Associate Director, Constituent Philanthropy in Boston, Massachusetts at Suffolk University

Suffolk seeks to engage our many constituents to enrich their lifelong relationships with the university. Constituents, or affinity groups, may include individuals whose connection with Suffolk has been made particularly meaningful by a shared experience, club, team, major, program, family relationship or identity, or other cohort experience.
Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Campaign Strategy and Corporate and Foundation Relations, and working in close collaboration with Alumni Relations, the Associate Director, Constituent Philanthropy will support efforts to ensure these key members of the Suffolk community are fully engaged with the University. The Associate Director will be responsible for providing key support to assist Advancement to a) establish structures for constituents/cohorts to support the University philanthropically, b) re-engage constituent groups who are no longer active with Suffolk and c) establish strong family connections with the University.

Specifically, the Associate Director will

• Be responsible for all tasks related to identifying cohorts, including but not limited to collaborating with University partners to obtain lists of alumni and other constituents, supporting efforts to identify additional individuals whose contact information may be out of date, organizing the updating of information in Advancement’s Raiser’s Edge database, and requesting research to ascertain cohort fundraising capacity.
• Prepare communications to constituency groups, including writing and designing invitations, updates, stewardship, and other outreach to keep these individuals informed regarding cohort activities and initiatives.
• Develop registration tools with and without financial payment processes included.
• Set up meetings of cohort liaisons and committees, as needed.
• Ensure giving pages and GiveCampus components are executed in a timely fashion.
• Work with the Senior Director, Advancement Marketing and Communications, on the execution of select constituent/cohort communications materials, including website, print and social media.
• Establish a spreadsheet or similar tool to manage the multi-step engagement, solicitation, stewardship and continued solicitation steps associated with each group.
• Devise and maintain metrics to measure the impact of all cohort activities.
• Keep abreast of Parent & Family initiatives at other universities to ensure Suffolk is taking every opportunity to cultivate and solicit families.
• Partner effectively with Advancement colleagues and others across the University to meet or exceed the expectations of the cohort groups while prioritizing philanthropy.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The Associate Director will work alongside the Associate Vice President to foster a culture of belonging that embraces constituent groups. Many behind-the-scenes activities are required to effectively create and manage constituent groups. Once started, the constituencies should continue to be nurtured and managed on an ongoing basis to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones. The ideal Associate Director candidate will have strong organizational skills and will take the initiative to ask questions and make suggestions so that the expectations of many cohorts – some of which will belong to more than one constituency – will be achieved.

• The Suffolk Advancement team is on a hybrid schedule—with three days in the office and two remote—per a formal schedule to ensure an office presence at all times. Suffolk University is a residential institution of higher education with students, faculty and staff on campus most of the school year. An in-office schedule achieves numerous important Advancement goals, among them heightened collaboration and opportunities to meet with colleagues both within Advancement and across campus. While much can be achieved via email and Zoom, in-person meetings as well as planned and unplanned informal and formal discussions contribute toward stronger relationships and collaboration that assists Advancement to achieve its goals and objectives. In-person time also provides access to name tags, labels, a copier, office supplies, the RAM Print Shop and the mail room—all of which contribute toward your job responsibilities, as well as preparation for special events, including confirming appropriate event set-up and all event materials are brought to the campus location, and then returned to the office afterwards. Due to the scheduling of events, in-office days may need to change to ensure special event preparation occurs efficiently and effectively.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree preferred.
• Experience (typically 3+ years) in a relationship-building capacity with constituents, clients, or customers, in a for-profit or nonprofit setting
• Understanding of higher education fundraising and its impact in a higher education environment
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with donors, colleagues, and a diverse constituent base.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness
• Familiarity with the donor giving cycle of cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work effectively in a team environment
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Experience with Excel, Canva, GiveCampus or Raiser’s Edge desirable but not required.

Suffolk University provides salary ranges as a good faith estimate of what it reasonably expects to pay for a role at the time the position is posted. The actual salary offered to the selected candidate will depend on various factors, including, but not limited to, the position’s scope and responsibilities, the candidate’s experience, education, training, and applicable legal requirements. The listed pay range reflects base salary only and does not include additional benefits or compensation.

Suffolk University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome applications from qualified candidates of all backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. The University strives to recruit, develop and retain faculty and staff committed to educational excellence, the robust exchange of ideas, and engage in membership in a diverse and inclusive community.