Assistant Director of Donor Stewardship; Stewardship Officer

Job Summary

The Assistant Director of Donor Stewardship leads the College of Arts and Sciences comprehensive donor stewardship and impact reporting efforts, delivering a consistent, timely, and donor-centered experience that demonstrates the value and impact of philanthropic support. This position combines stewardship leadership, project management, and cross-campus collaboration to design and execute best-in-class acknowledgment, reporting, and impact communications.

• Leads the College's donor stewardship strategy, ensuring alignment with College priorities, IU Foundation standards, and donor-centered best practices.
• Oversees the production and delivery of the College's endowment and fund stewardship efforts, including scholarships, fellowships, professorships, and programmatic funds.
• Directs the planning and production of the College's annual impact report, ensuring it reflects institutional priorities and donor impact.
• Leads the development and ongoing refinement of a streamlined, consistent, and donor-centered gift acknowledgment process.

• Responsible for supporting the university's stewardship efforts to ensure adherence to donor intent of donated funds, proper donor acknowledgment/recognition, and reporting on how gifts are used.
• Individually follows up via phone or in-person with donors to provide updates on fund allocation and projects/initiatives pursued through funding and convey appreciation for the support of Indiana University. Assists Major Gifts Officers in acknowledging donors for life by way of visits, providing information, handling thank-you letters, and other forms of recognition.
• Through communications with donors and review of giving history reports, identifies potential donors to ongoing university campaigns and refers to the appropriate development staff for outreach.
• Generates and analyzes regular reports of donor activity; ensures that tracking and reporting of stewardship activities/data are timely, thorough, and transparent.
• Investigates and resolves claims of non-adherence to donor intent, escalating to manager as appropriate, taking care to preserve ongoing positive relationship with donors.
• Monitors Foundation accounts to ensure the integrity of funds against donor intent. Collaborates with departments/schools to standardize stewardship practices and share best practices.
• Provides an excellent donor experience through customer service, active listening, inclusive language, and thoughtful and persuasive discussion, consistently upholding the integrity and mission of Indiana University.
• May take on special projects, such as developing suitable recognition plans tied to cultivation and solicitation strategies for market segments and designing targeted events for potential donors.
• May delegate administrative tasks, such as preparing and sending digital and direct mail donor communications and forwarding donations to be processed, to Stewardship Coordinators. May provide guidance to lower-level Stewardship Officers.

Combinations of related education and experience may be considered. Education beyond the minimum required may be substituted for work experience. Work experience beyond the minimum required may be substituted for education.

• Bachelor's degree in related field

• 2 years in fundraising, sales, a higher education foundation, or related field

• Proficient communication skills
• Maintains a high degree of professionalism
• Demonstrates time management and priority setting skills
• Demonstrates a high commitment to quality
• Possesses flexibility to work in a fast paced, dynamic environment
• Seeks to acquire knowledge in area of specialty
• Highly thorough and dependable
• Demonstrates a high level of accuracy, even under pressure

This role requires the ability to effectively communicate and to operate a computer and other standard office productivity equipment. The position involves sedentary work as well as periods of time moving around an office environment and the campus. The person in this role must be able to perform the essential functions with or without an accommodation.

Bloomington, Indiana

$57,000-$61,000 Annually

• Comprehensive medical and dental insurance
• Health savings account with generous IU contributions
• Healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts
• Basic group life insurance paid by IU
• Voluntary supplemental life, long-term disability, critical illness, and supplemental accidental death & dismemberment insurance
• Base retirement plan with generous IU contributions, subject to vesting
• Voluntary supplemental retirement plan options
• Tuition subsidy for employees and family members taking IU courses
• 10 paid holidays plus a paid winter break each year
• Generous paid time off plans
• Paid leave for new parents and IU-sponsored volunteer events
• Employee assistance program (EAP)

Indiana University is an equal…