitations; HR Digital Marketing Specialist II

Job Description – Assistant Director, Direct Marketing Solicitations (Digital Marketing Specialist II)

Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.

SMU’s more than 12,000 diverse, high‑achieving students come from all 50 states and over 80 countries to take advantage of the University’s small classes, meaningful research opportunities, leadership development, community service, international study and innovative programs.

SMU is data driven, and its powerful supercomputing ecosystem – paired with entrepreneurial drive – creates an unrivaled environment for the University to deliver research excellence.

Now in its second century of achievement, SMU is recognized for the ways it supports students, faculty and alumni as they become ethical, enterprising leaders in their professions and communities. SMU’s relationship with Dallas – the dynamic center of one of the nation’s fastest‑growing regions – offers unique learning, research, social and career opportunities that provide a launch pad for global impact.

SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching and committed to academic freedom and open inquiry.

Development and External Affairs (DEA) supports SMU by securing funding for University priorities; promoting meaningful involvement in the life and work of the University; heightening international, national, state and local awareness of SMU; and supporting the enrollment of a diverse and able student body.

SMU continues to leverage the benefits from the largest fundraising campaign in its history to achieve dramatic increases in academic quality and impact.

This role is an on‑campus, in‑person position. The Assistant Director for Direct Marketing Solicitations oversees and executes all activity for SMU’s school and unit‑focused direct mail, email, social/digital, paid‑event and stewardship strategies to ensure alignment with DEA’s goals of increasing annual revenue and participation among SMU’s more than 150 000 alumni, parents & friends.

Partnering with the Director, AD will write/revise solicitation and engagement copy, work with vendors to produce assets or mailings and use technology to execute strategy (Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Cvent, social media, etc.).

The role collaborates with SMU colleagues and external vendors to build and optimize successful annual fundraising plans that improve donor retention and upgrades to annual fund designations. Produce regular reports for leadership and stakeholders and suggest/support optimizations for prospect segmentation & YOY process improvements.

• Multi‑channel solicitation management: collaborate with the Director to manage and execute detailed, highly‑segmented multi‑channel mail and email mass solicitation campaigns; coordinate copy, data and assets for mail, email, social media, event registration and text channels; manage layout, proofing and approval processes with AGAR, school/unit, and DEA marketing and communications teams; execute and send solicitations via Salesforce Marketing Cloud and work with vendors for mail process;
  
  use event registration system to launch registrations that include charitable giving opportunities; create requested online giving forms & source codes; coordinate landing pages/web assets.
• Liaison to schools and units: act as the primary point of contact for school and unit colleagues in need of services; build annual timelines to ensure alignment with AGAR & DEA engagement and fundraising priorities; manage day‑to‑day aspects of relationships with school/unit colleagues; gather and prepare information from school/unit sources to enhance solicitation copy; inform colleagues of university‑wide priorities and solicitations to coordinate messages and audiences;
  
  work with Director to set mass marketing annual fundraising goals and metrics for each school/unit.
• Content writing and coordination: write or produce concise, coordinated content for select school‑based mail, email, text and event registration efforts; suggest content that integrates messages for social/digital channels; collaborate with Mar Com, schools/units, AGAR and outside vendors to ensure outbound…