What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship position at The Lawrenceville School?
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.
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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 appropriates 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
Create 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
Work 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
Ensure that donor reporting to this constituent group is delivered in a thorough, personalized and timely way, coordinating with campus partners as appropriate
Creatively identify opportunities to engage lead donors in areas of interest eg., 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.
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