Senior Director, Digital Fundraising Strategy

About EAB

EAB's mission is to make education smarter and communities stronger. We work with over 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement.

We tailor our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of each leadership team and the students and employees they serve. At EAB, we serve not only our partner institutions but each other, which is why we prioritize making our employees love their jobs and be invested in their communities.

About Hybrid

Hybrid is a globally recognized and award-winning agency that operates as a full-service marketing partner for the education sector. We connect universities with students worldwide using unrivaled insight, advanced technology, and AI-driven enrollment strategies. Our integrated marketing solutions help education brands grow and tackle the sector's toughest challenges.

When you join our division of EAB, you become part of a tight-knit, ambitious, supportive, and rapidly growing team. You'll work on big ideas with talented colleagues who respect your input, challenge your thinking, and push you to do your best work.

The Role in Brief

We are seeking a Senior Director of Digital Fundraising Strategy to partner with EAB's business development teams as the organization's subject-matter expert in digital fundraising and Advancement marketing. This role serves as a pre-sales and strategy subject-matter expert, helping institutions translate fundraising priorities into differentiated digital engagement strategies.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic digital fundraising advisor to business development teams, shaping pursuit strategy, identifying high-value opportunities, and developing differentiated solutions that strengthen EAB's competitive position.
• Serve as EAB's subject-matter expert in digital fundraising, constituent engagement, and higher education Advancement during partner and prospect conversations.
• Translate institutional goals, capital and comprehensive campaign priorities, and audience needs into differentiated digital marketing recommendations that support business development efforts.
• Participate in discovery sessions, proposal development, and executive presentations, helping partners understand how digital engagement strategies can strengthen fundraising outcomes.
• Use market research, institutional data, audience insights, and campaign performance to develop strategic recommendations and identify opportunities for innovation.
• Collaborate with analytics, creative, and strategy teams to ensure proposed solutions are thoughtful, achievable, and aligned with partner expectations.
• Serve as the connector across business development, creative, analytics, and delivery teams to ensure proposed solutions are differentiated, feasible, and aligned with partner expectations.
• Equip sales and partner-facing teams with the language, insights, examples, and tools needed to communicate the value of digital fundraising and engagement strategies.
• Develop digital engagement strategies that connect institutional stories with meaningful opportunities for alumni, donors, families, and friends to engage and give.
• Ensure strategic recommendations are clearly documented and positioned for successful implementation by delivery teams.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent required.
• At least 8-10+ years of progressively responsible experience in digital marketing, Advancement communications, fundraising strategy, media planning, consultative sales, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of direct experience working in or advising higher education Advancement organizations, including experience supporting digital communications and engagement strategies for comprehensive and/or capital campaigns, with a strong understanding of donor acquisition, alumni engagement, and pipeline development.
• Demonstrated ability to advise senior Advancement leaders and translate institutional priorities into integrated digital engagement and fundraising strategies.
• Strong knowledge of digital fundraising and paid media strategy, including paid search, social media, display, video, and emerging channels, with the ability to determine how and when these channels should support broader Advancement goals.
• Strong understanding of campaign communications and creative strategy, including audience segmentation, messaging, storytelling, calls to action, landing-page experiences, and donor journeys.
• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex strategies, data, and technical concepts into clear and compelling recommendations for senior leaders.
• Demonstrated thought leadership capabilities, including experience developing presentations, webinars, articles, research, strategic frameworks, or other external-facing content.
• Prominent ability to lead through influence and work effectively across business development, strategy, creative, analytics, product, and service-delivery teams.
• Strong judgment, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to identify emerging trends and assess their implications for higher education Advancement and fundraising.
• Willingness to travel domestically approximately 15-20%.

Ideal Qualifications

• Advanced degree in marketing, communications, higher education, fundraising, business, or a related field.
• Experience supporting the development or growth of multi-million-dollar partnerships, consulting engagements, or complex institutional solutions.
• Established credibility as a speaker, writer, facilitator, or subject-matter expert in digital engagement, Advancement, fundraising, campaign communications, or higher education marketing.
• Familiarity with higher education Advancement systems, data structures, and practices, including constituent relationship management, donor segmentation, engagement scoring, and fundraising performance measurement.
• Experience working with leadership annual giving, major gifts, alumni engagement, donor relations, or campaign teams.
• Understanding of how artificial intelligence, automation, personalization, and emerging technologies are influencing Advancement communications and digital fundraising.
• Commitment to continuous learning and to contributing to a collaborative and welcoming culture grounded in fairness, authenticity, and belonging in support of EAB’s mission, values, and aspirations.