Development Associate

Eastern Oregon University; La Grande (OR); On-site; USD 44,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid holidays (10 days/year)

Paid sick time-off (12 days/year)

Paid vacation (22 days/year)

Health Insurance (95%+ employer-paid)

Oregon Paid Leave benefits (up to 12)

FMLA & OFLA benefits (up to 12 weeks)

Employer-paid life insurance

Relocation assistance

Tuition benefits for employees

Job summary

Eastern Oregon University is seeking a Development Associate to manage the EOU Foundation scholarship lifecycle, donor stewardship, and data records. The role supports board and alumni events and coordinates fundraising activities to advance student success.

You will maintain donor relations, prepare stewardship reports, and collaborate with Financial Aid, Marketing, and campus partners to optimize scholarship utilization and recognition programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Business, Marketing, Sales, Economics, English, Interdisciplinary Studies, Liberal Arts, Data processing, or related field.
• Demonstrated technical and professional knowledge, strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and sound judgment.
• High-level written and verbal communication skills with strong interpersonal abilities.

Responsibilities

• Oversee scholarship management, including application intake, review, awarding, and donor communications.
• Coordinate donor stewardship activities and prepare impact reports and recognition materials.
• Maintain and query the Foundation database, ensure data quality, and produce management reports.
• Organize Foundation Board and Alumni Association meetings and donor events with logistics and follow-up actions.
• Provide administrative support for University Advancement and related communications.

Skills

Donor relations

Data management

Communication

Organization

Ethics

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Job description

Development Associate

Below you will find the details for the position including any supplementary documentation and questions you should review before applying for the opening.

Special Instructions

1. Letter of application (which should include why this position is attractive to the applicant, how it meets the applicant’s professional goals, and what attracts the applicant to EOU);
2. Complete curriculum vitae (resume);

Candidates are encouraged to review the Values and Principles of Eastern Oregon University.

Eastern Oregon University – Oregon’s Rural University! – is a respected public, higher education institution of academic excellence. Outstanding faculty and staff thrive and together fulfill their career ambitions to serve students from all walks of life. The Eastern Oregon University main campus is on a beautiful, quaint campus nestled in a remarkably scenic, high elevation valley populated by wonderful, community-minded citizens that have balanced work-life flexibility.
EOU offers a very attractive package of State of Oregon public employee benefits including:

• Paid holidays (10 days/year)
• Paid sick time-off (12 days/year)
• Paid vacation (22 days/year)
• Individual and Family Healthcare Insurance (95%+ employer-paid medical, dental, vision)
• Oregon Paid Leave benefits (up to 12 paid weeks)
• Federal FMLA and State of Oregon Family Leave (OFLA) benefits (up to 12 weeks paid/unpaid)
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Discounted tuition benefits for employees and eligible dependents
• For more details, see EOU Prospective Employees

Eastern Oregon University is an EEO Employer and welcomes applications from women, members of historically underrepresented minority groups, US Veterans, and persons with disabilities. EOU is committed to providing equal opportunity in its recruitment, admissions, educational programs, activities, and employment without illegal discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, national origin, race, marital status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or any status as protected by state or federal law.

Posting Details

• Position Title: Development Associate
• Full or Part Time: Full Time
• FTE: 1.0
• Position Type: Regular
• Posting Number: 20110700C&A

Job Description Summary

The Development Associate within University Advancement oversees the EOU Foundation’s stewardship programs, scholarship awarding process, and supports board and event operations. Key responsibilities include driving the full lifecycle of the annual Foundation scholarship cycle - coordinating intake, volunteer committees, compliance, and fund reconciliation. To support fundraising efforts and honor donor contributions, this role creates meaningful stewardship strategies and impact reports. Additionally, the Development Associate maintains the foundation database, updates constituent records, conducts preliminary prospect research, and provides seamless administrative and logistical support for EOU Foundation Board and Alumni Association meetings and events. This position organizes key donor recognition and alumni events, including the annual Celebration of Scholarships.

Responsibilities

• Scholarship Management (35%)
  • Administers the EOU Foundation scholarship application, review, awarding, re-awarding, stewardship, and communication processes.
  • Manages the annual scholarship cycle, including application intake, volunteer Scholarship Review Committee recruitment and training, reading and scoring coordination, award processing, and related student and donor communications.
  • Coordinates privately funded scholarship activity across University Advancement, the EOU Foundation, Financial Aid, Marketing, Admissions, academic advisors, and campus partners to ensure effective scholarship utilization, accurate award administration, and broad student awareness.
  • Works closely with development staff, the Foundation, and Financial Aid to develop, enhance, and support donor-funded scholarships, defining and maintaining criteria in accordance with donor gift agreements, Foundation guidelines, institutional procedures, and applicable regulations.
  • Tracks donor gift agreements, scholarship criteria, stewardship requirements, and compliance obligations, serving as a key resource for FERPA, the Donor Bill of Rights, Foundation policies, donor intent, and financial aid rules.
  • Coordinates with Financial Aid to record, award, and reconcile private and externally funded scholarship awards; monitors expenditures, identifies discrepancies, and works with Accounts Payable and appropriate offices to resolve issues.
  • Collects, analyzes, and reports scholarship data, developing reports, dashboards, and key performance metrics to support scholarship management, donor stewardship, fundraising strategy, and student success objectives.
  • Researches, recommends, implements, and documents process improvements, policies, procedures, guidelines, best practices, training materials, and written workflows to strengthen awarding, operational efficiency, and donor relations.
  • Maintains a master calendar and annual work plan for scholarship pre-selection, selection, awarding, stewardship, and reporting activities to ensure timely completion of deadlines.
  • Serves as a liaison among students, families, faculty, staff, donors, Foundation trustees, administrators, and external partners regarding scholarship activities, requirements, questions, and issue resolution.
  • Supports scholarship platform operations and web presence, assisting staff with system procedures, coordinating platform maintenance, and resolving platform issues.
• Donor Stewardship (15%)
  • Coordinate annual donor impact reports, scholarship recipient communications, thank-you letters, acknowledgments, and other stewardship communications to demonstrate the outcomes and impact of donor support.
  • Develops, coordinates, and implements donor stewardship strategies and plans in collaboration with development officers and Advancement staff for top donors, new donors, leadership annual giving donors, planned giving donors, alumni, parents, trustees, volunteers, and friends.
  • Develops and produces stewardship materials and collateral, including donor reports, signage, recognition gifts, presentations, newsletters, impact stories, website content, and social media.
  • Initiates and supports opportunities to engage faculty, staff, trustees, and university partners in donor stewardship activities, communications, and events.
  • Reviews, evaluates, updates, and recommends improvements to donor communications, acknowledgments, proposals, pledge agreements, and gift agreement templates to ensure accuracy, consistency, relevance, and alignment with institutional priorities.
  • Stays current on donor recognition trends, stewardship strategies, technologies, and best practices through advancement professional organizations, professional development, and peer networking.
• Foundation Database (15%)
  • Researches, enters, maintains, and updates timely, accurate, and confidential biographic, demographic, employment, relationship, prospect, donor, and alumni data in the Foundation database.
  • Creates and runs queries, exports, imports, and reports to support fundraising, donor outreach, events, stewardship, prospect qualification, gift administration, campaign reporting, and development requests.
  • Processes constituent record updates received through online submissions, email notifications, staff communications, mailing house reports, and approved data sources.
  • Coordinates with the Fiscal Coordinator on regular data review, monitoring key data points, identifying deficiencies, and implementing data entry procedures, workflows, and quality-control practices.
  • Conducts prospect identification and preliminary research—gathering biographical, philanthropic, professional, and relationship information—and provides regular reports to gift officers to support fundraising strategies, donor engagement, and decision-making.
  • Serves as backup for gift processing and receipting functions.
• Foundation and Alumni Boards & Event Support (15%)
  • Organizes Foundation Board and Alumni Association meetings, managing logistics, format, reservations, materials, reports, recordings, summaries, minutes, and follow-up action items.
  • Manages donor recognition, scholarship, and stewardship events (including the annual scholarship celebration, donor receptions, galas, and dedications) as well as alumni engagement events (including Homecoming, regional receptions, watch parties, and virtual gatherings).
  • Manages all event logistics, including donor and guest lists, invitations, venue reservations, catering, programs, event materials, communications, and coordination with campus and external partners.
  • Evaluates event participation, engagement outcomes, and overall effectiveness, recommending improvements to strengthen future events, donor stewardship, alumni engagement, and institutional relationships.
• University Advancement & Event Support (20%)
  • Fields, directs, and responds to inquiries from donors, alumni, students, staff, campus partners, and constituents, providing general operational support for Advancement projects, programs, and communications.
  • Receives and processes mail, and records gifts/checks and gift agreements from donors for transparency and audit purposes.
  • Supports content development and distributes the EOU newsletter to internal and external constituents.
  • Coordinates Advancement meetings, division calendars, and VPUA scheduling, including taking notes and documenting action items for division and department meetings.
  • Composes and edits documents and correspondence on behalf of the Foundation and Alumni Association.
  • Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Business, Marketing, Sales, Economics, English, Interdisciplinary Studies, Liberal Arts, Data processing, or related field.
• Technical & Professional Expertise: Demonstrated technical and professional knowledge, strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and sound judgment.
• Communication & Interpersonal Skills: High-level written and verbal communication skills, paired with strong interpersonal abilities to collaborate effectively.
• Organization & Adaptability: Proven planning and organizational skills with the adaptability to navigate changing priorities.
• Professional Ethics: Deep understanding of confidentiality, discretion, and professional integrity.
• Experience:
• Working with donors, boards, students, and members of the public, particularly in an educational environment.
• Knowledge and experience with foundations, development/philanthropy, education, or nonprofits, and fundraising or related programs.
• Demonstrated experience in managing programs and procedures of mail, answering and routing inquiries, etc.
• Demonstrated experience with information and data and/or database management, generating reports, inputting and reviewing data, and data quality management.
• Must satisfactorily complete EOU criminal and credential background check. Having a criminal history is not an automatic bar to employment.
• In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. Eastern Oregon University does not sponsor applicants for employment visas.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Master’s Degree in Communications, Business, Marketing, Sales, Economics, English, Interdisciplinary Studies, Liberal Arts, Data processing, or related field.
• Experience:
• Financial management, reviewing or processing financial records, performing business transactions, or similar functions.
• Fundraising or related area, such as communications, marketing, sales or hospitality.
• Proficiency working in a demanding, fast-paced environment.
• Flexibility, creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.
• Accountability, quality and attention to detail.
• Engaging and communicating with students, families, and/or the public in verbal and written form.

Salary

$44,460 to $64,023 per annum DOQ

Posting Dates

• Open Date: 09/08/2026
• Open Until Filled: Yes
• First Day of Application Review: 09/22/2026
• Quick Link to Posting: https://eou.peopleadmin.com/postings/3574

Posting Specific Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

1. * How did you hear about this employment opportunity?
   • EOU Website Posting
   • Chronicle of Higher Education
   • State Employment Service
   • DiverseJobs.net
   • Referral by EOU Employee
   • HigherEdJobs.com
   • Newspaper
   • Other
2. If you answered "Newspaper" or "Other" above, please give specifics here:

   (Open Ended Question)

Applicant Documents

Required Documents

1. Resume/Curriculum Vitae
2. Cover Letter

Optional Documents

1. Veteran Preference Document