Main Responsibilities of an Assistant Athletic Director for Annual Giving at University of Nebraska
Mattie's role as Assistant Athletic Director for Annual Giving at the University of Nebraska involves "managing a portfolio of donors" and securing philanthropic gifts to fund scholarships and facilities, encompassing sales, marketing, and communications. The work requires constant problem-solving to understand donor motivations and create engaging experiences, with the ultimate goal of supporting student-athletes who "represent our state."
Fundraising, Donor Relations, Marketing and Communications, Sales, Problem-solving
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Mattie Fowler Burkhardt
Assistant Athletic Director - Annual Giving
University of Nebraska Athletic Department
University of Nebraska, 2015
MBA, University of Nebraska
Finance
Education, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking, Sports & Fitness
Sales and Client Management
Scholarship Recipient, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Fundraising and donor management: Mattie's role involves cultivating relationships with donors, securing philanthropic gifts to support scholarships and facilities, and managing a portfolio of donors.
2. Communication and marketing: A significant part of her job includes creating marketing campaigns, developing communication materials, and writing engaging content to connect with potential donors.
3. Problem-solving and creating donor experiences: Mattie highlights the need for understanding individual donor motivations to design engaging and enjoyable experiences around giving, emphasizing the positive impact of supporting student athletes.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your current role?
I am the Assistant Athletic Director for Annual Giving at the University of Nebraska. The simple word for that is fundraising.
Fundraising involves many different things. I manage a portfolio of donors, working with them on philanthropic gifts to fund our operations. These gifts support scholarships for student athletes and facilities.
We also handle capital campaigns for facility enhancements. This job has a sales component, involving communications, PR, and marketing. It includes creating campaigns and collateral materials, which has led to more writing than I anticipated due to constant email communication.
A significant part of my role is problem-solving. Each donor is an individual with unique motivations. It's like managing different clients, where you need to understand what drives them to donate at a high level and feel engaged.
Ultimately, I create experiences for people. Donating should be fun. We are not curing cancer; we are supporting student athletes and creating opportunities for them to become leaders and compete.
People are proud to support student athletes who represent our state. They are at the forefront of our community, and donors want to be a part of that.