Assistant Director, Donor Experience
Position Summary
The Assistant Director, Donor Experience role combines digital-first communication efforts with innovative workflows to achieve the University of Virginia's fundraising and alumni participation goals. By utilizing technology tools, this position is responsible for developing personal, customized relationships with an assigned portfolio of current and former alumni donors and friends to ask for renewed or increased support for the University.
Responsibilities
- Actively engage and manage a portfolio of 1,000 recent and lapsed alumni donor households
- Cultivate relationships with these donors via email, phone, social media, video conferencing, and texting
- To ensure consistent and relevant donor communication, execute monthly touchpoint cadences (averaging 30-50+ outbound touchpoints per day) across their portfolio
- Build rapport, steward, and solicit donors in an alumni-centric, targeted, high-velocity manner using technology tools
- Provide information on the University relative to the alumni donors' interests and share upcoming opportunities to attend events, volunteer, participate in alumni activities/services, or otherwise deepen their engagement with UVAS
- Solicit currently unassigned, untracked donor households to renew or upgrade giving to any area of UVA, integrating donors' interests with their philanthropic priorities
- Foster cross-campus connections by participating in communities of practice and developing relationships with school and program colleagues
- Develop and maintain broad knowledge of the University, such as admissions, athletics, schools, and alumni engagement activity
- Participate and collaborate in planning meetings to understand broader marketing strategies and recommend integrated tactics to support giving, donor retention, philanthropy education, and engagement
- Identify and troubleshoot challenges to donors' online giving and engagement experience and work with appropriate colleagues to address
- Coordinate with the prospect management team and major gift program to develop a lead generation/hand-off structure that can be tracked
- Foster a culture of continuous learning, analysis, and improvement. Identify and troubleshoot challenges to the donor journey or engagement experience and work with appropriate colleagues to recommend solutions across teams
- Perform other duties as assigned
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree
- One year of related work experience, which may include work as a student or volunteer
- Proficient at using digital media, text, phone, and video conferencing tools
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Self-motivated with an excellent work ethic driven to iterate and innovate
- Well organized and goal-oriented and with a high level of initiative and energy
- Proven problem-solving skills and ability to exercise sound judgment
- Adept at problem-solving and using judgment in situations requiring independent initiative and tact
- Motivated to work in and grow a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture
- Able to manage confidential or sensitive information responsibly and with discretion
- Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and Desktop Publishing
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with relational CRM or databases
- Experience with fundraising, which may include work as a student or volunteer
- UVA graduates preferred
Physical Demands
This is primarily a sedentary job involving extensive use of desktop computers. The job does occasionally require traveling some distance to attend meetings, and programs.
Salary Range
The anticipated hiring range is $54K - $64K / year, commensurate with education and experience.
Position Type & Work Location
This is an exempt-level, benefited position. Learn more about UVA benefits. This is a restricted position, which is dependent on funding and is contingent upon funding availability. UVA External Relations offers a flexible and hybrid workplace. All team members must have access to and maintain a secure home office environment with high-speed internet service and work collaboratively with others using various technologies and tools. Depending on the type of position and work performed, or as deemed by the manager, some positions may be required to work intermittently in a shared office space in Charlottesville, Virginia. This position can be worked remotely, with the expectation of being in Charlottesville a minimum of four times a year at UVA’s expense.
About UVA And The Community
To learn more about UVA and in the Charlottesville area, visit UVA Life and Embark CVA.
Application Timeline
Application review will begin after July 27, 2026.
Reference Check Process
Reference checks will be completed by UVA’s third-party partner, SkillSurvey, during the final phase of the interview. Five references will be requested, with at least three responses required.
Contact For Additional Information
Contact For additional information about the position, please contact Sandi Hall, Senior Associate Director for Staff Success, at eym5wh@virginia.edu. For questions about the application process, please contact Jon Freeman, jf2sw@virginia.edu.