Associate Director of Development, H&S

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 146,000 - 169,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford University in Palo Alto is seeking an Associate Director of Development within the School of Humanities and Sciences to identify, cultivate, and solicit new donors with a primary focus on donor discovery.

You will build a discovery-focused major gift portfolio across academic clusters, manage the pipeline with fellow fundraisers and the Dean's office, and support special projects that advance the school's fundraising priorities in collaboration with partners across the university.

Qualifications

• Experience in fundraising and donor relations.
• Prior work in higher education or nonprofit fundraising preferred.
• Familiarity with fundraising databases and CRM systems is a plus.
• Ability to work with AI-enabled productivity tools is encouraged.

Responsibilities

• Identify, cultivate, and solicit new donors to H&S.
• Manage a discovery-focused major gift portfolio across academic clusters.
• Collaborate with the Dean's office and other fundraisers; support special projects.

Skills

Donor discovery

Relationship building

Fundraising

Tools

Fundraising databases

CRM

Job description

Main Work Location: Historic Stanford Campus
Schedule: Hybrid (at least 2 days per week on site)
Budgeted Salary: The expected pay range for this position is $145,539 to $168,544 per annum.

The School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) is Stanford's largest school, with 24 top-ranked academic departments and dozens of programs, centers, and institutes spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. H&S teaches the majority of undergraduates in its majors, trains roughly 40% of Stanford PhDs, and produces knowledge that adds to humanity’s inheritance. The school sits at the intellectual core of the university, and its faculty and students drive discovery across expansive fields of inquiry.

The H&S Development team partners with the Dean's office, department chairs, center directors, and colleagues across University Development to secure philanthropic support for the school's most pressing priorities — from named professorships and graduate fellowships to research initiatives and capital projects. As H&S works toward an ambitious fundraising goal amid a competitive philanthropic landscape, the team is focused on building a robust pipeline of new donors and deepening relationships with existing supporters.

Position Summary:

The H&S development team is seeking candidates for an Associate Director of Development, reporting to the Director of Development. This fundraiser role will be responsible for identifying, cultivating, and soliciting new donors to H&S, with a primary focus on donor discovery. This is an excellent opportunity for a fundraiser who enjoys the front end of the philanthropic process — building relationships, uncovering giving capacity and interest, and helping shape a donor's philanthropic journey from the very first conversation.

This role will work from a robust pool of qualified prospects to build and manage a discovery-focused major gift portfolio across a range of academic clusters within H&S. The Associate Director will help manage the discovery pipeline across the team, working closely with fellow fundraisers and the Dean's office and supporting special projects that draw on fundraiser expertise.

We're looking for someone who is a naturally curious relationship-builder, comfortable initiating conversations with new prospects and confident in representing Stanford's academic priorities to a broad range of donors. Familiarity with fundraising databases and tools is a plus, as is prior experience in higher education or nonprofit fundraising — though we welcome candidates from adjacent client-facing or relationship-driven fields who are eager to grow into development work. Comfort with AI-enabled productivity tools is strongly encouraged.