Asst Director of Digital Philanthropy / Development Officer I

Working/Functional Title

Asst Director of Digital Philanthropy

Position Summary

The Assistant Director of Annual Giving reports to the Associate Director of Digital Philanthropy and plays a key role in advancing digital fundraising initiatives. This position supports broad-based Annual Giving campaigns, including Give Green Day, Giving Tuesday, college-specific efforts, and year-end appeals, through strategic use of crowdfunding, email, text messaging, and web-based platforms.

Characteristic Duties and Responsibilities

Under general supervision, the Assistant Director plans, develops, and implements basic multi-channel marketing strategies for fundraising campaigns.

Digital Annual Giving Campaigns:

• Lead efforts for Giving Tuesday campaign and year-end campaigns.  
• Collaborate with a university-wide committee to plan and implement the Give Green Day campaign, supporting coordination with campus partners.
• Use a variety of digital tools, including crowdfunding, email, and texting to build out broad-based campaigns for Annual Giving.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to align messaging, assets, and digital touchpoints with broader University Advancement goals.

Supporting Annual Giving Objectives:

• Create clear and engaging content for online philanthropic initiatives including landing pages, emails, social media, texting, and more.
• Ensure good customer service to both internal and external audiences by researching issues to resolve problems, providing appropriate information to answer questions, and explaining services or strategies.
• Stay informed about new and innovative methods for increasing donations through digital opportunities.
• Support the Associate Director(s) and Director on additional projects as requested.

Campaign Measurement and Optimization:

• Monitor and assess the performance of digital fundraising initiatives, providing insights and recommendations.
• Conduct testing and experimentation to improve effectiveness and advance overall digital philanthropy objectives.

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 direction 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

• Solid understanding of digital fundraising technologies and best practices.
• Experience with Google Analytics and email marketing tools.
• Quantitative and analytical skills necessary to quickly and accurately assess campaign effectiveness.
• 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.
• 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.   

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

If you have any questions regarding this position, please get in touch with Patricia Karam, Director of Talent Acquisition, at karampat@msu.edu. 

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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.

Bidding eligibility ends January 27, 2026, at 11:55 PM