Associate Director, Donor Relations

About the role

The Swarthmore Office of Advancement manages the College's relationships with its alumni, families, and friends to further Swarthmore's commitment to intellectual rigor and creativity, the nurturing of student confidence and curiosity, the production of new knowledge, and inclusive excellence, among other goals. Advancement works closely with the President, faculty, and senior colleagues to foster positive and productive relationships that not only accelerate the objectives of the College but also represent meaningful and beneficial engagement for the Swarthmore community.

Responsibilities

• Develops and executes strategies for major gift stewardship, including the management of the leadership giving society.
• Facilitates engagement events, activities and strategies that demonstrate the impact of philanthropy and cultivate donors for continued and increased giving.
• Collaborates with Division colleagues who manage other gift societies to maximize the impact of donor stewardship.
• Ensures consistent stewardship and that the Division is maximizing internal efficiency.
• Annually reviews all existing donor recognition societies and makes recommendations for improvement to the Director.
• Oversees all major donor stewardship events, including the gift society events and other special stewardship events.
• Assists the Director on all principal gift stewardship events as needed.
• Manages the donor relations acknowledgment process, including individual and broad-based donor communications.
• Partners with key staff to ensure all communications and processes are in place for timely gift acknowledgments, including updated templates.
• Assists with the execution of the major donor signage recognition program.
• Works closely with outside vendors and other College partners to execute donor signage in campus buildings and spaces.
• Promotes donor outreach as necessary.
• Ensures all recognition is appropriately documented and tracked in the database.
• Assists the Director and other colleagues on additional projects and programs as needed.
• Stays current on industry trends and best practices and proactively seeks opportunities to implement these in the College’s donor relations program.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• A minimum of five (5) years working in institutional advancement, higher education, volunteer management, non-profit, or equivalent professional and educational experience.