Description

The Assistant Director for Direct Response is responsible for planning, implementing, and optimizing direct response fundraising campaigns that generate philanthropic support for Texas State University.

The Assistant Director supports strategic fundraising communications and donor initiatives that strengthen philanthropic participation across Texas State University. This position develops and executes multi-channel fundraising campaigns designed to acquire, retain, and upgrade donors while supporting pipeline development.

This role analyzes engagement and campaign performance data to identify opportunities for growth and translate insights into actionable fundraising strategies. The Assistant Director collaborates closely with Donor Engagement, Alumni Engagement, and Major Gifts to align communications with fundraising priorities and strengthen the donor journey from participation to deeper philanthropic investment.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, public relations, nonprofit management, or related field.
• Three years of professional experience in fundraising communications, annual giving, direct response marketing, advancement communications, or related field.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing communication, fundraising, or engagement data and applying insights to improve campaign performance.
• Experience developing donor-facing fundraising communications and campaign messaging.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills with the ability to work effectively across teams and stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in higher education advancement, nonprofit fundraising, or donor communications.
• Experience supporting annual giving, leadership annual giving, crowdfunding, or direct response fundraising initiatives.
• Experience utilizing audience segmentation strategies and donor engagement data.
• Familiarity with CRM, email marketing, and fundraising platforms such as Blackbaud, Luminate, Salesforce, GiveCampus, or similar systems.
• Experience supporting integrated multi-channel fundraising campaigns.
• Experience leveraging approved generative AI tools to draft, edit, summarize, or enhance communications while exercising professional judgment and adhering to university privacy and data security policies.