Associate Director of Donor Relations and Development Communications

Stanford University • Stanford, CA

27d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Development Office of the School of Engineering at Stanford University is seeking an Associate Director of Donor Relations and Development Communications. The Donor Relations and Development Communications team is responsible for planning and executing a broad range of stewardship and development communications activities designed to strengthen ties to the School of Engineering and enhance the desire of individuals to provide philanthropic support. Reporting to the Director of Donor Relations and Development Communications, you will work to implement a creative, consistent, and donor-centric stewardship and development communications strategy. If you are an excellent writer and strategic thinker who thrives in a fast-paced environment, this role may be perfect for you!

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and five years of relevant experience or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Strong client service orientation and attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and professionalism to interact with a wide range of people at different levels of an organization.
• Ability to clearly and credibly communicate a diverse array of topics.
• Ability to articulate progress and impact in a way that is understandable and meaningful to various constituencies.
• Demonstrated understanding of a wide variety of donor audiences.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to edit high-level correspondence.
• Demonstrated experience leading project teams.
• Proven ability to effectively and efficiently manage multiple priorities, with competing deadlines.
• Must be able to conduct research and ability to interpret information available in a database.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Tact, discretion, and experience handling confidential information.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite and database applications.
• Demonstrated project management skills.
• Demonstrated sound judgment in situations requiring independent decision-making and in handling confidential and sensitive material.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in a fundraising organization, ideally in development communication or stewardship roles.
• Experience in higher education, particularly complex research institutions.
• Experience with relationship or prospect management systems.
• Familiarity with InDesign and/or Photoshop.

Responsibilities

• Participate in defining the donor relations strategy for the school/unit portfolio of donors in adherence to the university's donor relations guidelines. Ensure messaging aligns with school/unit communications plans and strategic priorities. Identify key information, messages and topics.
• Develop and implement programs that provide comprehensive reporting to donors. Communicate donor relations plans across the organization and/or school, department and with partner teams and maintain open channels of communication with donor relations colleagues across the university.
• Establish and maintain strong partnerships with gift officers in order to maximize engagement for their portfolios of donors. Build complete understanding of each donor's involvement and giving activity.
• Oversee design and production of development materials from creation to deployment. Research, develop, execute and manage high-profile written reporting on complex topics.
• Develop, compile and edit supplementary materials that support written communication (i.e., backgrounders, biographies, briefing materials and talking points, and other related materials).
• Responsible for the allocation of resources for donor relations reporting, the gift acknowledgment process, and donor relations requests.
• Coordinate with staff and development officers to develop and produce key donor relations deliverables, including written (hard copy, email or online content), video, or events.
• Execute fiduciary responsibility to ensure that gifts are awarded and utilized in accordance with donor expectations and university policy in a timely manner. Resolve discrepancies and escalate when needed.
• Manage vendors/consultants on specific projects and may oversee key vendor and consultant relationships.
• May manage program budget, goals and objectives in alignment with organizational goals, in partnership with director.
• Set priorities for school/unit donor relations functions and manage their overall effectiveness. Develop tracking methods for reporting of the team's overall productivity.
• May be involved in hiring, training, setting individual performance goals and completing annual performance reviews.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Freedom to grow. We offer career development programs, tuition reimbursement, or audit a course. Join a TedTalk, film screening, or listen to a renowned author or global leader speak.
• A caring culture. We provide superb retirement plans, generous time-off, and family care resources.
• A healthier you. Climb our rock wall, or choose from hundreds of health or fitness classes at our world-class exercise facilities. We also provide excellent health care benefits.
• Discovery and fun. Stroll through historic sculptures, trails, and museums.
• Enviable resources. Enjoy free commuter programs, ridesharing incentives, discounts and more!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Industry: Educational Services
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees