Associate Director of Donor Engagement& Stewardship

University of Massachusetts Boston; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Massachusetts Boston seeks an Associate Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship to design and implement a university-wide stewardship program that highlights donor impact and fosters deeper engagement. You will lead acknowledgement, impact reporting, and coordination with University Advancement to craft personalized communications and ensure timely fund reporting.

You will manage donor funds, craft endowment and scholarship reports, and support events for recognition

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 3–5 years of advancement experience or higher education administration experience.
• Fluency in contemporary donor relations methodologies and CRM systems.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, analyze data, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong written and oral communication skills and commitment to customer service.

Responsibilities

• Draft donor communications and management of acknowledgement letters and stewardship materials.
• Develop communications for donor cohorts and create customized reports, mailings, emails, or events.
• Convey impact of philanthropy via multiple channels and maintain stewardship calendars.

Skills

Donor relations

Communications

Data analysis

CRM software

Project management

Confidentiality

Customer service

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Associate Director of Donor Engagement& Stewardship

General Summary of Position:

The Associate Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship reports to and works with the Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship to design and implement an institution-wide comprehensive stewardship program that acknowledges and appreciates donors at all levels of support and demonstrates the value of donor investments across the university, ultimately leading to deeper engagement with UMass Boston. The Associate Director will lead the acknowledgement and impact reporting systems of the comprehensive donor engagement and stewardship strategy, assisting with recognition and engagement programs as needed. They will partner with colleagues in University Advancement to craft meaningful and personalized acknowledgement letters and stewardship pieces that convey the impact of philanthropy and mission of the university, while working with administration and academic units to ensure the timely use and reporting of named funds, scholarships, commemorative and other types of commitments. Alongside the Director, the Associate Director will propose and implement new communication pieces and engagement opportunities that showcase the transformational power of gifts to UMass Boston, Boston's only public research university.

Examples of Duties:

• Correspondence: Research and draft donor communications, including acknowledgment letters from the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for the Director's review and approval; maintain departmental email correspondence with donors and students; prepare tribute correspondence and pledge reminders; develop systems and maintain accurate records in the donor database to track correspondence;
• Cohort-based Outreach: Work with the Director to develop creative and impact-driven communications and engagements for our four recognition societies that span principal gift donors, loyal donors, planned gift donors, first-time donors, and new members into the annual leadership giving society; participate in the creation of strategic communications to cohorts of donors or individual donors, including but not limited to customized reports, mailings, emails, or events;
• Stewardship Communications: Passionately convey the impact of private philanthropic support on our students, faculty and our campus via mail, email, websites, and video platforms; maintain a stewardship communications calendar that dovetails with university-wide communications and other Advancement outreach; forge relationships with other advancement staff and university partners to refresh content and language semi-regularly;
• Fund Tracking: In consultation with the Director and the Senior Director of Finance and Operations, provide administrative support for the management of current use and endowed funds. Work with Merit Scholarship, Financial Aid, and academic units, and field inquiries related to donor funds; and, as needed, relay fund purpose, restrictions, available balances, spending eligibility, and stewardship requirements to campus partners.
• Reporting: Track and upload student award reports received from the Bursar's Office; collect, review, and maintain scholarship gratitude materials for all stewarded funds; coordinate donor notifications regarding scholarship awards; develop and maintain processes for tracking scholarship recipients and award information within the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system; in coordination with the Director, create endowment and donor impact report templates; and manage the distribution of finalized reports to donors and other stakeholders.
• Gift Agreements & Documentation: Collaborate with the Director, Leadership Gift Officers, and Finance/ Advancement Services to review gift agreements; ensure fund purposes are appropriate for campus needs, clearly articulated, and aligned with fundraising and endowment best practices7help maintain accurate donor and fund documentation within the CRM and related systems; and ensure gift agreement records are properly retained and accessible for stewardship, reporting, and compliance purposes.
• Event Support: Partner with the Director to implement meaningful donor events throughout the year for recognition society members, principal gift donors, named scholarship fund donors and their beneficiaries; confirm space and catering logistics, assist in the creation of invitation materials, registration pages, pre- and post-event attendee communications, and other materials as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's Degree and a minimum of three to five years (3 to S) of advancement experience or experience in higher education administration is required. Additional requirements include fluency in the methodologies and trends in a contemporary donor relations office as well as demonstrated experience working with Constituent Record Management (CRM) systems

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Passion for donor relations and sharing the impact of philanthropy
• Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously, collate and analyze data, adapt to change, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment;
• Demonstrated ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality while handling sensitive donor, student, financial, and personnel information
• Robust written and oral communication skills;
• Demonstrated curiosity and the ability to quickly identify and cultivate connections between the interests and priorities of donors, alumni, Advancement, and university partners; and leveraging these insights to facilitate meaningful engagement opportunities,
• Strong multi-media communication skills, eager to learn new skills and programs;
• Sound analytical and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail and ability to retain information;
• Clear sense of ownership, follow-through, and orientation towards results;
• Sincere commitment to customer service.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite required;

For Professional Unit Positions:

• Is this job required to be on call? No.
• Supervision Received:

The Associate Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship reports to the Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship.

• Supervision Exercised:

Responsible for hiring, training, and managing two student employees.

Number of non-student employees directly supervised: 0 Number of non-student employees indirectly supervised: 0

Average number of student employees supervised at any given time: 2

Only Internal candidates in the Professional Staff Bargaining Unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting. All other candidates will be considered after that period.

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link:

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact [e-mail] or 617-287-5150.

Applications close: 09 Nov 2026 Eastern Standard Time

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

The University of Massachusetts Boston provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military status, genetic information, pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition, or membership in any other legally protected class. The University of Massachusetts Boston complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the university operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment.

UMass Boston typically does not provide visa sponsorships for non-academic positions.

The University of Massachusetts Boston is committed to providing a safe and secure environment that is supported by qualified employees for all of its students, faculty and staff to carry out the University's teaching, research and public service missions. As a condition of employment, the University will conduct appropriate background check reviews. For more information, please see the University of Massachusetts Boston campus policy and procedures for employee background reviews.