Donor Stewardship & Impact Programs Lead

University of Southern California; Glendale (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 111,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Tuition benefits for staff and family

Professional Development opportunities

Central Los Angeles location

Job summary

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, seeks a collaborative Assistant Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations to strengthen donor engagement and steward a robust scholarship program. You will work with internal partners to develop impactful stewardship materials and coordinate signature donor events while aligning with university policies.

Ideal candidates will have five+ years in donor relations or stewardship, strong project management, and excellence in writing

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and at least five years of progressively responsible experience in donor relations, stewardship, advancement, event management, communications, or scholarship administration.
• Experience in higher education is preferred.
• Demonstrated success managing complex projects, high‑profile events, and strategic donor communications while balancing multiple priorities.
• Excellent writing, editing, and interpersonal communication skills for senior leaders, donors, faculty, staff, and external partners.
• Strong project management, budgeting, and vendor management skills with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Manage administration of Marshall and Leventhal scholarship stewardship programs, coordinating communications, tracking deliverables, and producing impact reports.
• Review gift agreements with team to ensure stewardship aligns with donor intent and university policies.
• Coordinate scholarship ambassador program and facilitate donor-recipient interactions.
• Develop stewardship strategies and recognition opportunities to demonstrate impact and strengthen donor relationships.
• Create stewardship communications including impact reports, donor acknowledgments, event materials, and digital content.
• Coordinate stewardship events from concept through evaluation, including budgeting, logistics, and VIP experiences.
• Maintain and analyze data in CRM and databases to support reporting and program metrics.
• Collaborate across External Relations and university units to align messaging with standards and goals.
• Support continuous program improvement and process optimization.

Skills

Donor relations

Stewardship program management

Communication skills

Project management

Event planning

Scholarship administration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Salesforce

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign)

Canva

Qualtrics

Mythos

ThankView

HTML

Job description

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, seeks a collaborative Assistant Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations to strengthen donor engagement and steward a robust scholarship program. You will work with internal partners to develop impactful stewardship materials and coordinate signature donor events while aligning with university policies.

Ideal candidates will have five+ years in donor relations or stewardship, strong project management, and excellence in writing