Director, Gift Policy , University Development and Alumni Relations

Director, Gift Policy (0551U), University Development and Alumni Relations #89324

At the University of California, Berkeley , we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom, and belonging makes it a special place for students, faculty, and staff, who are among the most talented and accomplished anywhere, including Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Mac Arthur Fellows. Since our founding in 1868, we have been an engine for innovation - driving intellectual, economic, and social progress that benefits California, the U.S., and beyond.

Together, we change the world.

At Berkeley, the best careers are built on a foundation of continuous learning and growth . We actively support professional development by providing all full-time staff employees with at least 80 hours of paid time per year and provide space for supportive colleague communities via numerous employee resource groups.

UDAR
- University Development and Alumni Relations (UDAR) builds Berkeley's excellence and character by strengthening relations with alumni, parents, and friends of the University, raising public awareness about Berkeley, and increasing private philanthropy. UDAR provides overall direction for the campus's alumni relations and fundraising strategies and works to strengthen unit development offices by partnering with campus advancement professionals. It handles a range of central activities and services, encompassing events, communications, stewardship, prospect development, gift management, database management, and more.

Gift Policy
- Gift Policy, in the Gift Policy & Operations group, within UDAR’s Advancement Operations division, manages the acceptance of campus gifts by balancing risk management with donor and fundraising staff needs. Gift Policy is responsible for the writing, editing, and approving of all campus gift agreements, with the authority to sign agreements on behalf of the university. Additionally, the team oversees Berkeley's Gift Acceptance and Endowment Minima Policies, provides guidance on complex gift proposals and acceptance issues like intellectual property and academic freedom, and drives the donor due diligence process in coordination with campus counsel and Prospect Development.

They also collaborate with faculty and research administrators on research gifts and policies, while administering the campus gift sponsorship program and various fund matching initiatives.

In Fiscal Year 2026, the University of California, Berkeley raised $1,030B making up 117,358 gifts, pledges, and private grants from 59,997 donors. Many of these gifts created new programs and funding purposes for the campus. Gift Policy, part of Gift Policy & Operations within Advancement Operations in University Development and Alumni Relations, is charged with writing, negotiating and otherwise approving agreements for gifts that establish new programs/funds;

including payments over multiple years; or are complex in nature. Each year Gift Policy handles over 1,100 such agreements, averaging over $400 million in new commitments. Drafting and approving a gift agreement requires technical expertise in contract composition and theory, requires advanced knowledge of campus and UC systemwide gift policies; gift acceptance concepts as they relate to the IRS; state provisions (such as the Uniform Prudent Management of Funds Act);

and other campus policies and procedures.

The First Review Date for this job is October 21, 2026. For full consideration, please apply on or before the first review date.

Complex Gift Agreement Development and Administration - 30%

• Leads the intake, analysis, structuring, drafting, review, approval and completion of legally binding charitable gift agreements for the Regents and the UC Berkeley Foundation.
• Develops original and alternative language for complex gifts, endowments, pledges, capital projects, research-related philanthropy and other nonstandard arrangements.
• Translates donor intent and University commitments into precise terms governing purpose, use restrictions, payment schedules, stewardship, reporting, amendment, termination and changed circumstances.
• Ensures agreements are complete, internally consistent, executable by authorized signatories and capable of long-term administration by campus units.

Contract Compliance, Legal Analysis and Institutional Risk - 25%

• Analyzes proposed and existing gift…