Executive Director, Athletics Annual Giving Programs and Donor Engagement

Job Details

Description

The Executive Director will lead and evolve a comprehensive donor engagement and annual giving program for Iowa Athletics, aligning efforts across multiple teams, systems, and processes. This role will be responsible for developing a sophisticated and integrated approach to annual giving—encompassing both seating and non-seating programs—and will guide cross-functional collaboration between the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA) and UI Athletics. This leader will develop and implement an integrated, multi-channel marketing, sales and philanthropy program that creates personalized services to new and existing annual giving donors and ticketing patrons.

The position includes direct leadership of a team focused on broad based giving and engagement, premium seating sales, data coordination, and acquisition and stewardship of new and existing donors.

A key priority will be building a new model for portfolio development and leadership annual giving, including personally managing a portfolio of prospects and demonstrating strategies to deepen engagement and grow philanthropic investment in Iowa Athletics.

In addition to overseeing all core giving programs (seating and non-seating) and developing an annual communication plan with patrons and supporters, the Executive Director will shape alumni and letter winner engagement and coordinate Hall of Fame voting and induction in partnership with Athletics colleagues.

Success in this role requires strong collaboration with Athletics department leadership, ticketing and communications teams, and UICA partners across the institution. Experience with Paciolan/PAC Fund and Salesforce based CRMs and data analytics is required. Limited travel and frequent evenings and weekend work around athletics events is expected.

**This position is eligible for hybrid work (telecommuting) which includes working on-site at our office in Iowa City at least 3 days per week.**

Leadership:

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Job Details

Description

The Executive Director will lead and evolve a comprehensive donor engagement and annual giving program for Iowa Athletics, aligning efforts across multiple teams, systems, and processes. This role will be responsible for developing a sophisticated and integrated approach to annual giving—encompassing both seating and non-seating programs—and will guide cross-functional collaboration between the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA) and UI Athletics. This leader will develop and implement an integrated, multi-channel marketing, sales and philanthropy program that creates personalized services to new and existing annual giving donors and ticketing patrons.

The position includes direct leadership of a team focused on broad based giving and engagement, premium seating sales, data coordination, and acquisition and stewardship of new and existing donors.

A key priority will be building a new model for portfolio development and leadership annual giving, including personally managing a portfolio of prospects and demonstrating strategies to deepen engagement and grow philanthropic investment in Iowa Athletics.

In addition to overseeing all core giving programs (seating and non-seating) and developing an annual communication plan with patrons and supporters, the Executive Director will shape alumni and letter winner engagement and coordinate Hall of Fame voting and induction in partnership with Athletics colleagues.

Success in this role requires strong collaboration with Athletics department leadership, ticketing and communications teams, and UICA partners across the institution. Experience with Paciolan/PAC Fund and Salesforce based CRMs and data analytics is required. Limited travel and frequent evenings and weekend work around athletics events is expected.

**This position is eligible for hybrid work (telecommuting) which includes working on-site at our office in Iowa City at least 3 days per week.**

Leadership:

• Lead and set strategy for integrated athletics annual giving programs (gifts up to $49,999) that advances the broader athletics development agenda.

• Collaborate with athletics development to establish performance metrics and goals for the Athletics Annual Giving (AAG) team. Guide annual planning and goal-setting processes, ensuring targets are measurable, meaningful, and aligned with individual, team, and UI Athletics priorities.

• Participate in the management of all administrative functions including tasks associated with leading a professional staff, budget development with the AVP Athletics Development, selecting vendors to enable outreach and increase efficiency, supervising vendor relationships and freelance talent, serving as a liaison for internal and external partners, representing the organization and brand as needed.

• Provide leadership and talent management for direct reports, including recruitment, onboarding, professional development, performance evaluation, and retention. Champion equity and inclusion throughout the employee experience. Provide appropriate levels of training, mentoring and professional development.

• Ensure compliance with all relevant regulations, ethical standards, and reporting requirements related to fundraising and records management. Maintain the highest standards of integrity in donor engagement and gift administration.

• Partner with colleagues in fundraising, communications, and alumni engagement across the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA) to drive strategies that increase annual support, prospect for major gifts, and deepen patron/donor engagement with Iowa Athletics.

• Stay current on best practices in athletics development through active participation in B1G conference activities, national networks, and industry associations.

• Serve as a strategic advisor to the AVP for Athletics Development and as a collaborative partner on both the main campus Executive Director leadership team and the Athletics Hawkeye Leadership Team. Demonstrate strong problem-solving and leadership skills to advance shared objectives.

• Leverage data analytics to inform strategy, monitor progress, and refine programming. Ensure accuracy and completeness of alumni and donor records in PacFund and the CRM databases.

Annual Giving Program:

• Build and implement an enhanced model of patron and donor engagement that utilizes a coordinated, multi-channel outreach effort to identify new and upgraded patrons and donors, leveraging partnership with UICA Annual Giving and Engagement teams where appropriate. A key goal will be to identify and transition new leadership annual gift prospects into portfolios managed by UICA colleagues.

• In conjunction with Iowa Athletics leadership implement marketing, sales and giving strategy and support the creative direction, brand management, storytelling and audience development. Leverage partnership with UICA Marketing and Communications as appropriate.

• Grow athletics donor base with incrementally increasing gift revenue to meet the new era of college athletics. This involves featuring priority giving programs and funds that promote additional unrestricted or lightly restricted annual giving to Iowa Athletics.

• Develop and lead cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for seating and non-seating programs that will deepen engagement and grow philanthropic investment in Iowa Athletics.

• Lead Athletics marketing and fundraising strategy for One Day for Iowa and participate in the planning and development of this annual giving day with UICA partners.

Fundraising and Portfolio Management:

• Optimize and manage active portfolios of leadership annual giving prospects with the goal of growing a continuous pipeline of donors capable of making gifts of $5,000 - $49,999. (I-Club level and other development priorities) This includes personally managing a portfolio of leadership annual giving and major gift prospects.

• Develop and implement donor-centric engagement strategies and tailored solicitation strategies. Maintains expert knowledge of funding priorities within Iowa Athletics, collaborating with UICA colleagues and campus partners as needed.

• Meets expectations for solicitations, gifts closed, and others as assigned (goals established annually with the supervisor in alignment with organization-wide metrics).

• Serve as an athletics development point of contact with UI Athletic Department marketing, communications, and ticketing office regarding annual I-Club benefits and seating-related contributions. Partner with these colleagues to set overall external relations strategy for donor audiences.

• Create and execute annual donor outreach plan for Iowa Athletics. Core components include phone/email outreach by UICA and partners (Amplify, Athlete Network, Hawkeye Ticket Solutions) video, web, social media, environmental graphics, digital ads and other channels as determined. Develop appropriate, highly segmented audiences for all campaigns.

• Standardize and prepare monthly, quarterly and annual reports. Serve as a key reporting resource for Athletics Development. Support strategic decision-making through the execution of data-driven reporting and analytics, including special projects, goal tracking, and direct marketing performance. Analyze departmental outreach to evaluate effectiveness, demonstrate impact, and inform future initiatives.

Letterwinners/Hall of Fame:

• Serve as the Executive Director of the Iowa Letterwinner Club (ILC). In conjunction with Iowa Athletics administration, develop plans for Hall of Fame voting and

induction, including all process, events and communication.

• Serve as convener and point of contact for the Iowa Letterwinner Club Advisory Committee, recruit and manage volunteers for committee work and coordinate semiannual meetings.

• Develop strategy for Iowa Letterwinners Club and execute plans with detail and programming to accomplish engagement and programming goals.

• Oversee all ILC events, communications and record keeping with Athletics Annual Giving team and UICA central records team.

 

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required and 7+ years of professional experience in athletics, higher education fundraising, or a related field.

Skills and Qualifications:

•Demonstrated leadership experience, including staff supervision.

•Understanding and knowledge of compliance related to the University, Big Ten Conference, and NCAA standards.

•Willingness to travel and work evenings/weekends for events as needed.

•Proficient in Paciolan/PAC Fund, Salesforce-based CRMs, and business intelligence tools.

•A successful candidate will have a proven ability to build strong relationships, collaborate effectively across all levels of an organization, and thrive in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment. They will be highly motivated, team-oriented, and adaptable, with a commitment to achieving results through partnership and flexibility.

Qualifications

Skills

Behaviors

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Motivations

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Education

Required

Bachelors or better in Any Major.

Experience

Licenses & Certifications

Required

Driver's License

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Equal Opportunity Employer
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