Donor Experience Officer

University of Iowa Center for Advancement; Iowa City (IA); Hybrid; USD 50,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Iowa Center for Advancement seeks a fundraiser to secure philanthropic support for university priorities, focusing on annual gifts under $50,000. You will identify prospects, conduct proactive outreach, and help build a major-gift pipeline.

The role offers telecommuting 2–3 days per week, with the office in Iowa City, IA. You will work with colleagues to educate donors and steward relationships across the giving continuum.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 1–3 years of relevant experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Identify prospects based on capacity, giving history, and affiliation.
• Complete proactive outreach to secure annual gifts.
• Manage portfolio of leadership annual giving prospects and advance to major gifts.
• Document donor interactions and steward relationships according to policy.

Skills

Prospect qualification

Donor cultivation

Active listening

Communication

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Implements strategies to secure philanthropic support for University of Iowa fundraising priorities, focusing on annual giving of less than $50,000. Collaborates with colleagues to implement strategic approaches to increase the donor base and build a robust pipeline for major gift support for the university.

Position allows for telecommuting/work from home (2-3 days per week depending upon business need and leader approval). Our office is located in Iowa City, IA.

Identification

• Works with the Prospect Management staff to identify prospects (based on capacity, giving, history, and affiliation) from among pools that may include alumni, fans, patients, or other supporters of the university.
• Completes significant volume of proactive outreach calls and messages to secure annual gifts.
• Conducts all activities, particularly those involving patient data, according to established laws, policies, procedures, and standards and with the full support of UICA, UI, and UI Hospitals and Clinics as relevant

Qualification

• Builds qualification pool of potential prospects with the goal of building a continuous pipeline of donors capable of making gifts of $1,000-$49,999
• Learns and applies the processes of active listening and structured questioning to validate prospect’s capacity and inclination and understand strength of affinity
• Uses gathered information and input from supervisor or skilled colleagues to determine whether prospects qualify for a major gift portfolio or continue to remain in the leadership annual giving portfolio
• Serves as a trusted philanthropic advisor, practicing transparent communication and educating donors about the giving process

Cultivation

• Manages portfolio of active leadership annual giving prospects and works with the donors to document their readiness to advance to major gifts
• Works with supervisor and colleagues to implement donor-centric cultivation strategies
• Builds knowledge of funding priorities within and beyond assigned unit, consulting with UICA colleagues as needed

Negotiation

• Meets expectations for solicitations, gifts closed, and average gift size (goals established annually with the supervisor in alignment with organization-wide metrics)
• Knows how to employ communication and meeting preparation tools to achieve stated objectives for each step of the process
• Works with supervisor and others to ensure documentation reflects donor intent and sets expectations for stewardship

Stewardship

• Develops, implements, and participates in appropriate stewardship activities for donors as relevant, working with supervisor and stewardship staff as needed
• Maintains integrity of constituent database through timely submittal of interaction reports

Education & Experience:

Bachelor’s degree required. 1-3 years of relevant experience preferred.