Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship

Director Of Donor Relations And Stewardship

Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons University has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons was founded for equality 125 years ago as one of the first higher education institutions dedicated to helping women become leaders. Today, our university continues to grow and evolve and now offers Boston's only women's undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all.

You're joining our community at an especially exciting time as we continue to innovate for the future. Simmons recently launched a six-school academic structure that leverages our expert faculty and longstanding expertise in professions that make our communities stronger. In addition, we continue to highlight our high-value education proposition that is delivering greater ROI to students and putting them on the fast track to career growth and success.

You'll find that people who work here truly believe in our mission of preparing students to become social justice-oriented leaders who excel in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace.

As a university that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

Reporting to the Associate Vice President of Advancement, the Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship ("Director") leads the development and execution of the long-range and short-term strategic planning for the donor relations and stewardship functions including the acknowledgement process, stewardship reporting, donor recognition programs and events, as well as additional related efforts. In addition, the Director will oversee the Donor Relations and Stewardship team.

Essential Job Functions

• Oversee all aspects of donor recognition, acknowledgment, reporting, and stewardship of all philanthropic gifts designed to strengthen retention, engagement, and long-term philanthropic investment, including personalized stewardship strategies for the University's most generous donors.
• In collaboration with Advancement colleagues, create and manage policies, standards, templates, processes, and protocols for donor acknowledgement and recognition, stewardship of gifts, stewardship reporting, and fund reporting.
• Together with the Associate Vice President of Advancement and the Director of Advancement Communications, serve as a strategic partner on the execution of robust communications plans around gift recognition, and the drafting and dissemination of relevant, compelling stewardship materials.
• Establish and execute stewardship plans for key pipeline-building groups, such as recurring gift donors, new donors, unassigned donors, under $1,000 donors, and disillusioned lapsed donors
• In collaboration with university-wide colleagues, conceive of and manage stewardship events for top donors and prospects.
• Leverage fundraising software, such as Raiser's Edge/NXT, and communication tools, such as Thank View, Story Raise, or Gratavid, to craft unique and personalized touchpoints for top-level prospects/major gifts donors.
• Provide strategic leadership within Advancement and across campus with a focus on developing and enhancing processes and systems to achieve optimal experience for all donors.
• Serve as a member of the Advancement Leadership Group and manage and mentor the Assistant Director of Donor Relations and student workers.

Other Duties And Responsibilities

• Other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of job related experience in donor relations or related Advancement functions.
• Demonstrated knowledge of current donor relations and stewardship practices and software tools.
• Demonstrated experience in creating and…