Assistant Director for Donor Relations

University of Washington • Seattle, WA

19h • Onsite

About The Position

This position is for an Assistant Director for Donor Relations at UW Medicine Advancement. UW Medicine aims to improve health for all people through excellence in clinical, research, and education and training programs across the five-state WWAMI region. UW Medicine Advancement is a 95-person team dedicated to connecting donors with meaningful opportunities to enhance patient care, expand educational opportunities, and advance research, while also engaging alumni of the UW School of Medicine. In the 2025 fiscal year, UW Medicine Advancement raised nearly $382 million from over 30,000 donors.

The Assistant Director is a member of the Donor Relations team, which is responsible for delivering creative and inspiring stewardship offerings to UW Medicine’s donors at all levels. This includes cultivating and stewarding long-term relationships with annual and major donors, gift acknowledgment, donor recognition, impact reporting, broad-based stewardship, coordination of faculty endowed appointments, and membership management of giving clubs. The role specifically focuses on identifying and coordinating impact reporting for broad-based stewardship, ensuring donors clearly see the difference their philanthropy makes by creatively showcasing outcomes and stories. Additionally, this role supports the management and workflow improvement of tracking endowed faculty appointments to maintain accuracy and transparency across departments. The position emphasizes innovation, creativity, and quality, navigating complex stakeholder coordination, balancing creativity with compliance, addressing ambiguity in data and reporting systems, and managing detailed tracking processes while ensuring high-quality, meaningful donor stewardship.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Arts or Science degree in any field and three or more years of experience in an office setting working on programs and projects.
• Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
• Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner in accordance with UW Medicine Policy on Professional Conduct.
• Alignment with UW’s Executive Order 81 Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct.
• Experience working with a variety of stakeholders including faculty, donors, senior leadership and other colleagues.
• Demonstrated project management ability, efficiency and strong attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to work on a team: mindfulness of deadlines, respect for varying skill sets, ability to juggle priorities, and willingness to do a variety of tasks, including administrative ones.
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills, with the ability to communicate openly, directly, and professionally to foster dialogue and resolve differences effectively.
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to navigate ambiguity and perform effectively in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidence and protect confidential information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams), with the willingness and ability to learn the UW donor CRM and other proprietary systems.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in fundraising.
• Experience in philanthropy in higher education, healthcare setting, or other complex and matrixed organization.
• Experience in working with colleagues across complex and large organizations.
• Experience with InDesign.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership to front-line fundraiser teams, including regular one-on-one meetings, to strengthen donor engagement and stewardship.
• Serve as the primary liaison between fundraising staff and UW Central Advancement to ensure the creation of compliant, high-quality donor gift agreements.
• Develop and implement innovative stewardship strategies, including annual and ad hoc impact reports by coordinating content collection, copy editing, and report design.
• Develop and implement strategies for broad-based stewardship initiatives that thank, engage and report back to donors.
• Coordinate the creation and distribution of impact reports, stories, and multimedia content that creatively showcase the outcomes made possible by donor contributions.
• Assess reporting gaps and use data to create a mid-level donor strategy for stewardship, starting with priority funds and expanding beyond.
• Partner with UW Medicine Advancement colleagues in communications and annual philanthropy teams to enhance creation and distribution of donor stewardship.
• Collaborate with faculty, clinicians, and program leaders to gather compelling updates and results to share with donors.
• Track and assess the effectiveness of stewardship outreach, making recommendations for enhancements.
• Maintain accurate records for all named endowed and term faculty appointments, ensuring alignment with donor intent and institutional guidelines.
• Coordinate with the office of academic affairs, department chairs, faculty, and advancement staff to track appointment terms, renewals, and transitions.
• Assist in preparing recognition materials, announcements, and public communications celebrating endowed faculty appointments.
• Coordinate with colleagues in Central Donor Relations, Endowment and Donor Services, Gift Services, Departments and Programs, and institutional partners to ensure a unique and customized experience for Medicine donors.
• Coordinate with Endowments & Donor Services and Gift Services teams on gift agreements, gift acceptance processes, and fund creation.
• Collaborate with department and division administrators to communicate compliance guidelines, clarify fund usage, and address adhoc questions.
• Partner closely with faculty members and program directors to gather content for donor impact reports.

Benefits

• Outstanding benefits
• Opportunities for professional growth
• The chance to work in an environment known for its diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty
• Pay Range Minimum: $75,000.00 annual
• Pay Range Maximum: $80,004.00 annual

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees