Associate Director, Principal Gifts Communications

Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health•Palo Alto, CA

39d•$120,000 - $130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the Director, Strategic Communications, Principal Gifts on the Donor Relations team, you will serve as a strategic thought partner and bring your persuasive writing skills and expertise in communications strategy to engage, build and deepen relationships with the Foundation’s principally rated donors. As the Associate Director, Principal Gifts Communications, you will partner closely with Principal Gift Officers and faculty to translate their research ideas into compelling philanthropic communications including proposals, case statements, vision documents, impact reports, talking points for faculty and leaders, stewardship letters, and other communications. The compensation range for this role is $120,000-$130,000 annually.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
Minimum 7 years’ related experience demonstrating progressively increasing responsibilities.
Interest in and basic knowledge of science and medicine.
Experience creating donor-facing writing in similarly complex contexts (e.g., creating donor-facing materials in service of medical research or higher education fundraising, managing a complex donor communications strategy for a national organization, etc.).
Experience translating scientific/medical (or otherwise highly complicated/technical) concepts into lay language and synthesizing material from multiple sources to produce materials for diverse audiences, including smart lay audiences.
Experience managing multiple tasks simultaneously, coordinating the roles of various project contributors, setting priorities, and prioritizing deadlines with a minimum of supervision.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.

Nice To Haves

A bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, or writing.
Education or professional experience in writing about medicine, biology, or scientific research.
Experience working in fundraising or a nonprofit environment.
Prior experience with Raiser's Edge or other nonprofit database software.
Prior experience using project management software/tools such as Monday.com.
Prior experience or willingness to leverage AI-based tools for producing proposals, reports, and other communications.

Responsibilities

Working closely with gift officers in shaping the communication strategy for principal gift donors.
Consistently developing and producing inspiring, custom communication pieces to build relationships with principal gift donors. This includes collaborating closely with principal gift officers and regularly interacting with faculty and translating vision, research, and priorities into a compelling story, writing proposals, white papers, stewardship impact reports, and other materials.
Effectively crafting talking points, briefings, and messaging for faculty, foundation and hospital leaders for donor meetings, programs, events, and other activities. Managing the production of various communication projects at the same time.
Coordinating reviews by internal and external partners and incorporating feedback.
Independently tracking and managing project timelines while adhering to deadlines.
As and when needed, researching a particular area diligently within and across Stanford and beyond for critical data on a particular field.
Serving as a trusted source of information about maternal and child health care programs, and pediatric research at Stanford.
Collaborating across internal and external teams of communicators to share resources and ensure consistency of messaging.
While this position is primarily focused on communications and writing, an ability to work with designers and help guide the development of compelling visuals is strongly preferred.
Ensuring all communications are consistent with the Lucile Packard Foundation and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health brand and platform.
Leading projects with freelance writers, consultants, designers, and other outside vendors.
Recommending new approaches, procedures, and processes to effect continual improvements in efficiencies across the Foundation.
Performing other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

Generous leave, including PTO, holidays, Summer Fridays, and a sabbatical (after 7 years of employment)
Annual bonus opportunity
Retirement plan + employer match
Premium Medical and Dental coverage
FSA + dependent care FSA
Employer-paid life insurance
Legal services plan
Commuter Benefits, including CalTrain “Go Pass” Program
4-week paid maternity and paternity leave for new parents
Stipend for home office and mobile phone