Director of Annual Giving

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

This is a hands-on fundraising role requiring both strategic leadership and strong execution. The Director personally drives annual giving initiatives across direct mail, email, and digital fundraising;
University Giving Societies; faculty and staff giving; stewardship; fiscal year-end fundraising; and other University priorities. The Director also manages a portfolio of approximately 40-60 annual and leadership-level donors and prospects, with responsibility for qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, renewal, and growth, while helping identify donors with potential for deeper philanthropic engagement and future major giving.

The successful candidate will be a strategic, self-directed, and highly collaborative professional who takes ownership, anticipates needs, manages multiple priorities, and brings ideas and solutions forward. The Director will embrace technology, automation, and emerging tools to create smarter, more efficient, and repeatable ways of working, reducing unnecessary manual processes and allowing greater focus on fundraising and donor engagement. Working closely with Advancement colleagues and campus partners, the Director must be adaptable and receptive to collaborative review and changing priorities.

Equally important, the Director will be a positive, value-added presence who contributes to a mission-centered team culture and approaches the work with professionalism, humility, initiative, generosity, and a genuine sense of purpose and service to Eastern's mission, vision, and values.

B. DONOR PORTFOLIO & LEADERSHIP ANNU GIVING — 20%
C. UNIVERSITY GIVING SOCIETIES, STEWARDSHIP & CONSTITUTENT PROGRAMS — 15%
D. DIGITAL FUNDRAISING & ADVANCEMENT ASSOCIATE PARTNERSHIP — 10%
E. DATA, ANALYTICS & ADVANCEMENT SERVICES PARTNERSHIP — 10%
F. COLLABORATION, LEADERSHIP & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES — 5%

• COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL GIVING STRATEGY & EXECUTION — 40%
• Lead all aspects of Eastern University's comprehensive annual giving program from planning through execution, evaluation, and continuous improvement.
• Develop annual and multi-year fundraising strategies, goals, budgets, solicitation calendars, audience segmentation, ask strategies, messaging, and integrated donor journeys for the Eastern Fund and other University priorities.
• Develop and execute coordinated strategies for donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, renewal, upgrades, recurring giving, leadership annual giving, faculty and staff giving, fiscal year-end fundraising, and other annual giving initiatives.
• Personally manage the hands-on work required to move campaigns from 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 giving budget; oversee campaign production schedules, vendor relationships, and operational workflows; and evaluate return on investment.
• Serve as the primary annual giving partner to University Marketing, ensuring fundraising communications align with University brand standards, institutional messaging, visual identity, and appropriate communications calendars.
• Continuously test and…