Assistant Director, Donor Relations & Stewardship

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford University invites applications for the Assistant Director of Donor Relations within Medical Center Development. This role manages donor engagement strategies and stewardship reporting across major gifts and donor portfolios.

The position requires detail-oriented project management, collaboration with gift officers, and the ability to craft timely acknowledgments and impact storytelling for donors and university leadership.

Qualifications

• Superior organizational skills.
• Excellent writing, research and editorial skills; ability to synthesize information and compose clear and effective materials.
• Ability to listen and respond with diplomacy and tact.
• Demonstrated experience managing and coordinating multiple complex projects with competing deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to quickly understand and remember details about donors and projects to which they are assigned.
• Strong customer service focus; excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated sound judgment in situations requiring independent decision-making and handling confidential and sensitive material.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite and database applications.
• Demonstrated project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of annual reporting and donor engagement activities on behalf of the university by establishing and executing project plans, timelines, tasks, and objectives.
• Develop and provide recommendations on best methodologies to engage individual donors by analyzing past trends, researching donor profiles, and collaborating with colleagues to identify and produce key donor relations deliverables, including donor correspondence, videos or events.
• Responsible for a timely gift acknowledgment process including identifying gifts that qualify for acknowledgement. May write original copy of acknowledgments on behalf of university leaders (e.g., the president, board chair, dean).
• Work with non-development colleagues in the process of executing stewardship activities and to ensure funds are spent in alignment with donors' wishes. Escalate discrepancies when needed.
• Manage the process of requesting gift usage information from beneficiaries, (such as students, faculty). May draft, edit, rewrite, and exercise judgement to determine appropriateness of content. Create reports and ensure timely delivery to donors using appropriate messaging.
• Independently project manage donor recognition projects, including creating communications with donors, colleagues, and vendors which may include: donor walls, signage and websites.
• May initiate the gift entry process. Perform an annual audit of assigned portfolios against the development database to ensure that all related documents, fund, steward, and beneficiary information are accurate and complete. Identify and resolve any inaccuracies.
• May assist with creating and executing events; coordinate with the donor relations community on cross functional events.

Skills

Organizational skills

Writing and editing

Diplomacy and tact

Project management

Attention to detail

Interpersonal communication

Judgment and discretion

MS Office and databases

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience

Tools

MS Office Suite

Database applications

Job description

Stanford University invites applications for the Assistant Director of Donor Relations within Medical Center Development. This role manages donor engagement strategies and stewardship reporting across major gifts and donor portfolios.

The position requires detail-oriented project management, collaboration with gift officers, and the ability to craft timely acknowledgments and impact storytelling for donors and university leadership.