Annual Giving Manager

Description of Employment: UCD Foundation is seeking an experienced and driven Annual Giving Manager to help us grow our donor community and support life-changing scholarships.

Employer: UCD Foundation

Location: UCD Belfield Campus, Dublin

Salary: €52,000–€55,000 per annum

Hours: 37.5 hrs per week. Full-time, hybrid working (3 days on-site, 2 days remote)

Role Summary

About UCD Foundation: UCD Foundation works to support University College Dublin in its pursuit of world-class education, teaching, research and innovation. The Foundation is engaged in fundraising activity for transformational, multi-year development programmes. 

Purpose of the role: The Annual Giving Manager will play a vital role in delivering UCD Foundation's Annual Giving strategy by cultivating, soliciting and stewarding current and prospective donors with the goal of securing gifts at levels up to mid-level giving primarily for the UCD Champions 'Opening Doors' Alumni Fund, which provides scholarships for students facing financial hardship, ensuring equal access to a UCD education. They will additionally drive the success of UCD Foundation's legacy programme and identify and solicit legacy gifts to help diversify income streams for priority projects. 

Key Responsibilities:

 Identify and solicit annual and mid-level donors from the current Annual Giving donor pool, in line with the annual giving strategy.

 Implement and drive the success of UCD Foundation's legacy campaign strategy. 

 Review and provide oversight to improve direct mail creative, emails and telephone campaigns to implement best practices in the sector.

Fundraising activity

• Develop relationships with individual donors (regular giving donors up to mid-level giving) to secure financial support for UCD Champions, UCD Foundation's fund supporting equal access to education. 

• Collaborate with the Head of Annual Giving to identify upgrade and reactivation opportunities, informed by data segmentation, calling campaign performance and donor journey insights.

• Engage with senior academics and internal stakeholders as needed to support donor engagement, stewardship and campaign delivery.

Legacy Activity

• Contribute to and implement UCD Foundation's legacy strategy. Including, driving strategy; identifying and soliciting potential legacy giving supporters from our existing donor base; and reporting on the success of the campaigns. 

Direct Marketing Activity

• Support delivery of UCD Foundation's direct marketing campaigns including campaign planning, design, targeting, day-to-day management and reporting, to increase and retain the number of individual donors to the University.

Finance

• Support the management of campaign, student caller, and recruitment budgets, including cost control and monitoring progress against ROI targets

• Maintain up-to-date reports to support financial tracking and campaign performance review.   

External

• Proactively monitor the external fundraising environment to seek out, develop and successfully implement innovative ideas that contribute to the achievement of the Annual Giving fundraising targets.

Suppliers

• Manage relationships with internal and external service providers, including telemarketing agencies, database and software suppliers, creative agencies, and printers, to ensure high-quality and cost-effective campaign delivery.

Key Performance Indicators:

 Growth in numbers of donors and average gift size

 Campaign ROI and conversion rates

 Mid-level and legacy giving targets achieved 

 Retention and reactivation performance 

Training:

 You will receive formal/informal training in the following areas:

• Annual Giving best practice

• Campaign briefing and management

• Direct Marketing

• People Management

• Database Administration

Person Specifications & Qualifications:

Requirements 

• Proven experience in individual giving, direct marketing, or annual giving campaigns, ideally within higher education, non-profit, or charity environments.

• Track record of cultivating and stewarding donors to achieve fundraising targets.

• Familiarity with legacy fundraising strategies and donor identification.

Personal characteristics/competencies 

• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.

• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work within a team.

• Strong administration and organisation skills.

• Self-motivated, enthusiastic, and driven.

• Capable of working on own initiative.

• Capable of dealing with potential problems in a calm and assured manner.

What You Can Expect from Us:

UCD Foundation is excited to be adding this role to our team. In return for enthusiasm and a willingness to learn from your colleagues, you can expect the opportunity to develop and thrive in a positive and collaborative work environment where each team member's contribution is valued and acknowledged.

UCD Foundation employees are located on the UCD Belfield campus. We take a hybrid approach to being on site with three days a week on site and up to two days a week working from home (there may be a requirement to be on site for additional days during probation period).

Salary and Benefits:

• Attractive basic salary – €52,000 to €55,000.

• 21 days annual leave plus additional days (i.e. Good Friday, Christmas period).

• Generous paid sick leave entitlement.

• Pension – defined contribution – 10% employer contribution.

• Employee assistance programme.

• Cycle-to-work scheme.

• Hybrid Working.

• Up to two weeks remote working.

• Opportunity to take unpaid leave over the summer (max two weeks).

• Reduced employee rates for UCD Sports & Fitness.

• International partnerships and knowledge networks (e.g. CASE membership, Charities Institute)

Additional details/ Application process:

The contract for Annual Giving Manager is initially for three years subject to a satisfactory probationary period. The successful candidate will be subject to a probationary period of six months.

All applicants must have the right to work in Ireland.  

To apply, please submit your CV and a cover letter outlining your relevant experience and why you are a suitable candidate for this position to Caroline Doran, Human Resources Manager, via email, caroline.doran@ucdfoundation.ie with the subject line 'Application: Annual Giving Manager'

The closing date for applications for this role is 11th September 2025.

UCD Foundation is an equal opportunities employer which welcomes applications from any individuals with the relevant skills and abilities to help make its diverse workforce more effective.

Further information on the work we do can be found on the following websites:

www.ucdfoundation.ie        www.ucd.ie