Associate Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations is dedicated to cultivating and stewarding lifelong partnerships with the alumni community, Harvard faculty and staff, corporations, foundations, and kind friends. The Office furthers the mission of HSDM by showcasing the School through innovative communications, alumni engagement, and by providing financial resources for the School's initiatives, programs, and scholarships.
Reporting to the Associate Dean, Development & Alumni Relations, The Associate Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations is responsible for designing and supporting alumni programming, communication, and solicitation activity; identifying, recruiting, and managing alumni volunteers in their work as fundraisers and community-builders; executing class reunion events; and serving as a resource for alumni, volunteers, and donors. The Associate Director is responsible for implementing solicitation and stewardship plans for the annual giving program, monitoring results, adjusting strategies and tactics, and producing regular progress reports that will maximize results and create a foundation for strong relationships and future philanthropic results. This position is a critical function of the Development and Alumni Relations team.
The successful candidate will interface with a diverse population of donors and potential donors. This position emphasizes building and maintaining relationships with prospective donors through personal visits and solicitations, email, and telephone, and through collaborative work with the HSDM Development and Alumni Relations team.
- Build and maintain relationships through correspondence, phone calls, Zoom visits, in person visits and face-to-face solicitations.
- Responsible for developing and executing annual plans to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors. Lead the donor acknowledgment process for the department.
- Cultivate and engage alumni through events, volunteer management, and annual solicitation activity that build community and achieve annual fundraising and participation goals.
- Manage electronic fundraising efforts and other gift solicitations. Manage and expand electronic communications, including e-newsletters and web-based communication vehicles, independently and in collaboration with the Communications team.
- Manage alumni volunteer engagement and outreach, including the Harvard Dental Alumni Association. Manage the School's participation in reunion activities in partnership with Harvard Medical School and Harvard Alumni Association.
- Manage reunion classes annually, working with class leaders and volunteers to plan reunion events and meet fundraising dollar and participation goals.
- Visit alumni to engage, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward to build community and meet visit goals established in collaboration with Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations.
- Serve as a resource for alumni, volunteer, and donor inquiries.
- Manage and collaborate on special events, programs, and/or initiatives, building productive relationships with HSDM colleagues and leveraging internal resources.
- Collaborate with Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations as well as Development office colleagues at HSDM and Harvard Medical School, volunteers, and donors to further the cause of alumni engagement and fundraising efforts. May work with faculty and senior administrators on events and individual prospect meetings.
- Carry out other projects and duties as assigned.
Basic Qualifications: (Candidates must meet basic requirements to be considered for this position)
Bachelor's degree required; the ideal candidate will bring five to seven years of development experience, preferably in annual giving or as a front-line fundraiser in a university or health care setting. Exceptional interpersonal, oral and written communication skills; strong solicitation skills; solid computer skills, including database management, word processing, spreadsheet, and desktop publishing; ability to adhere to strict deadlines while managing multiple projects simultaneously; staff management experience. Working knowledge of Salesforce and Advance is a plus.
Additional Qualifications:
Demonstrated success in annual giving or applicable ability, writing alumni engagement and/or fundraising materials, planning and tracking fundraising results, devising cultivation and solicitation strategies, and volunteer and events management. Proven ability to motivate, engage and work with alumni, university officials, faculty, and staff or similar constituencies. Experience organizing and mobilizing volunteers and alumni relations background a plus.
The successful candidate will possess exceptional interpersonal skills; outstanding written and verbal communication skills; the ability to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines, while paying close attention to detail; proven ability to work both independently and as part of a team; and strong planning, organizational, and analytical skills.
Must be a professional, confidential, honest and trustworthy person with exceptional interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills. Must have an even disposition and be able to deal effectively and politely with people from diverse backgrounds and experience and in all types of difficult situations. Must have definite abilities to evaluate problems accurately and display good, sound and confidential judgment.
Must be highly organized, responsive, detail-oriented and efficient. Must be collaborative, conscientious, and results-oriented with a positive, optimistic, professional demeanor. Must have solid computer skills, including experience with database management, Word, and Excel and web-based fundraising and communications.
The successful candidate will have the ability to innovate, think strategically and conceptually, and manage multiple projects; be able to listen as well as to influence others. Must exhibit great attention to detail and have the ability to produce clear documentation. Must be creative and proactive yet disciplined, discriminating and able to streamline work volume in order to maintain bottom line efforts in midst of multi-tasking and daily re-prioritizing.
Some travel, evening, and weekend work is required. Sense of humor is a plus.