What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship position at ADVIS; limited?

Description

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Summary : The Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship provides strategic leadership for a comprehensive donor relations program at The Lawrenceville School. This role oversees planning and executing high-profile donor recognition events, including building dedications and celebrations of named spaces, while ensuring meaningful engagement through personalized communications, impactful stewardship activities, and robust reporting on endowed funds. The Director serves as the primary liaison with the Scholarship Aid Office to coordinate donor interactions and reporting related to scholarships. Collaborating with campus partners and senior leadership, the Director fosters deeper connections between donors and the School, recognizing and celebrating philanthropic contributions in ways that inspire continued support.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities :

Stewardship and Donor Relations :

Develops programming and strategy to guide the overall efforts of the donor relations and stewardship team, in accordance with industry best practices.
Maintains and suggests updates to the criteria for special acknowledgement letters based on giving levels and special volunteer roles.
Prepares annual reports for leadership donors on behalf of the Head of School and Assistant Head of School / Director of Advancement.
Works with the Comptroller’s Office on financial reporting, including the designation of endowment funds.
In partnership with the Accountant (Controller’s Office) and campus partners, tracks spending against endowed funds to accurately report the impact of gifts, including : scholarship aid, teaching chairs, book funds, faculty and student prizes.
Coordinates student letters of appreciation with the Office of Financial Aid and current scholars for mailings to donors.
Collects letters of appreciation from teaching chair recipients on an annual basis. Reports on School prize fund winners to associated donors.
Works with School senior leadership, including the Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, and Dean of Athletics and Co-Curricular Education, to ensure clear and open lines of communication regarding the impact of donors’ gifts.

Strategic Initiatives :

Manages a selected stewardship caseload of high capacity donors to appropriately recognize and engage some of Lawrenceville’s most loyal donors.

Leads strategic initiatives to increase engagement and philanthropic opportunities with Lawrenceville’s philanthropic community and other high-level strategic initiatives as assigned.

Creates personalized yearly stewardship plans for the School’s most generous donors, defined as those who have given $1M or more to Lawrenceville. Executes on all aspects of these plans, in conjunction with frontline fundraisers.

Works closely with assigned Leadership Gifts Officers to identify potential stewardship opportunities for both current donors and those nearing the $1M threshold. Reviews donors in the stewardship cycle and suggests opportunities to advance gift conversations.

Ensures that donor reporting to this constituent group is delivered in a thorough, personalized, and timely way, coordinating with campus partners as appropriate.

Creatively identifies opportunities to engage lead donors in areas of interest e.g., video thank you, personal tour, School news article, Zoom call with a program administrator. Executes all aspects of these opportunities, in the medium required (print, email, video, etc.).

Supervises the work of the Administrative Assistant, Donor Relations and Stewardship, which includes :

Accurate production of special acknowledgment reports and letters, coordinating with the wider Alumni & Development team for feedback and comments to personalize these communications.

Production of other personal letters, reports, and emails to select donors, including condolence notes, on behalf of the Chief Advancement Officer and Head of School special acknowledgements.

Executing key donor recognition events including the Sixth Form Dinner, Trustees Emeriti Dinner, Weeden Lecture, as well as groundbreakings and building dedications.

The purchase and placement of all donor recognition gifts and plaques.

Preparing annual reports for endowed fund donors, approximately 400 in total. Following up on the annual mailing with scholarship letters of appreciation, letters of appreciation from teaching chairs, as well as prize fund recipients.

Maintaining the upkeep of stewardship data in the donor database system, including running routine audits of data related to endowment reporting. Ensuring coordination with the Finance Office on endowed fund records through the shared database Fundriver.

Managing vendor relationships and assisting with the execution of a variety of donor gifts.

Other special projects as assigned.

Requirements :

Bachelor’s degree required.

Minimum of 3-5 years’ related experience in stewardship, communications, alumni relations, or related field highly preferred.

Previous experience implementing and using digital endowment reporting software such as Overture or Impact highly preferred.

Excellent writing and organizational skills.

Clear, concise, and approachable communication skills.

Experience working with one or more donor databases preferred.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and Google Software.

Must be highly motivated, self-directed and achievement-oriented, and show a fine attention to detail.

Must work well with donors, colleagues, and other constituents; comfortable working alone and with others.

Must have availability to work some nights and weekends.

The Lawrenceville School is a diverse and inclusive community and makes all employment decisions without regard for an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, national origin, nationality, sex, pregnancy, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability (including AIDS and HIV related illness), genetic information, refusal to provide genetic information, refusal to submit to genetic testing, ancestry, familial status, marital status, domestic partnership status, civil union status, atypical cellular or blood trait, military service, application for military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. The Lawrenceville School will also provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals in accordance with applicable law.

The Lawrenceville School conducts pre-employment screening for all positions which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

Eligible employees receive a competitive benefit package that includes health insurance coverage, paid leave and retirement plan options and many other valuable programs.

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