Assistant Director for Donor Relations

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

UW Medicine Advancement has an excellent opportunity for an Assistant Director for Donor Relations to join their team. At UW Medicine, they work to improve health for all people through excellence in clinical, research, and education and training programs. As the only comprehensive clinical, research and learning health system in the five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) region, UW Medicine provides up-to-date care, leads one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive medical research programs, and offers innovative learning programs. The 95-person team at UW Medicine Advancement connects donors with opportunities to enhance patient care, expand educational opportunities, and advance research. They also engage alumni of the UW School of Medicine. In the 2025 fiscal year, UW Medicine Advancement raised nearly $382 million in gifts and private grants from over 30,000 donors. The Assistant Director for Donor Relations is a member of the donor relations team, responsible for delivering creative and inspiring stewardship offerings to donors at all levels to illustrate gift impact and convey appreciation. Team responsibilities include 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, membership management of giving clubs, and stewarding donors using UW Medicine’s health system. This position reports to the Director for Donor Relations and has no direct reports. The Assistant Director identifies and coordinates impact reporting for broad-based stewardship, creatively showcasing outcomes and stories demonstrating donor philanthropy's difference. This role also supports management and workflow improvement for tracking endowed faculty appointments, ensuring accuracy and transparency across departments, with a strong emphasis on innovation, creativity, and quality.

Requirements

Bachelor of Arts or Science degree in any field.
Three or more years of experience in an office setting working on programs and projects.
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.
Alignment with UW’s Executive Order 81 Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct.

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 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.