Associate Director, Donor Relations

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Donor Relations, is a key member of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Advancement team. The role oversees and executes stewardship strategies for Annual Fund donors, ensuring that donors are recognized, informed about their impact, and engaged in ways that encourage continued support. The Associate Director partners with fundraising and communications teams to deliver a comprehensive stewardship program aligned with organizational values and priorities. The role develops and manages multi-year stewardship strategies and projects for Annual Fund donors, including Chicago Booth Dean’s Society donors. It expands donor communications and special offerings, coordinates messaging across Advancement and Marketing and Communications, and creates materials and donor stories. The position evaluates stewardship initiatives and recommends improvements using donor feedback, industry standards, and analytics. It also sets activity goals, develops the annual operating budget for donor-related programs, supports recognition efforts and other Advancement activities, and serves as a resource to other units on fundraising and engagement. The position is currently expected to work in the office at least three days per week, travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business, and work evenings and weekends on occasion. The role is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Requirements

College or university degree in a related field.
Five to seven years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Exceptional written and verbal communication and proofreading skills.
Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and commitment to customer service.
Ability to manage multiple projects, set priorities, and meet short deadlines.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively, with flexibility and adaptability in a changing environment.
Discretion and confidentiality.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree.
Professional experience in advancement, alumni relations, donor relations and stewardship, communications, marketing, public relations, or similar work.
Background in higher education or a nonprofit institution.
Understanding of fundraising databases such as Salesforce.
Familiarity with Marketo or similar marketing software.
Proficiency in Windows and the standard MS Office suite.
Strong understanding of Annual Fund fundraising and donor engagement strategies.
Demonstrated track record of strategic and creative approaches to tasks.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multi-year stewardship strategy for Annual Fund donors, including timely recognition and impact reporting for Chicago Booth Dean’s Society donors.
Manage Annual Fund stewardship projects, including the quarterly newsletter, campaign reporting, honor rolls, first-time donor and pledge packet mailings, Dean’s Society touchpoints and events, and other donor activities.
Expand Annual Fund stewardship efforts, particularly email and mail communications (DRIP campaign) and Dean’s Society special offerings.
Coordinate messaging and donor engagement with Booth Advancement colleagues, including the Leadership Annual Giving team.
Work with Booth Marketing and Communications to create stewardship materials and donor stories.
Monitor and evaluate stewardship initiatives and recommend improvements based on donor feedback, industry standards, and analytics.
Perform other donor relations tasks and projects as directed by the Director, Donor Relations, and Senior Associate Director, Donor Relations.
Apply expertise in recognition, stewardship, acknowledgement, and proposal writing.
Set activity goals and develop the annual operating budget for donor-related programs.
Work with the special events team to develop annual recognition activities.
Serve as a resource for other units regarding fundraising and engagement activities.
Perform other related work as needed.