Position Summary: 

Vanderbilt University is seeking a highly motivated and experienced individual for a brand-new position on a brand-new team – Associate Director of Donor Experience. This new and exciting role is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive donor engagement strategy and executing a tactical plan to recognize and steward gifts from $2,500 up to six-figures, including the launch of a new donor society, revamped communications, and highly collaborative efforts to upgrade and retain leadership annual giving donors. 

This role is responsible for project management, strategy development, and collaborative execution of donor engagement efforts that unifies brand, messaging, and touchpoints including acknowledgements, impact communications, development officer outreach, and event activity. This key role is part of an invigorated initiative to strengthen Vanderbilt’s donor pipeline by thinking creatively, working flexibly, and executing activities with urgency to effectively engage supporters and drive new fundraising results. 

About the Work Unit: 

The Department of Development and Alumni Engagement (DAR) assists Vanderbilt University in securing the resources, both human and financial, that are required to achieve its mission and goals. The Department is responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of individuals and organizations whose charitable objectives are consistent with those of Vanderbilt University’s teaching and research programs.  You can find more information at www.vanderbilt.edu/dar/

Key Functions and Expected Performance: 

Strategy Development: Support the Senior Director, Donor Experience by requesting and developing reports that provide data-driven insights to assist with business decisions, create and implement ongoing reporting practices to track progress, and help hone donor engagement messaging strategies with a focus on growing leadership annual giving, enhancing donor retention, and driving upgrades to grow the major gift pipeline. 

 

Collaboration: Work flexibly across team and department lines to develop projects from pulling data to creating creative briefs and executing multifaceted campaigns to engage donors. Tackle these projects with flexibility and openness to collaborate widely to unify donor engagement efforts across schools, annual giving and stewardship teams. 

 

One Vanderbilt Society: Develop and launch key components of the new society including content for web, written pieces, templates, and personalized outreach plans to help recognize and engage donors who give $2,500+ across any area of the university. 

  Surprise and Delight: Identify and execute creative outreach strategies and plans to that engage donors through communications, content, and unexpected gifts, that go beyond a transactional, give-to-get mindset deepening their connection to the university. 

 

Support Frontline Fundraising: Create and maintain materials and tools that are easily deployed among frontline fundraising teams to inform, solicit, and steward leadership annual giving donors, drawing from all schools and university priority areas. 

 

Integrated Events: Partner with other teams to integrate One Vanderbilt Society messaging and brand into existing efforts around the Dare to Grow Campaign, Reunions, and virtual programming to recognize and engage donors, provide immersive content experiences, and deepen connections. 

  Dashboards, Processes, Reporting: Pull regular reports, maintain updates and leverage dashboards to track and articulate the impact around leadership annual giving across the university; serve as a team member on working groups tasked with the development of new reports and dashboards.

  Impact Storytelling: Work across school and unit lines to facilitate the creation of compelling impact stories that enrich One Vanderbilt Society content, leadership annual giving solicitations, and provide a framework for personalized donor stewardship at scaled giving levels with an emphasis on the top 20 giving allocations for leadership annual giving donors. 

Job responsibilities listed herein are intended to be a thorough representation of the duties, responsibilities, expectations, and qualifications for this specific role at the time of hire but should not be considered all-encompassing as actual responsibilities may evolve to include additional duties as assigned based on organizational and operational needs.

Work Environment: 

Strong preference for candidate residing in Nashville but will consider remote work.  If located in Nashville, you can expect a hybrid work environment where you will work in the office one day per week, or more depending on business needs.

Supervisory Relationships: 

This position reports administratively and functionally to Senior Director for Donor Experience and does not have any management responsibilities. 

Education and Certifications: 

Bachelor’s degree, or the equivalent, is necessary. 

Experience and Skills: 

The Associate Director, Donor Experience must be a polished development professional who understands the value of high-quality, thoughtful donor engagement to drive sustainable fundraising success. Leading candidates should have: 

• Four or more years of experience, or the equivalent, in a related field with a proven track record of managing complex programs, campaigns, or development activities is required. 

• Relevant experience in stewardship, marketing, communications, annual giving, alumni relations, and/or events is highly preferred. Individuals with experience outside of higher ed who have proven excellence in their respective career fields, and have demonstrated the ability to transfer those knowledge, skills, and abilities to the needs of a dynamic development and donor relations team will be considered. 

• Strong understanding of development strategies and practices. 

• Excellent communication skills: strong writing, editing, and an interest in expressing and demonstrating impact. 

• Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills with the ability to provide updates to university leadership, interact with donors/prospects as needed, and comfort in leading meetings and facilitating conversation internally and externally. 

• Top-notch organizational skills, experience managing complex projects simultaneously, and a consistent record meeting deadlines. Ability to work independently, take initiative, manage multiple projects simultaneously, meet deadlines, and adapt to ever-changing priorities. 

• Demonstrated success in working across teams and disciplines – facilitating solutions and driving forward priorities. 

• Creative curiosity; interest in brainstorming and problem-solving, but also gathering information and distilling it to actionable recommendations to build out detailed plans. 

• Good judgment in the handling of confidential information.

• Familiarity with Vanderbilt and/or solid understanding of a major research university environment is preferred. 

• The capacity to perform in an intellectually rigorous and complex academic environment. 

• Values the importance of equity as an organizational operating principle and is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

• Some evening and weekend work, as needed. 

If you are passionate about education, curious about what motivates donors to give back, are a self-starter and natural collaborator, we invite you to apply for this exciting opportunity! 

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

At Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are.  We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education.

 

Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.

 

Please note, all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to pre-employment background checks, which may include but are not limited to, based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history, education verification, social media review, motor vehicle records, credit history, and professional license verification.