Director, Donor Relations & Stewardship
University of Denver
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Job summary
The University of Denver is seeking a Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship to lead a high-touch donor engagement program and deepen philanthropic commitment across the DU community. This role oversees 4–6 professionals and reports to senior advancement leadership.
The position requires a strategic leader with results-driven focus, strong budgeting and collaboration skills, and a commitment to the university’s mission in a hybrid work arrangement. Evening/weekend events may be required.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.
- 7+ years of progressive professional experience.
- At least 5 years of donor, constituent, or member relations experience.
- Two or more years of leadership or supervisory experience.
- Demonstrated experience in strategic planning and implementation.
- Proven ability to proactively prioritize work and effectively manage resources in a dynamic environment.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the University’s subject matter expert on donor relations and stewardship, establishing policies, standards, and best practices.
- Develop strategies to improve the donor experience, increase retention, and promote future giving.
- Lead and deliver a comprehensive donor relations and stewardship program for the entire donor population.
- Develop standards for recognition and donor stewardship and provide guidance to campus.
- Foster a university-wide culture of donor relations and stewardship and collaborate with campus partners.
- Provide strategic direction and accountability for donor recognition and engagement activities.
- Support gift officers in designing and executing annual stewardship plans and reports.
- Oversee annual stewardship reporting including endowment reports.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
The University of Denver (DU), a private university, is the oldest independent university in the Rocky Mountain region, with approximately 11,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. DU is classified as an R1: Doctoral University.
At the University of Denver, we’re doing higher education our way: authentic to the Rocky Mountain West's confident optimism and pragmatic independence. It sets us apart. We’re preparing young people to be the solutions in their own stories, empowering them to face uncertainty with confidence and uncommon sense.
We’re fiercely ambitious and forward-thinking, surpassing all expectations to redefine success and how to achieve it. And we’re true to our mission as a top-tier private R-1 institution dedicated to making the world a better place – contributing to our communities and making positive change in the world.
The Denver Difference campaign is our most ambitious campaign yet. It marks a dramatic shift in conventional thinking about what the university experience can and should be. DU is setting the bar with our approach to higher education, developing and preparing students to be successful in life in every way. The University of Denver is building an advancement enterprise that mirrors the excellence and innovation of our great institution. Inclusive of alumni engagement, development, operations, and communications leadership, DU Advancement is building and fostering a culture of deep engagement and philanthropy in support of our bold vision.
The Donor Relations and Stewardship team plays a central role in advancing the University of Denver’s philanthropic mission by designing and delivering meaningful experiences that deepen engagement and foster lasting relationships with donors of the University. The team is responsible for implementing thoughtful, creative, and high-touch stewardship and donor relations strategies that ensure all donors feel genuinely connected to DU and confident in the impact of their support. Working in close partnership with advancement colleagues and campus leaders, the team upholds the highest quality standards while continuously refining practices that recognize generosity, strengthen trust, and sustain long-term philanthropic commitment.
The Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship is a leader, thought partner, and subject‑matter expert in the field of advancement, reporting directly to the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Principal Gifts, Donor Relations and Stewardship. This role provides strategic direction for donor relations and stewardship efforts, overseeing a team of 4-6 professionals and guiding the development and execution of high-touch strategies that deepen engagement and philanthropic commitment across the University’s community of alumni, families, faculty, staff, students, and friends. The Director also serves as a key advisor to advancement leadership and campus colleagues, ensuring alignment, innovation, and continuous improvement in donor engagement practices.
The successful candidate for this position will have a keen eye for donor engagement and stewardship approaches that make members of the University of Denver community feel truly connected and appreciated thus increasing donor retention and additional support from existing donors. They will also serve as a strong manager, coach and mentor to the donor relations and stewardship team and will possess an unwavering commitment to the highest quality standards.
The position is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement with approval and will require attendance at occasional evening and weekend events.
- Donor Relations and Stewardship
- Serves as the University’s subject matter expert on donor relations and stewardship, establishing policies, standards, and best practices that advance a culture of philanthropy and donor-centered engagement across the institution.
- Develop strategies to improve the donor experience, increase retention, and promote future giving.
- Lead and deliver a comprehensive and donor-centered donor relations and stewardship program for the entire University of Denver donor population through programming that thoughtfully appreciates the University’s philanthropic community and ensures their gifts are stewarded timely and appropriately.
- Develop standards for recognition and donor stewardship and provide guidance to campus on best-practices.
- Foster a University-wide culture of donor relations and stewardship and work collaboratively with campus partners to craft and execute effective donor relations and stewardship programming.
- Provide strategic direction, guidance and accountability for donor recognition, acknowledgements, correspondence and other activities that engage donors and advance philanthropic commitment.
- Proactively support gift officers in design and execution of annual and multi-year stewardship plans and impact reports for donors and top prospects.
- Annual stewardship reporting oversight and include endowment reports and other stewardship related financial reports on an annual basis.
- Leadership
- Provide comprehensive leadership of the Donor Relations and Stewardship team within DU Advancement. This includes supporting the day-to-day functionality of the team, as well as facilitating the recruitment, hiring, training, mentoring, evaluation, and professional development of the team (4-6 FTEs).
- Effectively manage the Donor Relations and Stewardship operating budget, including monitoring transactions and assisting in budget modeling and forecasting processes.
- Represent Donor Relations and Stewardship in Advancement-wide and University-wide settings, ensuring the highest standards of donor care are taken.
- Donor Relations Events
- Set and lead the strategic use of donor relations and stewardship events to deepen constituent engagement with the University.
- Provide vision and strategy for approximately 10-12 high-impact donor events annually, ensuring each event is intentionally designed to strengthen relationships, reinforce institutional priorities, and advance long-term donor engagement and philanthropic outcomes.
- Responsibilities include developing strategic invitation and audience segmentation approaches, shaping program content and messaging aligned with fundraising objectives, and leveraging event participation to build, sustain, and deepen relationships before and after each engagement. This role emphasizes strategic direction and outcomes rather than tactical event planning or logistics.
- Partnerships & University Citizenship
- Serve as an active and collaborative partner to all advancement partners and other campus colleagues, to foster strategic, effective, and collaborative advancement practices.
- Model One DU leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, take action, create solutions, implement plans, analyze results and iterate for maximum positive effect.
- Advanced comprehension of financial reports including endowment reporting and familiarity with CRM systems.
- Track record of success in creating and executing donor relations and stewardship activities that elevate engagement; ability to develop, plan and implement short- and long-term goals based on program needs.
- Demonstrated success in managing and motivating a team.
- Passion for innovation and creative thinking; drive to deliver tangible results.
- Superior interpersonal skills for developing and maintaining relationships.
- Strong communications skills.
- Ability to manage time and meet deadlines.
- Flexible, highly organized and detail oriented.
- Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, with expert proficiency in Excel.
- Demonstrated experience working with relational databases and enterprise information systems.
- Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.
- At least seven years of progressive professional experience.
- A minimum of five years of donor, constituent, or member relations experience.
- Two or more years of leadership or supervisory experience.
- Demonstrated experience in strategic planning and implementation.
- Proven ability to proactively prioritize work and effectively manage resources in a dynamic environment.
- Five or more years of leadership or supervisory experience
- Program and event management experience in a higher education environment or similarly complex, mission-driven organization.
- Experience leading initiatives that advance engagement, stewardship, or relationship-based outcomes.
- Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with operational execution across multiple priorities.
- Standard open office environment
- Noise level is quiet to moderate
- Non-essential role. Note: essential employees are those individuals who must report to work, be "on call" to report to work, and/or work remotely if required in order to maintain the critical functions of the University during scheduled closures or an unscheduled suspension of normal operations due to emergencies, events, or other situations.
- Ability to use a computer for an extended period
- Occasionally required to move about the office/campus with the capability of transporting objects up to 20 lbs. with assistance
- This role is not required to operate an Automobile, Passenger Van, UTV/ATV, or golf cart
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
4:00 p.m. (MST) October 19, 2026.
14
$95,000 - $110,000
The University of Denver has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what the University may pay for the position at the time of posting. The University may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal salary equity considerations, and available market information, but not based on a candidate’s sex or any other protected status.
The University of Denver offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO pass. The University of Denver is a private institution that empowers students who want to make a difference. Learn more about the University of Denver.
- Resume
- Cover Letter
The University of Denver is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression), marital, family, or parental status, pregnancy or related conditions, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. The University of Denver does not discriminate and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, creed, disability, sex (including sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression), marital family, and parental status, pregnancy, genetic information, military enlistment, or veteran status, and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under federal, state, or local law, regulation, or ordinance in any of the University’s educational programs and activities, and in the employment (including application for employment) and admissions (including application for admission) context, as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the Americans with Disabilities Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; the Equal Pay Act; the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act; the Colorado Protecting Opportunities and Worker's Rights (POWR) Act; and any other federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances that prohibit discrimination, harassment, and or retaliation. For more information, please see the University of Denver's Non-Discrimination-Statement.
All offers of employment are based upon satisfactory completion of a criminal history and National Sex Offender Registry background check.
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