Associate Director, Stewardship

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management seeks an Associate Director, Stewardship to strengthen its comprehensive program that cultivates, recognizes, and stewards Kellogg’s 72,000+ global alumni and friends. This role reports to the Director, Donor Relations & Stewardship and plays a key part in sustaining and deepening lifelong engagement with the school.

Responsibilities

• Manage and lead the reporting of all endowed and expendable funds for donor stewardship; secure content from faculty and other campus partners.
• Collaborate with Admissions, Financial Aid, and Finance to support scholarship administration and reporting.
• Strengthen processes for creating new funds and documenting legacy fund information to improve research and reporting.
• Oversee all aspects of donor recognition: review gift agreements, develop and maintain honor rolls and donor walls, and manage plaques and named-space signage to ensure donor preferences are honored.
• Partner with the Assistant Director of Donor Relations on donor outreach, rendering requests, and other stewardship activities.
• Coordinate communications to donor families for Investiture Ceremonies and collaborate with Faculty Affairs on event execution.
• Build and maintain the infrastructure, systems, and materials needed for a scalable stewardship program.
• Gather data and develop personalized stewardship strategies for high-profile, complex, or key donors to maximize lifetime giving potential.
• Create donor-centric event materials, including programs and collateral, and track all donor interactions in the central database.
• Draft and produce stewardship reports for individual donors of endowed funds, major capital gifts, corporations, foundations, and Board of Trustees members.
• Manage other stewardship correspondence such as acknowledgment letters, holiday cards, and gift selections; work with vendors to procure recognition items.
• Monitor stewardship budgets, track expenses, and collaborate with Finance partners.
• May supervise 1–2 staff, temporary employees, or student workers and provide cross-departmental training on stewardship functions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 3–5 years of experience in a related setting, preferably in higher education or fundraising.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively with staff, volunteers, and campus partners.
• Strong organizational, creative, and project-management skills; ability to set priorities and meet deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; detail-oriented.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and experience handling sensitive, confidential information.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in high-performing development operations, especially in donor relations and stewardship.
• Significant writing and editing experience.
• Proven project-management expertise.
• Curiosity, analytical thinking, global perspective, and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, flexible environment.

Pay

$76,000 – $86,000 per year. Offered salary will be based on the applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity and market data.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance.
• Paid vacation, holidays, medical/sick leave, and parental leave.
• Tuition benefits for employees and dependents.
• Pre-tax and flexible spending accounts for commuting and dependent care.
• Retirement savings options.
• Wellness programs and work-life resources, including childcare and elder-care support.
• Professional growth and development tools, including career coaching and tuition reimbursement.