Director of Annual Giving & Alumni Relations SUNY Maritime College

About the role

The Director of Annual Giving & Alumni Relations leads a comprehensive annual giving and alumni engagement program at SUNY Maritime College.

Responsibilities

• Plan, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive multichannel annual giving program, including digital, direct mail, email, events, texting, and engagement-based fundraising
• Lead annual Giving Day strategy and execution, including goal-setting, volunteer engagement, stewardship, and post-campaign analysis
• Grow unrestricted annual giving, alumni participation, donor retention, and the recurring giving program
• Develop and manage leadership annual giving programs, including acquisition, upgrade, and retention strategies
• Strengthen participation in the Admiral's Council (donor $1,000+) through targeted engagement and stewardship efforts
• Develop targeted giving programs for key constituencies such as athletics, parents, students, affinity groups, and recurring donors
• Work collaboratively with campus partners in planning and executing cornerstone annual events, integrating donor engagement and fundraising opportunities into programs such as the Admiral's Dinner, Homecoming, and Athletic Hall of Fame
• Use data, analytics, and prospect research to guide strategy, segmentation, and pipeline development
• Promote a culture of philanthropy through initiatives such as a student-led thank-a-thon and senior class giving program
• Lead alumni engagement strategies that build lifelong relationships and support philanthropic participation
• Coordinate class-based reunion engagement and fundraising programs
• Collaborate with class representatives to plan and execute milestone reunions, including committee meetings and volunteer engagement
• Engage leadership of upcoming reunion classes early to strengthen participation and giving outcomes
• Partner with Marketing and Communications on segmented alumni messaging, storytelling, and engagement calendars
• Provide oversight of alumni-focused events, ensuring alignment with engagement, fundraising, and stewardship goals
• Support alumni-facing initiatives that advance engagement, philanthropy, and institutional branding

Requirements

• Required Qualifications: Bachelor's degree, minimum of 5 years of experience in annual giving, alumni relations, or related advancement work, demonstrated success managing annual giving or engagement programs with measurable results, excellent communication, project management, and collaboration skills, high level of proficiency working with Raiser's Edge/NXT and other fundraising platforms, flexible, adaptable, and ability to work across all areas of institution
• Preferred Qualifications: Experience in annual giving, alumni relations, or related advancement work in higher education