Advancement Communications Specialist

About Bethel University

1. →Serve as the primary liaison between University Advancement and Bethel’s Marketing Division, ensuring all donor-facing content aligns with institutional brand guidelines, voice, and visual identity.
2. →Coordinate closely with Marketing on design and production of print and digital materials, including campaign collateral, impact reports, event invitations, and donor recognition pieces.
3. →Attend regular cross-divisional meetings and actively contribute to shared communication workflows, project timelines, and approval processes.
4. →Advise Advancement colleagues on brand-aligned messaging standards for external communications, presentations, and stakeholder correspondence.
5. →Coordinate with vendors, freelancers, and campus partners to support production needs related to advancement communications projects.

Bethel’s mission is to educate and equip students to lead lives of impact through transformative academics in a Christ-centered community. Bethel’s employee community plays a central role in developing our students as whole and holy persons. To carry out this mission, Bethel uses the foundation of our guiding documents, the Affirmation of Faith, Community Covenant, and Key Policies. Bethel expects all employees to actively participate in creating our Christ-centered community by agreeing with and abiding by our core beliefs in the Affirmation of Faith and supporting all other beliefs as Biblical, responsible, and thoughtful approaches while avoiding dissension and divisiveness. Employees teach and mentor students and help one another uphold our Community Covenant commitments.  As a result of these expectations, all University employees act as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ by actively partnering with the University to carry out its mission and foster Bethel’s Christ-centered covenant community.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time. 

1. Lead the development and production of meaningful stewardship communications, including personalized thank-you letters, giving reports, impact updates, and recognition pieces for donors at all levels.
2. Support signature advancement events through promotional content, program materials, and post-event follow-up communications.
3. Collaborate with gift officers to create personalized donor correspondence and tailored materials that support cultivation and solicitation conversations for transformational gifts.
4. Partner with Advancement Operations team members in list management, segmentation, and CRM documentation for communications tracking and reporting.

1. Monitor and report on the performance of communication initiatives — including email campaigns, giving day results, and stewardship touchpoints — using data to make informed recommendations.
2. Develop dashboards or summaries that highlight donor engagement trends, acquisition and retention metrics, and campaign conversion rates.
3. Stay current on industry best practices in advancement communications, digital fundraising, and email marketing, applying relevant innovations to Bethel’s approach.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in communications, marketing, journalism, English, public relations, or a related field - or equivalent professional experience.

Experience:

• 2–3 years of professional experience in communications, marketing, content creation, or a related field.
• Experience managing multi-channel communication campaigns with attention to deadlines, brand consistency, and quality.
• Experience working with CRM systems, email marketing platforms, or content management systems.

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as desktop and/or laptop computers, photocopiers and smartphones.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus. The job requires traversing the Bethel Campus on a regular basis and using a laptop daily.

Typically, days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, with the expectation to work specific schedules and hours as identified and communicated by management. Evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand. This is a 40-hour-per-week, 12-month-per-year position.