Aric Bird
Summary
A grounded communication professional with a focus in higher education advancement. Driven to serving alongside an institution's mission by creating partnerships to increase organizational impact.
Overview
4
4
years of professional experience
Work History
Major Gifts Officer
Wayne State University Law School
10.2023 - Current
- Raised major gift funds by cultivating and maintaining relationships with donors and prospective contributors.
- Identified potential major gift prospects through research, networking, and relationship-building efforts.
- Developed successful strategies for donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
- Managed an portfolio of 80 high-net-worth individual donors, resulting in increased overall giving.
Assistant Director, Alumni and Donor Engagement
Eastern Michigan University Foundation
08.2021 - 10.2023
- Led, managed, and developed integrated marketing and communication strategies and tactics for a $100 million comprehensive giving campaign to engage donor and alumni audiences of over 180,000.
- Provided overarching strategy on all communication and marketing efforts for a record-breaking Giving Tuesday that generated over $2.2 million for the institution.
- Supervised a six member advancement student ambassador team that lead communication and marketing, alumni, donor, and student engagement initiatives for EMU Foundation.
- Implemented and created over 50 crowdfunding accounts for departments across the university.
- Collaborated with the Director of Alumni and Donor Engagement on annual fall appeal projects that generated over $63,000.
- Collaborated with the Director of Alumni, Donor, and Volunteer Engagement on donor stewardship and alumni board projects.
- Managed a budget of $80,000 for alumni engagement and communication projects.
- Increased EMU Foundation email communications open rate from 11% to 25%, which is approximately 8,000 new openers.
- Coordinated a Giving Madness campaign through email, social, and website communications for EMU Foundation's spring appeal that generated over $63,000 in donations.
Social Media Specialist
Eastern Michigan University Foundation
08.2020 - 08.2021
- Managed seven different EMU Foundation social media platforms along with providing overarching strategy and content creation.
- Increased number of followers on EMU Foundation Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts by 40%.
- Maintained the company's social media presence by posting consistent quality content, answering posts, and monitoring responses daily helping increase user engagement by 120%.
Graduate Assistant: Recruitment Manager
Eastern Michigan University Forensics Team
01.2020 - 04.2022
- Collaborated with the Director of Forensics to provide an overarching recruitment strategy that increased campus visits by 25%.
- Built and strengthened successful relationships with external recruiters and high schools in Ohio.
- Set and conveyed recruitment goals to downstream staff of seven members.
Education
Master of Arts - Strategic Communication
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI04.2022
Bachelor of Science - Public Relations
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI04.2020
Skills
- Blackbaud CRM Software
- Donor identification and qualification
- Microsoft Office
- Persuasive Speaking
- Major gifts
- Annual giving
- Stewardship
- Interpersonal Communication
- Media Placement
- Google Analytics
- Team Recruiting and Hiring
- Public and Media Relations
Timeline
Major Gifts Officer
Wayne State University Law School
10.2023 - Current
Assistant Director, Alumni and Donor Engagement
Eastern Michigan University Foundation
08.2021 - 10.2023
Social Media Specialist
Eastern Michigan University Foundation
08.2020 - 08.2021
Graduate Assistant: Recruitment Manager
Eastern Michigan University Forensics Team
01.2020 - 04.2022
Master of Arts - Strategic Communication
Eastern Michigan University
Bachelor of Science - Public Relations
Eastern Michigan University
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