Director of Principal Gifts Donor Experience

THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT FOUNDATION INC • Mansfield, CT

3d • $85,000 - $95,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Principal Gift Donor Experience advances the Foundation’s principal gift program by creating personalized stewardship and engagement experiences for its most significant donors and families, including custom donor journeys, family briefings, campus experiences, next-generation engagement opportunities, and other tailored touchpoints. This role serves as a strategist, partner, project manager, storyteller, and concierge for principal gift donors and priority relationships, ensuring donors experience UConn as thoughtful, responsive, and coordinated to support continued philanthropic investment through creative, data-informed, and technology-enabled engagement approaches. The Director is responsible for researching and benchmarking against peer institutions and industry trends, and advancing stewardship standards, templates, workflows, and service expectations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years of experience in donor relations/experience, or relevant field.
• Familiar with the use of computers and information management tools, such as CRMs (Blackbaud).
• Ability to handle multiple tasks, to assess and order priorities, and to track details in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to engender trust and confidence of donors and prospective donors and to maintain confidentiality of donor information; ability to represent the UConn Foundation to prospects, donors, faculty, administrators, and others.
• Ability to work to the demands of the position, which may exceed a 40-hour work week.

Nice To Haves

• Champion for inclusive priorities both internally and externally.
• High level of motivation, as well as an ability to exercise independent judgment.
• Strong interpersonal skills, tact, and diplomacy.
• The ability to build productive, beneficial relationships with a broad range of constituencies.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills, including ability to effectively communicate University priorities to donors and prospects, and to positively represent the University and Foundation.
• Attention to and concern for others.

Responsibilities

• Create and manage personalized stewardship and engagement plans for principal gift donors, prospects, and families that reflect their interests, preferences, and relationship goals.
• Partner with development officers to integrate stewardship into each stage of the donor relationship, from cultivation and solicitation through recognition, impact reporting, and renewal.
• Serve as the main coordination point for select donors and families, helping ensure campus visits, leadership meetings, events, announcements, board engagements, and stewardship experiences are seamless and meaningful.
• Coordinate personalized itineraries, briefings, follow-up materials, family engagement opportunities, and expressions of gratitude for principal gift donors.
• Track donor interests, preferences, milestones, family updates, philanthropic anniversaries, and next-generation engagement opportunities.
• Develop customized impact reports, briefings, letters, videos, presentations, and stewardship experiences that show donors the results of their giving.
• Turn complex academic, research, clinical, student success, athletics, or program outcomes into clear and compelling donor-centered stories.
• Work with communications colleagues, gift officers, faculty, deans, and program leaders to gather impact information and create customized donor materials.
• Ensure stewardship materials express gratitude, highlight progress, and connect each donor’s generosity to meaningful outcomes.
• Perform administrative duties related to work including documenting activity with donors, inputting engagement plans in the foundations relationship management database, and adhering to Foundation policies.
• Model and articulate the Foundation’s organizational core values at all times.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Work closely with development officers to understand donor strategy, gift intent, next steps, and opportunities to strengthen principal-level donor relationships.
• Coordinate donor engagement with university leaders, faculty, coaches, students, researchers, clinicians, and other campus partners.
• Prepare leadership briefings and donor profiles that give University leaders the context they need for effective donor conversations.
• Identify opportunities to connect donors with people and programs that align with their interests and philanthropic goals.
• Provide visible leadership across the entire organization by engaging in organization-wide activities such as development management meetings, all-staff meetings, and staff events.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision plans
• Annual contribution to health savings account if enrolled in one of the high-deductible health plans
• Generous contribution to 403(b) retirement plan
• Hybrid schedule
• Thirteen paid holidays
• Five weeks of paid time off per calendar year
• Additional sick time
• Opportunities to participate in various trainings, committees, and conferences throughout the year
• Tuition reimbursement after one year of employment

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director