Advancement Communications Specialist

Gonzaga•Spokane, WA

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The Advancement Communications Specialist plans, coordinates, and executes integrated communications strategies to advance alumni engagement, philanthropy, stewardship, constituent experience, and institutional priorities across University Advancement. The role develops and manages multichannel communications campaigns, storytelling initiatives, constituent journeys, and engagement strategies across print, digital, social media, email, SMS, web, and emerging platforms. Working with the Office of Marketing and Communications and University Advancement departments—including Alumni Relations, Annual Giving, Development, Planned Giving, and Donor Relations—the Specialist supports coordinated communications planning, audience-centered messaging, brand consistency, and measurable engagement outcomes. The position develops alumni engagement content and digital marketing campaigns, manages social media content and interactions for Alumni Relations, and measures campaign performance. It also coordinates communications with Advancement colleagues, produces annual giving and donor acknowledgement materials, and supports executive communications and institutional initiatives. The role is on-site in a typical office setting five days per week, with occasional telework available, and may require travel to events, including out-of-town, evening, and weekend activities.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree, or equivalent professional experience in lieu of the educational qualification at a ratio of one year of experience for each year of required education.
Five years of related experience.
Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills, including the ability to develop compelling content for executive leadership, alumni, and university stakeholders.
Ability to develop and execute communications strategies and campaigns aligned with institutional goals, alumni engagement, and fundraising initiatives.
Proficiency managing digital communications channels, including social media, email marketing, and websites, and understanding of audience engagement strategies and best practices.
Ability to create engaging, creative, audience-specific content across platforms while maintaining consistent institutional branding and messaging.
Ability to monitor, analyze, and report digital campaign performance using engagement metrics and analytics.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with university leadership, alumni, internal departments, and external stakeholders.
Excellent organizational and project management skills, including managing multiple projects, prioritizing competing deadlines, coordinating cross-department initiatives, and maintaining attention to detail.
Ability to work on-site in a typical office setting and participate in in-person meetings five days per week.
Ability to travel to events as needed, including out-of-town events and weekend and evening activities.

Nice To Haves

Background in higher education, alumni relations, fundraising, or marketing.
Proficiency with Salesforce, Blackbaud, or similar CRM platforms, and Marketing Cloud or other integrated email marketing systems.
Working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, or comparable graphic design tools.
Familiarity with social media management platforms such as Sprout Social or similar tools.
Demonstrated knowledge of digital marketing strategies and platforms, including Google Ads and Meta Ads.
Relevant digital marketing certifications are strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and coordinate integrated communications supporting alumni engagement, giving, stewardship, and the alumni experience in alignment with Advancement priorities.
Create content to steward leading alumni volunteers, including letters, biographies, award submissions, and honorary degree statements.
Coordinate with Marketing and Communications colleagues to align content with strategic communications goals, calendars, brand voice, positioning, and guidelines.
Partner with Alumni Relations staff, volunteers, and regional leaders on communications for regional chapters, affinity communities, volunteer engagement, and geographically based programming.
Develop strategies, plans, and content for digital marketing campaigns across social media, email, SMS, and web in support of alumni engagement and annual giving participation.
Develop and implement social media strategies that support Advancement communications goals.
Engage alumni in online communities and respond to comments and interactions as the Alumni Relations voice.
Acquire new social media followers and retain existing followers.
Create messages and engagement campaigns for social and digital platforms.
Coordinate social media content, ads, and promotions with Marketing and Communications colleagues and shared content calendars.
Track, measure, and report digital campaign effectiveness and develop actionable practices to improve performance, engagement, and conversions.
Collaborate with Advancement Operations and CRM stakeholders on constituent segmentation, communications automation, audience management, engagement reporting, and lifecycle communications.
Manage, create, and curate Alumni Relations social media content for University Advancement's social channels.
Travel to events as needed to provide social media coverage, including writing posts, taking and editing photos, and producing video; events may be out of town or occur on weekends and evenings.
Coordinate communications priorities and schedules with Advancement colleagues to reduce message overlap and improve constituent experience across engagement and fundraising efforts.
Write and produce annual giving appeals and other communications supporting fundraising goals and donor acknowledgements.
Serve as liaison between University Advancement and Marketing and Communications, advocating for content strategy, channel placement, and timing of Alumni and Annual Giving content.
Support executive communications, including presidential engagement events, cultivation activities, leadership messages, strategic updates, speeches, presentations, and communications associated with institutional priorities.
Perform additional duties as assigned.