Director, Duke Children's Strategic Events

Duke CareersDurham, NC
$62,694 - $107,633Hybrid

About The Position

The position will be responsible for enhancing external relationships and building philanthropic pipeline through donor societies, strategic events and third-party fundraisers for Duke Children’s. This position will engage a community of donors and volunteer fundraisers focused on raising dollars and awareness for Duke Children’s. This individual will promote and grow our annual events, identify new events and people and organizations interested in supporting unrestricted or programmatic dollars on behalf of Duke Children’s. This position reports to the Assistant Vice President for Duke Children’s and Duke Cancer Institute Development. Work Arrangement – Hybrid; This is a full-time position located in Durham, NC. This is not a remote position.

Requirements

  • Minimum three (3) years event planning or volunteer management.
  • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to handle simultaneous tasks and competing priorities.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and comfortable interfacing with external and internal VIPs.
  • Ability to learn and utilize new technology platforms.
  • Must possess strong project and/or event management skills.
  • Strong communication and relationship building skills.
  • High level of creativity, initiative and motivation.
  • Strategic and innovative thinker.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  • Team orientated and collaborative.
  • Proven ability to develop community relationships.
  • Bachelor's degree program.
  • Five (5) years of experience in alumni affairs, public relations, fund raising, sales and promotions, marketing, student activities or a related field in order to acquire skills necessary to administer, coordinate and/or participate in general fund-raising activities and proposal development.
  • OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Nice To Haves

  • Healthcare experience is a plus.
  • Experience with Blackbaud and digital fundraising is a plus.
  • Experience with Smartsheet is a plus.

Responsibilities

  • Plan and coordinate complex strategic events that support the philanthropic efforts for Duke Children’s.
  • Serve as a program lead for the Duke Children’s Society, a leadership annual giving recognition society for donors who give $2,500 or more.
  • Oversee and implement logistics, including but not limited to invitation list/RSVPs, vendors, program and speakers for the annual Society Celebration event.
  • Provides strategic philanthropic direction on signature events and community engagement campaigns.
  • Serve as the liaison in key relationships with partners, such as donors, event sponsors, participants, foundations, board members, physicians, staff, and volunteers.
  • Strategically pursue mission-driven events to increase revenue to support Duke Children’s, build community awareness, and attract participants and donors to support strategic pipeline development.
  • Manage communications plan, sponsorship solicitation strategy, event logistics, and digital platforms for signature events.
  • Coordinate post-event stewardship and surveys for participants.
  • Contribute to decisions relating to operations and budget prioritization related to events.
  • Work with business office to ensure processing of all event donations and registration fees.
  • Coordinate Children’s participation in the annual Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs Thank-a-thon stewardship event and other special donor relations events as needed.
  • Assist in planning and advocacy for Radiothon and the end-of-calendar-year fundraising campaign, Season of Hope.
  • Oversee and implement our Duke Basketball annual private practice session and watch party.
  • Assist with planning and orchestration of annual Duke Rides and Jump for the Children events.
  • Provide strategic advice on community partner and benefit event programs to increase philanthropy and community support and partnership.
  • Foster partnerships with third-party fundraising events with the intent to position Duke Children’s as a community philanthropic partner.
  • Serve as the clearinghouse for all inquiries from third party events and provide fundraising expertise.
  • Strategically pursue ways to increase community fundraising events and peer-to-peer fundraising activities which benefit Duke Children’s.
  • Serve as the liaison in key relationships with local partners and offer consultation support to external events and other Children’s events as needed.
  • Identify, cultivate and facilitate the development of a community of online fundraisers focused on raising money for Duke Children’s through our peer-to-peer digital platform.
  • Establish and implement comprehensive event metrics and advise on fundraising trends to ensure a data driven approach to engagement and event work.
  • Analyze donor giving results, event ROI and trends. Make recommendations for appropriate gift strategies and follow-up.
  • Oversee metrics and data analysis for annual Radiothon.
  • Manage data requests and coding related to critical donor groups for solicitation and stewardship.
  • Evaluate key performance indicators for event success measures including return on investment (ROI) and pipeline.

Benefits

  • comprehensive and competitive medical and dental care programs
  • generous retirement benefits
  • a wide array of family-friendly and cultural programs
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