Career Center

Position Purpose:

The purpose of the Parent Giving and Engagement team is to build trust and transparency with families and to create opportunities for meaningful connections between families and Bates through events, outreach, and fundraising opportunities.

The Associate Director of Parent Giving and Engagement is responsible for managing key parent giving and engagement activity while collaborating with Annual Giving & Alumni Engagement, Principal and Leadership Giving, Communications and Advancement Services.

Bates College seeks candidates with a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion practices to better serve the needs of our growing diverse community of families. Specifically, Bates recently raised funds to focus on the recruitment, support, and retention of first-generation to college and Pell eligible students.  The Associate Director will be critical to the ongoing efforts to connect with families of these students.

Job Duties:

Volunteer Engagement/Stewardship

• Manages and coordinates all Parents Welcome Receptions (in-person and virtual).
• Serves as key strategic and tactical staff member of the team executing Back to Bates: Family Weekend and other on-campus events involving families.
• Works with team members to recruit, steward, and retain engagement volunteers.
• Our team sponsors MOSAIC families offerings to build community among the family members, guardians, and support networks of underrepresented racial, ethnic, LGBTQIA+, first-generation-to-college, and international Bates students. The Associate Director will work with the Director and with the Director of Alumni & Parent Equity and Inclusion Programs to build our MOSAIC family program offerings and to engage more MOSAIC families in all facets of parent giving and engagement.

Donor Engagement/Stewardship

• Provides input on Parent Giving and Engagement yearly strategic plans, working with the Director to articulate those areas of the plan where the Associate Director will take the lead in achieving measurable results.
• In collaboration with the Director, provides personal stewardship for a segment of Parents Fund donors.
• Conducts at least 5 face-to-face or virtual meetings per month for the purposes of cultivating, engaging, soliciting, and stewarding current and prospective parent donors and/or volunteers according to best-practice standards.
• Travels both independently and with key staff and volunteers to meet with current and prospective donors and volunteers.

Fundraising

• Conducts up to 10 personal solicitations per year of parent volunteers and other Bates parents.
• Assists with tax year-end and academic year-end personal outreach to non-donors.
• Assists in strategizing and executing of special, cross-functional fundraising projects, as needed.
• Collaborates with Annual Giving staff, Leadership Gift Officers, and other front-line fundraisers to determine individual prospect strategies.

Marketing and Communications

• Serves as a key staff member for Bates’s class-based parent Facebook groups.
• Works with the Director and with Student Affairs, Admission, and other campus partners to clarify yearly calendar of outreach to newly admitted families.
• Supports management of parents.edu mailbox traffic and inquiries when needed.

Prospect Management

• Collaborates with the Director and Leadership Gift team to identify, qualify and assign new parent prospects to the college pipeline.

Administrative

• Demonstrates best fundraising and volunteer management practices and goals within Advancement and develops a thorough knowledge of current fundraising levels for the annual fund.
• Develops a thorough knowledge of Bates history, academic, extracurricular and athletic programs, and its faculty, students and administration.
• Maintains a thorough understanding of the college’s priorities and initiatives of the faculty and administration.
• Participates in departmental and professional training programs to increase expertise in the profession when appropriate
• Adheres to departmental standards, policies, and procedures with respect to all aspects of work.
• Other duties as assigned by the Director of Parent Giving and Engagement.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree preferred or equivalent of experience.
• Valid driver's license required

Experience

• 3+ years of experience in higher education advancement, non-profit organization, or equivalent.
• Experience in Student Affairs, Admission, Advancement, or similar external-facing functions preferred
• Understanding of data and how to analyze for application and results.
• 2+ years of volunteer management experience or supervision preferred.
• Experience in solicitation preferred.

Skills and Knowledge

• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism.
• Excellent communication (written, verbal and presentation) skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and to self-advocate while working in a deadline-driven environment.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to synthesize complex or diverse information.
• Strategic, flexible thinker with the ability to work independently, handle multiple priorities, and ask for guidance or resources.
• Ability to build relationships across college departments and to coordinate resources and staff within the college community.
• Proficiency in basic data management systems and basic computer applications. Willingness and ability to learn additional applications as needed.
• Ability and willingness to travel (by car, air, train, or bus) domestically and internationally as needed. 
• Ability and willingness to work weekends, evenings and other non-traditional schedules.
• Personal commitment to excellence and the mission of a top-tier small liberal arts college. 

Benefits:  

Bates College offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits (health, dental, sick leave, 24 days of vacation, 2 personal days, 12 paid holidays, dependent care subsidy, free parking, access to library and athletic facilities & more) and a supportive, collegial environment in a drug- and smoke-free workplace.