Assistant Director, Donor Relations, Arts and Sciences

CU Boulder; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 68,000 - 82,000; Full time

Job summary

CU Boulder is seeking an Assistant Director of Donor Relations to lead engagement and stewardship for donors supporting the College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School and Libraries. You will help drive acknowledgment programs, stewardship initiatives, and donor recognition while collaborating with the Office of Advancement to advance CU Boulder’s mission.

Under guidance from the Director of Alumni Engagement and Donor Relations, you will plan and execute programmatic activities, manage donor

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of professional experience in donor relations or alumni relations.
• Strong communication and organizational skills with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Oversee acknowledgments: manage reports, quality-control donor data, and ThankView usage.
• Oversee stewardship: plan events, reports, donor recognition, and data management.
• Oversee engagement: organize donor events, and meaningful experiences for top donors and prospects.
• Coordinate with Advancement staff and officers to execute programs and priorities.
• Support professional development and continual improvement of donor relations strategies.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Volunteer coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Salesforce

ThankView

Cvent

Qualtrics

Trello

Marketing Cloud

LinkedIn

Google Docs/Sheets

Zoom

Teams

Graduway

ThankView

Job description

Requisition Number: 74417

Location: Boulder, Colorado

City: Boulder

State: Colorado

Employment Type: University Staff

Schedule: Full-Time

Posting Close Date: 07-Sep-2026

Date Posted: 24-Aug-2026

Job Summary

Advancement at CU Boulder encourages applications for an Assistant Director of Donor Relations! This role is responsible for the planning and execution of impactful donor engagement and stewardship efforts for the College Arts and Sciences, Graduate School and Libraries. This position is critical to the engagement efforts for the Office of Advancement and joins a team that focuses on donor relations initiatives within the categories of acknowledgments, stewardship, recognition, and engagement.

Under the guidance of the Director of Alumni Engagement and Donor Relations, this position is tasked with supporting the programmatic planning and execution that achieves the unit's goals in stewarding donor funds, constituents, and promoting the reputation of the College Art and Sciences, Graduate School and Libraries to increase overall philanthropic support for CU Boulder.

CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

CU Boulder Advancement is committed to a culture of joy, motivated by collaboration, passionate about excellence and driven by impact. These four values define the culture and drive engagement and fundraising success.

We are committed to fostering an environment where everyone matters and all can thrive. This dedication is rooted in our core values and our mission to drive impactful fundraising and engagement. Our team actively engages in learning, reflection, and the transformation of systems, policies, and practices that perpetuate oppressive ideologies-including racism, sexism, ableism, and heterosexism. We recognize our responsibility to lead by example in building a supportive and inclusive culture for both internal colleagues and external partners. We hold ourselves accountable through individual and divisional goals that continuously assess our progress, growth, and outcomes-ensuring alignment with our mission and values every step of the way.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Programmatic Oversight/Task Execution/Tactical Work

Acknowledgments:

• Administer appropriate reports and connect with the fundraising team for the timely acknowledgment of gifts to the unit including, but not limited to, weekly gifts, monthly donors, faculty/staff donors, and special initiatives (this includes meaningful quality-control of donor data).
• Apply creative tools such as ThankView to enhance and vary the acknowledgment approaches and track CASE Metrics.
• Manage the design, ordering, and supply for all acknowledgment efforts

Stewardship:

• Provide strategic oversight of annual stewardship for the most generous and Manage stewardship program for scholarship donors with a focus on consistent innovation and implementation of industry standard methodologies; process may include coordinating meetings with donors and students, creating scholarship impact reports and managing donor data for annual stewardship mailing.
• Plan and implement donor specific events including the management of the College of Arts and Science football suite. Elevate donor relations programs, communications, and projects to effectively recognize/steward donors, including production of annual impact reports (general, personalized, faculty reports), management of donor named spaces, ThankView videos, gift acknowledgments, and special event communications like birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.
• Facilitate consistently recognizing gifts made "in memory of" or "in honor of" throughout the year in partnership with appropriate development officers.
• Coordinate the design and installation of donor recognition signage in alignment with donor recognition agreements and internal signage policies.
• Administer and evolve efforts to recognize the college's loyal donors through meaningful touchpoints.

Engagement:

• Facilitate invites and logistics for all targeted donor events including, but not limited to, football suites, ground breakings, and ribbon-cuttings.
• Collaborate with development officers, with an emphasis on the Assistant Dean of Advancement and Senior Directors of Development, to implement meaningful engagement experiences for top donors and prospects.

Other Engagement Duties as Assigned

• Partner with college and advancement counterparts to engage, steward and manage important donors, volunteers and allies to the College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School and Libraries School.
• Represent the College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School and Libraries School's at stewardship roundtable meetings.
• Work to support the greater advancement teams to implement strategic priorities and achieve goals.
• Participate in professional development activities to find opportunities for continual improvement of donor relations strategies and tactics.

What You Should Know

• This position may require local, regional, and out-of-state travel to engage with university constituents.
• This position has the ability to work a hybrid schedule with some days on campus and some days remote.
• This position will occasionally be required to work evenings/weekends.

What We Can Offer

The salary range for this position is $68,000 - $82,000 annually. Relocation assistance is available within Advancement guidelines.

Benefits

At the University of Colorado Boulder, we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County's largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world-class outdoor recreation. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.

Be Statements

Be dynamic. Be visionary. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience or combination of education and experience.
• Experience: 3+ years of professional, job-related experience.

What You Will Need

• Ability to establish and enhance interpersonal relationships, including ability to coordinate and manage volunteers.
• Knowledge of fundraising, donor relations, and alumni relations standard processes.
• Strong communication skills including the ability to participate in public events and represent Advancement and the university in a professional manner.
• Ability to analyze information/situations and solve problems.
• Ability to exercise a high degree of tact, discretion, and collaboration in working with a diverse range of constituents including employees, students, volunteers, alumni, donors, and campus colleagues.
• Ability to organize and manage multiple projects/tasks simultaneously; ability to work independently and on a team and adapt to changing priorities.
• Knowledge of current issues facing public universities and interests of assigned school, students, faculty, and alumni.
• Knowledge of annual giving standard processes.
• Strong attention to detail and to visual appeal of presentation materials.
• Growth mindset, resilience and perseverance.
• Ability to champion the shared values of the Office of Advancement.
• Ability to practice effective fiscal management.
• Public speaking skills.

What We Would Like You to Have

• Software Used: Microsoft Office products, database management and data manipulation, Salesforce, Zoom, Teams, Academic Impressions, Trello, LinkedIn, Marketing Cloud, Marketplace, Google docs/sheets, Cvent (or other RSVP system), Graduway, ThankView, and Qualtrics.
• Experience in donor relations and/or development/fundraising environment.
• Experience in constituent relations/relationship management.
• Experience in a higher education environment.
• Previous participation in Donor Relations Guru Four Pillars Conference.
• Experience in tactical execution of events and/or marketing and communications plans.