Associate Director of Donor Engagement & Stewardship

UMass Boston; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

UMass Boston is seeking an Associate Director of Donor Engagement and Stewardship to design and implement an institution-wide stewardship program that acknowledges donors at all levels and demonstrates the value of philanthropy to the university. You will lead acknowledgement and impact reporting and collaborate with Advancement to create personalized letters and stewardship pieces.

In partnership with the Director, you will refine communications, manage fund reporting, and ensure timely use and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree and 3–5 years in advancement or higher education administration.

Responsibilities

• Draft donor communications and acknowledge letters; maintain donor records in CRM.
• Develop engagement communications for donor societies and cohorts; create reports, mailings, emails, or events.
• Convey impact of philanthropy via mail, email, websites, and video; manage stewardship calendar.
• Support fund tracking with departments on current use and endowed funds; respond to fund inquiries.
• Track scholarship awards and prepare donor impact reports; coordinate notifications and disclosures.
• Review gift agreements; ensure fund purposes align with campus needs and maintain documentation.
• Assist with donor events; handle invitations, registrations, and post-event communications.

Skills

Donor relations

Communication

Confidentiality

CRM

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

CRM software

Job description

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 5) 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;