Director, Donor Relations & Stewardship

Job Summary

The Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship leads the strategic development and implementation of a comprehensive donor relations program that fosters meaningful engagement, ensures accountability, and strengthens long-term philanthropic support for the university.

About the Role

This role is responsible for overseeing donor recognition, stewardship reporting, endowment compliance, and impact communications to demonstrate the value and outcomes of donor investments. The Director partners closely with advancement leadership, development officers, academic units, and the university foundation to enhance donor experiences and ensure alignment with institutional priorities.

Responsibilities

• Led the development and implementation of a comprehensive donor relations, stewardship, and cultivation strategy aligned with institutional fundraising goals and advancement best practices.

• Oversees donor engagement strategy and portfolio activity across all assigned prospects in coordination with the major gift and planned giving team, with the ability to directly engage donors and prospects in cultivation as needed.

• Serves as a key advisor to advancement leadership on donor engagement, naming opportunities and recognition strategies.

• Supports cultivation and solicitation efforts through preparation and review of donor-facing materials including proposals, solicitation letters, gift agreements, and customized engagement content.

• Oversees coordination of donor cultivation and engagement strategies for university fundraising campaigns in collaboration with advancement leadership and campus partners.

• Directs stewardship strategy and execution for gifts at all levels, annual, leadership, major, principal, and endowed gifts, including stewardship planning, donor reporting, and implementation of the Stewardship Matrix.

• Develops and maintains donor engagement and stewardship policies, procedures, and recognition standards across advancement, ensuring a consistency and alignment across colleges and administrative units.

• Leads stewardship communications strategy in partnership with marketing and communications, ensuring alignment with institutional branding and philanthropic storytelling.

• Utilizes CRM systems and analytics to track donor engagement, stewardship activities, and reporting requirements; develops dashboards to assess effectiveness, compliance, and donor retention outcomes.

• Oversees and supervises donor relations staff, providing leadership and professional development.

• Provides training and guidance to advancement and campus partners to ensure consistent stewardship and fundraising support practices.

Qualifications

• This position requires either ten years of directly related full-time experience or, as an alternative, a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in an appropriate area of specialization and six years of full-time experience directly related to the job functions.

• Experience in higher education, university foundation, or similar organizations.

• Experience managing or supervising staff.

• Experience and proficiency with Raiser’s Edge or similar fundraising applications.

• Experience operating a personal computer and proficient with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher and Outlook).

Preferred Qualifications

• A Master’s Degree from an accredited university.

• Experience in campaign environments, including planning and executing comprehensive fundraising campaigns.

• Experience with donor analytics, segmentation, and stewardship metrics.

• Experience in writing, communications or storytelling, tailored for donor audience.