Project Manager, Class Giving

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 93,000 - 96,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford University is seeking a Project Manager, Class Giving to support the reunion campaigns by partnering with Class Giving Officers and volunteers. The role emphasizes data-informed decision making, process automation, and strong collaboration with donors and campus partners.

The PM will oversee cross-functional activities, build dashboards, and help manage prospects across the 18+ month cycle, ensuring effective donor engagement and program delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and two years of relevant experience.
• Advanced ability with Microsoft Office suite.
• Proficiency with database systems such as Microsoft Access.
• Strong data analysis skills and ability to present results clearly.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to juggle tasks, meet deadlines and achieve goals.
• Commitment to inclusivity in the workplace.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Class Giving Officers to plan 18+ month reunion campaigns.
• Coordinate priorities and workflows for multiple class-year cohorts.
• Surpass expectations for donors, volunteers, and university partners.
• Provide ongoing volunteer support and ensure tools and resources are available.
• Design, automate, and lead process strategies to meet operational demands.
• Track activity with dashboards and reports for donor and volunteer pipeline progress.

Skills

Data analysis

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Detail orientation

Time management

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Access

Airtable

ThruText

Marketo

Job description

Title:Project Manager, Class Giving

Main Work Location:Historic Main Campus

Schedule:Hybrid (at least 2 days a week on-site)

Budgeted Salary Range:The targeted pay range for this position is $93,000 to $96,000 per annum.

About Class Giving:

Reunion giving is a cherished tradition at Stanford University. Class Giving fosters the tradition of class connection and philanthropy through robust reunion campaigns, ranging from the 5th to the 70th reunions. Our frontline fundraising team works with undergraduate alumni to honor their time at Stanford and strengthen their lasting connection to the university through philanthropy. Working in concert with volunteers, donors and campus partners and leaders, OOD staff members strive to accelerate purposeful impact in the world. Stanford is committed to a donor-centric approach to development, and every member of the Office of Development plays a role in providing the university’s donors with the service and attention that ensures an exceptionally positive and fulfilling philanthropic experience.

Position Summary:

The Class Giving team is seeking a Project Manager (PM) to partner with our front-line fundraisers (Class Giving Officers) throughout the reunion campaign cycle. Covering annual, leadership, and major giving, the PM will be involved with prospect discovery, qualification, volunteer management, and stewardship.

This role supports high volume, high touch activities and deliverables to determine and execute on program needs. The Project Manager is a key partner to both fundraisers and volunteers, providing insightful guidance to meet goals, develop, and lead automated processes using tools like Airtable, ThruText, Marketo, and others.

This role works directly with undergraduate alumni, donors, volunteers, and staff to build and maintain relationships across the university community.

What We're Looking For:

• Strong data acumen and communication skills
• Creative, outside-the-box thinking
• A team player who looks out for colleagues and the program as a whole
• Customer service orientation — comfortable managing relationships with university partners, donors, and volunteers
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment
• A positive, can-do attitude with the flexibility to adapt as priorities shift
• A growth mindset and willingness to learn new processes and systems
• Familiarity with fundraising databases and tools (e.g. Airtable, Marketo, ThruText, AI) and prior experience in nonprofit or higher education a plus.

Areas of responsibility:

• Leadership: collaborating strategically with Class Giving Officers to ascertain needs and goals across the 18+ month reunion campaign cycle.
• Operations: coordinating priorities and workflows supporting reunion campaigns across multiple class-year cohorts.
• Partnerships: surpassing expectations for donors and alumni, as well as, volunteers, and university partners.
• Volunteer Support: in partnership with Class Giving Officers, providing ongoing support to volunteers once onboarded, ensuring they have the tools, information, and resources needed to carry out their roles effectively.
• Process Management: designing, automating, and leading effective process strategies to meet Class Giving's operational demands.
• Activity Management: operating and learning tracking models using dashboards and reports to manage volunteer and donor pipeline activities, gift tracking, and campaign progress across class years.

Responsibilities

Core Duties:

• Partner with gift officers, stewardship, marketing and eventplanning staff in the planning and implementation of donor cultivationand stewardship, alumni, and special recognition events.

• Draft and help prepare materials, including proposals, detaileddonor visit briefings for senior university leaders and faculty,background documents, gift acknowledgements and stewardshipmaterials.

• Track, analyze and report on fundraising progress against goalsand objectives for specific programs, as assigned.

• Provide recommendations to marketing and communications staff inthe writing and production of fundraising materials, includingspecialized appeals and other development communications.

• Provide development program reporting and analysis to supportfundraising strategies.

• Retrieve information about prospects and donors, manage datainput, and generate complex reports using the university externalrelations database.

• Troubleshoot gift and payment issues, ensuring accurate donorrecord keeping, and driving complex administrative issues toresolution.

• Track budget(s) and conduct financial projections fordepartment.

• Train and supervise the duties of event students, workers, andvolunteers.

Minimum Education andExperience

Bachelor’s degree and two years of relevant experience or combinationof education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Advanced ability with Microsoft Office suite.

• Proficiency with database systems, such as MicrosoftAccess.

• Strong data analysis skills including experience gathering,organizing and analyzing data, and communicating/presenting results andrecommendations in a succinct fashion to key stakeholders.

• Ability to work efficiently, juggle tasks simultaneously, meetdeadlines, and achieve goals.

• Excellent interpersonal skills, and ability to interact with awide range of people.

• Outstanding communication skills and exceptional attention todetail and follow-through.

• Ability to effectively communicate with both internal andexternal constituents.

• Demonstrate a commitment to fostering an inclusive workplaceculture where all employees feel valued, respected, andempowered.