Director of Donor Relations - Harvey Mudd College

About the role

The Director of Donor Relations will be responsible for architecting a world-class donor experience at Harvey Mudd College. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President of Advancement Operations and Campaigns, this role bridges the gap between operations and front-facing engagement. The College is targeting ambitious growth, aiming to raise $25M+ annually, and the Director will design the systems, data-driven workflows, and personalized stewardship frameworks necessary to sustain a high-velocity fundraising program.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute individualized stewardship plans for the College's most significant donors at the $1M+ level, ensuring each donor experiences a highly personalized and meaningful connection to Harvey Mudd College.
• Manage a portfolio of principal, major, and legacy donors in stewardship phases of the donor lifecycle through donor visits, campus meetings, virtual briefings, and strategic outreach.
• Serve as the primary institutional relationship manager for select donors whose commitments have been fulfilled or are in active stewardship.
• Design customized stewardship experiences connecting donors directly to the impact of their giving through faculty engagement, student interactions, research updates, campus visits, and special programs.
• Partner closely with Philanthropic Advisors to ensure seamless transitions between cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewed investment.
• Coordinate personalized engagement for select principal donors and families across the College.
• Lead the College's comprehensive stewardship strategy across annual, major, principal, and planned giving donors.
• Create individualized stewardship roadmaps for top donors in collaboration with academic departments, leadership, trustees, students, and alumni.
• Evaluate and enhance donor recognition programs, giving societies, and engagement opportunities.
• Oversee acknowledgment strategies that ensure timely, personalized donor recognition.
• Lead stewardship events and donor experiences that deepen long-term engagement.
• Partner with Advancement leadership on stewardship and recognition strategies supporting campaign initiatives, endowed programs, capital projects, and transformational gifts.
• Develop stewardship frameworks, naming opportunity guidelines, and donor recognition strategies.
• Oversee stewardship commitments associated with naming agreements and major gifts.
• Collaborate with campus partners on dedication ceremonies, milestone celebrations, donor briefings, and campaign-related engagement opportunities.
• Lead the College's endowment and fund stewardship program.
• Oversee annual stewardship reporting for endowed funds, scholarships, faculty positions, programs, and special initiatives.
• Partner with Advancement Services, Finance, Academic Affairs, and campus stakeholders to ensure donor intent is honored.
• Utilize stewardship systems and reporting tools to monitor engagement, reporting, and fund utilization.
• Oversee scholarship stewardship, including student engagement opportunities and signature donor events.
• Provide strategic oversight of memorial, tribute, and legacy stewardship programs.
• Develop stewardship plans for memorial funds, tribute scholarships, and endowed funds.
• Guide institutional strategies that celebrate donor and alumni legacies.
• Partner with Academic Affairs, Alumni and Family Engagement, and Advancement Communications to ensure coordinated stewardship.
• Advise leadership on opportunities to deepen relationships with families and donors for future philanthropic engagement.
• Develop engagement strategies for the President, Vice President for Advancement, trustees, faculty leaders, and institutional partners.
• Prepare customized donor briefings, stewardship plans, impact reports, and strategic communications.
• Build a campus-wide culture of stewardship through collaboration with faculty, administrators, and frontline fundraisers.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to Philanthropic Advisors and College leadership.
• Supervise and mentor the Assistant Director of Donor Relations.
• Represent Harvey Mudd College at donor meetings, campaign events, and stewardship gatherings.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of progressive advancement experience, including at least five years in a leadership role focused on donor relations, advancement operations, or high-level stewardship.
• Proven success scaling stewardship programs from manual processes to sophisticated, system-driven donor journeys.
• Deep experience with CRM systems such as Salesforce, Blackbaud, FundMiner, or similar platforms, including endowment tracking and reporting.
• Exceptional writing, presentation, and donor communication skills.