Director of Annual Giving Strategy

Position: Director of Annual Giving Strategy

Department: Advancement  

Reports to: Director of Advancement

FLSA: Exempt 

Designation: Staff, Full-time, 12 month

About Hopkins School

Hopkins School is an independent college-preparatory day school for grades 7–12, located on a 109-acre campus in the Westville section of New Haven. Hopkins has a current enrollment of 724 students and a faculty and staff of 185. The faculty and staff at Hopkins are passionate, motivated individuals who are dedicated not only to their respective responsibilities but to the overall mission of the school. There is a great sense of community among employees on campus and across all departments.

Position Summary

The Director of Annual Giving Strategy provides leadership for the planning, collaboration, and execution of a comprehensive fundraising and donor acquisition program. This role will define, design, and optimize efforts to drive donor acquisition and retention over both the near and long term. This work will be done through an annual calendar of appeals, digital fundraising campaigns, and multi-channel marketing. This role will participate in the Advancement Leadership Team and share responsibility for the leadership and direction of the Office of Advancement. The ideal candidate is a creative thinker, consummate collaborator, and experienced storyteller in the fundraising space.

Essential Functions

• Design and implement a multi-channel annual giving program, integrating direct mail, email, social media, website content, crowd-funding, phone outreach, and personal appeals to achieve annual fundraising and donor participation goals.
• Work closely with the Advancement team and other departments on campus to strategically deploy the case statement for support, to emphasize and articulate near and long-term priorities, and to design and execute appeals that are reflective of and aligned with the Hopkins brand.
• Collaborate with the Director of Stewardship and Development Operations, Director of Leadership Giving and Director of Alumni and Parent Relations to manage the cohesive and strategic approach to fundraising.
• Ensure project schedules, appeal data, content and design, and reporting are executed in a timely manner.
• Develop annual and five-year plans to engage, educate, and cultivate target audiences; identify necessary investments and prioritize efforts to align with institutional resources and growth areas.
• Additional Duties: Perform other relevant duties as assigned to support the overall mission and strategic goals of the Office of Advancement which may require night and weekend work.

Qualifications

• Authentic desire to work in an independent school environment and ability to effectively communicate the school’s mission and priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize work, manage multiple tasks involving many stakeholders, and meet deadlines in a time-constrained environment.
• Experience working with constituent relationship management (CRM) systems, email marketing tools, sophisticated web and print design tools, and social media platforms is preferred.
• Superior interpersonal skills with proven ability to successfully interact and collaborate with varied constituencies in a professional manner, exhibiting excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Independent secondary school or higher education experience is strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising and administration or related transferable experience.

Compensation and Benefits

Application Process

Hopkins School believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity, and it prohibits discrimination because of race, color, creed, sex, religion, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, genetic information, physical or mental disability, veteran status, marital or civil union status, sexual orientation and other legally protected classes or classifications.