Senior Associate Director of Donor Relations Santa Clara University

Ajcunet; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 144,000; Full time

Job summary

Santa Clara University is seeking a Senior Associate Director of Donor Relations to lead a team producing donor communications and proposals. The role involves crafting persuasive narratives, managing staff, and coordinating with institutional giving, alumni relations, and marketing for fundraising campaigns.

The position emphasizes strategic storytelling, timely deliverables, and collaboration across departments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Eight to ten years of professional experience as a proposal writer in a development setting.
• Impeccable writing, editing, copyediting, and proofreading abilities.
• Experience managing staff and budgeting.
• Ability to train staff on writing tasks to ensure workflow continuity.
• Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage the Associate Director of Donor Relations and the Assistant Director of Donor Communications.
• Lead proposals and cases for support for gifts $100k+, Annual Giving appeals and stewardship.
• Provide internal/external communications support to the Institutional Giving team.
• Develop donor content and storytelling for marketing and alumni relations.
• Ensure timely production of donor acknowledgments and executive communications.

Skills

Persuasive writing

Storytelling

Staff management

Editing/proofreading

Interviewing skills

Time management

Discretion

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Adobe InDesign

Illustrator

Photoshop

Canva

Blackbaud CRM

Microsoft Office

Google Workspace

Job description

Senior Associate Director of Donor Relations

Position Title:

Senior Associate Director of Donor Relations

Position Type:

Regular

Hiring Range:

$115,200.00 – $143,987.00 per year. Compensation will be based on education, experience, skills relevant to the role, and internal equity.

Pay Frequency:

Annual

OVERVIEW

University Relations (UR) builds Santa Clara University’s excellence and character by strengthening relations with alumni, parents, and friends of the University, raising public awareness, and increasing private philanthropy, which supports the University’s growth and reputation.

The Office of Donor Relations within UR helps nurture lasting relationships between the University and those who support the institution with private gifts. Donor Relations develops content for frontline fundraisers that inspires philanthropic investment, and is an active advocate for donor interests. The team fosters the relationship between the University and its donors through proposal writing, gift acceptance and management, acknowledgement, recognition, donor/volunteer engagement, and reporting.

A. POSITION PURPOSE

Santa Clara University is seeking a talented and experienced Sr. Associate Director of Donor Relations to develop communications that support fundraising and campaign goals. This individual will manage the Associate Director of Donor Relations and the Assistant Director of Donor Communications. This team will deliver:

• Proposals and cases to support philanthropic investment
• Internal and external communications assistance to the Institutional Giving team
• Content for University Marketing and Communications (UMC) storytelling and Alumni Relations teams
• Appeals and stewardship collateral for the Annual Giving’s gift acknowledgments and executive communications (for UR VP and president’s office as needed)
• Select donor stewardship pieces

Reporting to the Director of Donor Relations, this position requires a thoughtful, proactive, and motivated professional with a proven track record in storytelling and persuasive writing, employee management and training, as well as project management, preferably in a development setting. The Sr. Associate Director will be responsible for managing and prioritizing a pipeline of writing requests from a team of major, parent, principal, and gift planning officers, and telling the story of SCU to engage philanthropic prospects and donors.

The successful candidate will be a donor-informed writer/editor, with expertise in strategic communications and an ability to leverage print and digital content platforms. They will gather the facts needed to create compelling and customized donor content and train/encourage/inspire staff to create sophisticated donor collateral.

This position is eligible for a flexible work schedule: hybrid – work from the office and home.

B. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Functional Area

• Manages the Associate Director of Donor Relations and the Assistant Director of Donor Communications.
• Responsible for proposals and cases for support for gift prospects of $100k+, Annual Giving appeals and stewardship, donor stories and profiles, Institutional Giving internal/external communications support, donor stewardship reports for select major/principal donors, and the timely production of presidential and UR VP gift acknowledgements and general correspondence.
• Works closely with the Director of Donor Relations to set department goals and strategies to achieve and evaluate them.
• Performs independent research and/or conducts interviews with subject matter experts on campus to inform content under tight deadlines.
• Utilizes basic design skills/technology and outside contractors as needed to present visually compelling formats for proposals and cases for support.
• Mentors and provides resources to cross-train donor relations staff and creates guidelines and instruction manuals as needed.
• Responsible for determining cost-effective outside resources and training to ensure professional development and expand editorial skills (especially donor features and appeal writing) of staff.
• Manages the flow and priority of all writing requests.
• Incorporates feedback and manages reviews by various internal and external clients.
• Delivers drafts and final products on time.
• Ensures tone and style are consistent with SCU brand and style guidelines, and collaborates with UMC as needed.
• Ensures editorial quality, accuracy and consistency of all materials produced.
• Participates as an active member of the Office of Development, sharing information and collaborating with colleagues in a respectful and professional manner; contributing to a healthy and positive work environment.
• Actively engages in Santa Clara’s mission and campus community to effectively tell SCU’s story by regularly participating in activities on campus including donor and alumni events, Convocation and other annual faculty/staff/student activities, and other academic seminars, lectures, or SCU athletic events.
• Performs other duties as assigned in support of Santa Clara University’s mission.

C. QUALIFICATIONS

The items below are representative of the knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and experience required or preferred.

This position requires the ability to effectively establish and maintain cooperative working relationships within a diverse multicultural environment.

1. Knowledge

• Direct knowledge of persuasive storytelling and advancement communications trends, preferably in a development setting.
• Knowledge of higher education advancement preferred.
• Understanding and appreciation of the mission of Santa Clara University and the vision and values of a Jesuit Catholic educational institution.
• Experience managing staff, performing performance evaluations, and budgeting.
• Impeccable writing, editing, copyediting, and proofreading abilities.
• Experience working with creative teams, including contractors.

2. Skills

• Must possess experience in persuasive writing, including writing highly-customized pieces for high-level donors.
• Experience leading interviews and conducting individual research to tell a dynamic story.
• Must be able to train staff on a variety of writing tasks to ensure workflow continuity, such as interviewing skills, determining an angle, developing a consistent narrative/on-brand voice, working with technical content, writing in a donor-centered style.
• Flexibility in writing style, from personal and emotional communications to rational and fact-driven case statements.
• Ability to manage time and workload to achieve goals in a deadline driven environment.
• Must be a self-motivated individual who can demonstrate accountability, initiative, creativity, and focus in a rapidly changing and intellectually stimulating environment.
• Excellent technological skills: particularly Microsoft Office and Google software tools; database and web resources; and design and editing tools such as Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, and Canva. Knowledge of Blackbaud CRM database a plus. Willingness to learn new software as needed.

3. Abilities

• A high level of comfort working and communicating with a wide range of University leadership, staff, and faculty.
• Genuine appetite to contribute to a collaborative, ethical, and professional team environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to lead, collaborate, build alliances, and achieve results within a population that may possess competing interests, opinions, and /or expectations.
• Focused on confidentiality and discretion both as relates to donor information and sensitive information in the office.
• Active listening skills and ability to negotiate positive outcomes.
• Positive attitude, sense of humor, and flexibility.

4. Education

• Bachelor’s degree required.

5. Years of Experience

• Eight to ten years of professional experience as a proposal writer in a development setting, or equivalent years of transferable writing experience from other settings.

F. PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, the California Fair Employment & Housing Act, and all other applicable laws, SCU provides reasonable accommodations for qualified persons with disabilities. A qualified individual is a person who meets skill, experience, education, or other requirements of the position, and who can perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Considerable time is spent at a desk using a computer and phone.
• Required to travel to other buildings on the campus.

May be required to attend conference and training sessions within Bay Area or in-state or out-of-state locations.

G. WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described below are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

• Typical office environment.
• Mostly indoor office environment with windows.
• Offices with equipment noise.
• Offices with frequent interruptions.

Telecommute

Santa Clara University is registered to do business in the following states: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Illinois. Employees approved to telecommute are required to perform their work within one of these states.

EEO Statement

Equal Opportunity/Notice of Nondiscrimination

Santa Clara University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, marital status, parental status, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy or related conditions, reproductive health decision making, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. For a complete copy of Santa Clara University’s equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policies, please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX website at https://www.scu.edu/title-ix/.

Clery Notice of Availability

Santa Clara University annually collects information about campus crimes and other reportable incidents in accordance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. To view the Santa Clara University report, please visit the Campus Safety Services website. To request a paper copy please call Campus Safety at [phone]. The report includes the type of crime, venue, and number of occurrences.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Consistent with its obligations under the law, Santa Clara University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants who wish to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact the Department of Human Resources ADA Team at [e-mail] or by phone at [phone]. Please note: This contact information is intended for accommodation requests only. Resumes or inquiries about application status sent to this inbox will not be reviewed or forwarded. For resumes or questions regarding application status, please contact [e-mail].