Working/Functional Title
Ast Director, Annual Giving, Direct Mail
Position Summary
The Assistant Director of Annual Giving – Direct Mail reports to the Senior Associate Director of Annual Giving and supports University Advancement's fundraising efforts through the development and execution of comprehensive Annual Giving print campaigns. This position manages college and unit-specific projects alongside centrally coordinated initiatives, guiding campaigns from initial planning and creative development through production and assessment.
Characteristic Duties and Responsibilities
Direct Mail Campaign Management –
- Lead the planning, development, execution, and evaluation of Annual Giving direct mail fundraising campaigns, including institution-wide, college, and unit-specific solicitations.
- Manage a complex annual direct mail calendar, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with fundraising goals and campaign strategies.
- Serve as the department's subject matter expert for direct mail fundraising, recommending best practices, and integrating print strategies within comprehensive, multi-channel campaigns.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders, vendors, and campus partners to develop compelling fundraising appeals, stewardship communications, and donor engagement materials.
- Partner with a university-wide committee to support the planning and implementation of Give Green Day and other key fundraising initiatives through strategic print outreach as needed.
- Coordinate messaging, creative assets, segmentation, and donor journeys to ensure consistency across direct mail, digital, and phone outreach channels.
- Utilize donor data, audience insights, and fundraising objectives to create targeted print campaigns that drive donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, and upgrades.
Annual Giving Program Support –
- Develop clear, engaging, and donor-centric content for fundraising and stewardship communications, including direct mail appeals, acknowledgments, impact reporting, and Greenline-related outreach materials.
- Provide consultation and customer service to internal partners by offering strategic recommendations, answering questions, resolving issues, and identifying effective fundraising solutions.
- Support Annual Giving initiatives by collaborating with colleagues across University Advancement to advance philanthropic objectives and donor engagement efforts.
- Stay informed on emerging trends, technologies, and best practices in direct mail fundraising and donor communications to enhance program effectiveness.
- Assist Annual Giving colleagues with special projects and strategic initiatives as assigned.
Campaign Analysis and Optimization –
- Monitor, analyze, and report on the performance of direct mail fundraising campaigns, including response rates, revenue, return on investment, and donor participation metrics.
- Utilize data and campaign insights to identify opportunities for improvement and inform future fundraising strategies.
- Design and implement testing strategies, including audience segmentation, messaging, creative, and package variations, to optimize campaign performance.
- Provide recommendations that strengthen the effectiveness of direct mail programs and support overall Annual Giving fundraising goals.
Communications/Interpersonal Relationships Interacts with
- Director/Supervisor - in order to receive assignments and clarification, report on progress and exchange information.
- Co-workers - in order to discuss progress and resolve problems.
- Editors - in order to receive edited content and provide content for editing.
- Department Staff - in order to exchange information.
- University Community - in order to exchange information.
- Student Employees - in order to answer questions, give directions and assignments, and review work.
Responsibility for the Work of Others
May provide supervision over student employees. Those positions responsible for the supervision of regular employees are identified with /s following the title.
Responsibility for Health/Safety of Others
No assigned responsibility.
Impact on Programs/Services/Operations
Errors in the dissemination of information to the public or within the University could cause serious inconvenience to other people both within and outside the University and have an adverse impact in the development of support and goodwill for the University.
Work Environment
Negligible disagreeable working conditions. The job requires moderate physical effort and involves sitting in place, viewing a VDT screen, manual dexterity for operating equipment and lifting boxes and bulk mailings of 26 to 75 pounds 26-75% of the time.
Minimum Requirements
Knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired by completing a four-year college degree program in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing and/or Business; one to three years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in professional fund raising, public relations, marketing, higher education fund raising or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Desired Qualifications
- Desired experience working with a member-service and/or fundraising organization.
- Preferred knowledge or experience working with crowdfunding or texting platforms.
- Knowledge or understanding of higher education donor CRM solutions, such as Ascend.
- Preferred knowledge or experience working with Sitecore digital experience platform.
- Solid understanding of digital fundraising technologies and best practices.
- Experience with Google Analytics and email marketing tools.
- Quantitative and analytical skills are necessary to quickly and accurately assess campaign effectiveness.
- Experience leveraging a CMS and technical understating of CRM technologies.
- Ability to manage multiple time-sensitive priorities simultaneously.
- Ability to work well independently and effectively as a team member.
- Excellent oral, written, listening and presentation skills.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Application Materials
Resume and cover letter
Special Instructions
Interested in joining the team at Michigan State University? For questions about the position, please contact Patricia Karam, Director of Talent Acquisition, at karampat@msu.edu.
#LI-PK1
Work Hours
8 am - 5 pm with possible evenings and weekends
Website
Advancement.msu.edu
Remote Work Statement
MSU strives to provide a flexible work environment and this position has been designated as remote-friendly. Remote-friendly means some or all of the duties can be performed remotely as mutually agreed upon.
