"Assistant Director, Annual Giving"

Reporting to the Director of Annual Giving, the Assistant Director of Annual Giving plays a critical role in supporting Pomona College's mission by building and managing a vibrant, data-informed, and donor-centric annual giving program. This role is instrumental in driving sustainable growth in annual participation and philanthropic revenue, especially among students, young alumni, and recent graduates.

Working in close partnership with the Director of Annual Giving, the Assistant Director leads high-impact fundraising strategies and manages core programming—including the Student Calling Program (Star47), the Senior Class Gift, the Student Philanthropy Program, and class-based volunteer fundraising efforts for 5th, 10th, and 15th reunions. The Assistant Director also has primary responsibility for the execution of Pomona's Day of Giving.

This position is highly collaborative and requires coordination with campus partners and across the Advancement division, including Advancement Services, Communications, Events, Alumni & Family Engagement, and Leadership and Reunion Giving. The Assistant Director will be a key partner in preparing for Pomona's comprehensive fundraising campaign and driving pipeline development through donor engagement and acquisition.

Essential Functions: Reporting directly to the Director Annual Giving, the Assistant Director Annual Giving works independently and collaboratively to perform the following essential duties and responsibilities:

Strategic Program Leadership: Develop and execute a coordinated strategy for student and young alumni giving that supports long-term pipeline and participation goals. Partner with Advancement colleagues to implement integrated solicitation and stewardship strategies across channels, including email, social, direct mail, and peer-to-peer. Lead Annual Giving's execution of Pomona's annual Day of Giving, managing cross-functional timelines, content, student and alumni fundraising, and real-time reporting. Use segmentation, behavioral data, and predictive insights to support acquisition and retention of young alumni donors.

Student & Young Alumni Engagement: Direct the Student Calling Program, including recruitment, training, management, and performance oversight of 15–20 student employees. Oversee the Senior Class Gift Committee and Student Philanthropy Council, including volunteer recruitment, training, peer solicitation coaching, and event strategy. Develop educational campaigns and experiences to foster a lifelong culture of giving among students.

Volunteer Cohort Management: Serve as the primary liaison to the GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) volunteer fundraising cohort. Manage class fundraising and volunteer strategy for 5th, 10th, and 15th reunion classes, in close coordination with Reunion Giving and Alumni Engagement teams. Support fundraising volunteers with training, regular communication, and reporting tools to help them meet annual participation and dollar goals.

Data & Campaign Execution: Collaborate with Advancement Services to maintain clean and actionable data for calling, email, and reunion campaigns. Manage the phonathon calling/texting platforms and all aspects of phonathon data strategy, segmentation, script development, and solicitation. Track appeal performance using internal dashboards; adjust strategy accordingly.

Cross-Campus and Advancement Collaboration: Work closely with Advancement Communications on integrated content, donor storytelling, and digital fundraising projects. Coordinate logistics and messaging with College stakeholders and departments as needed to support key initiatives (Day of Giving, Senior Gift, etc.). Contribute to strategic planning, budget development, and new initiatives for the Leadership, Annual & Reunion Giving team. Coordinate special projects/tasks and provide assistance as assigned.

Qualifications: Education: Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communication or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Experience: A minimum of 2-4 years of relevant experience in fundraising, annual giving, volunteer management, digital fundraising, or higher education advancement is required. Experience leading and managing student callers, managing volunteers, creating successful programs and working effectively in teams.

Required Knowledge and Critical Skills: Strong writing, project management, and interpersonal skills. Deploy professional skills in fundraising, in collaboration with colleagues, to best promote the College's strategic interests. Able to recognize opportunities, identify critical/high pay-off activities, and prioritize them to attain goals. Must have an understanding of the principles and techniques relevant to fundraising. Knowledge of student and young alumni engagement best practices. Must understand and communicate the mission and history of Pomona College and the liberal arts education. Demonstrate effective, accurate and clear communication with excellent verbal, written, interpersonal, reading, phone, customer service and leadership skills to engage, motivate and collaborate with a highly diverse set of internal and external partners. Operate computers proficiently with basic Microsoft Office software (such as Word, Excel, Outlook) and associated professional. Use assigned technology/devices/equipment to achieve annual goals and maintain confidentiality. Handle all activities and highly confidential information with patience, discretion, good judgment, courtesy and tact while working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Prioritize and perform multiple projects/tasks, handle changing priorities, meet deadlines/timelines, proactively respond to others in a consistent and timely manner, and work both independently and as a collaborative member of the College with a high standard of integrity and ethics, in support of the College's strategic vision and the department's annual goals. Use exceptional organizational, time management, and analytical skills to complete work with accuracy and a keen attention to detail. Demonstrated ability to work as a self-starter and self-motivator. Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a complex organization.