Annual Giving Coordinator at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee

Job Description:

Reporting to and collaborating with the Executive Director, Annual Giving, the Annual Giving Coordinator supports the development and execution of a comprehensive annual giving program that reaches out to all of Meharry Medical College's constituencies including alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the College. This includes writing and producing appeal letters and emails, segmenting donors, building ask strings, and ensuring the appropriate and timely recognition of donors.


The Annual Giving Coordinator will collaborate with colleagues across Institutional Advancement with a goal of growing Meharry's base of individual donors through innovative approaches for renewing, acquiring and upgrading annual support primarily through a direct marketing mix and tailored donor communications. This position will also support fundraising efforts for Campaign 150, the College's $350 million capital campaign, which is scheduled to close in 2026, the 150th anniversary of Meharry.



Daily Operations

• Collaborate with the Executive Director, Annual Giving to develop and implement a comprehensive annual fund program to solicit annual donors to Meharry while supporting the growth of its major gift pipeline.


• Collaborate with the Director of Stewardship to support meaningful donor relations and stewardship programs to maintain personal, regular engagement of annual donors through effective donor communications and the timely acknowledgement and recognition of donations.


• Lead call-based outreach to donors of $1,000+ where appropriate and apply more intensive and tailored cultivation where appropriate.


• Develop deep content knowledge on Meharry's vision, programs, and funding priorities across campus, gathering information from colleagues across the College to develop compelling messages and content for donors.


• Draft and coordinate production of all broad-based donor communications, including direct mail, electronic, and social media appeals, impact reports, invitations, and stewardship outreach.


• Identify compelling alumni, student, academic program and community outreach stories to highlight through direct mail and electronic appeals and provide effective content input to appropriate individual or vendor.


• Assist the Executive Director, Annual Giving with the annual Meharry Day of Giving and/or other micro-campaigns to boost participation and dollars as well as awareness of the Annual Fund.


• Coordinate data requests for mailings, emails and other projects in partnership with the Advancement Operations team.


• Monitor, analyze, and report on annual fund program/initiative results.


• Monitor, manage and strategically analyze key annual fund metrics such as retention rate, re-activation rates, and donor upgrade rates.


• Manage a calendar and tracking system to ensure that all deadlines are anticipated and met, and communicated to team members on an ongoing basis


• Monitor trends and stay abreast of best practices related to fundraising and annual giving.


• Performs other related duties as assigned.

• Two or more years of annual giving, fundraising and/or marketing and communications experience, preferably in higher education.


• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.


• Ability to be a persuasive advocate for Meharry's priorities and present information in a clear and compelling manner to a variety of constituencies, primarily in writing.


• Engaging demeanor capable of positive interaction with a varied constituency, including students, parents, alumni, donors, school faculty and volunteer leadership.


• Ability to use current desktop office technologies proficiently, including Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook, and to adapt to and use future technologies.


• Strong initiative, organization and attention to detail.


• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team.


• Ability to plan, implement, and manage multiple projects.


• Sound judgment, tact and ability to handle highly confidential information.


• Working knowledge of Raiser's Edge or similar fundraising database preferred.


• Authentic appreciation for the role that Meharry Medical College plays as a premier medical college and a Historically Black College and University institution.

• A Bachelor's degree is required