Director of Gift and Endowment Administration

Position Title Director of Gift and Endowment Administration

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive.

In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

University Advancement supports Western's mission , which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. All are encouraged to apply, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.

The Director of Gift and Endowment Administration is responsible for the comprehensive administration of charitable gifts and endowments in support of Western Washington University. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Advancement Services, this position serves as the institutional subject matter expert on donor intent, gift compliance, along with gift and endowment administration.

The Director ensures all gifts and endowments are administered in accordance with donor agreements, institutional policies, and applicable state laws and regulations. This role partners closely with key units within the university:

Partners with Finance to align donor intent with financial management, while maintaining primary responsibility for gift compliance, agreement management, and advancement data integrity.

Partners with the Director of Donor Relations to assure all donors are stewarded appropriately.

Partners with frontline fundraisers and campus administration to assure donor intent is in compliance with state law and will be executed by the university.

The Director plays a key leadership role in advancing operational excellence, mitigating institutional risk, and supporting a donor-centered culture aligned with the University’s mission.

Provide leadership and oversight of all gift administration operations, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant processing of charitable contributions and commitments. Direct the work of the gift administration team responsible for gift processing, receipting, document management, and data integrity in the CRM. Ensure donor intent is accurately recorded, interpreted, and reflected across systems and processes. Oversee implementation and continuous improvement of policies, procedures, and workflows that support efficient and compliant gift administration.

Ensure timely and accurate generation and distribution of donor acknowledgements, receipts, and related communications. Maintain documentation of all gift administration policies and procedures to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, IRS…