Associate Director of Donor Relations - College of Engineering

The Associate Director of Donor Relations for the College of Engineering is responsible for developing & implementing the comprehensive stewardship & donor relations program for the college. The Associate Director will collaborate with the central donor relations team to ensure the University’s most generous donors and volunteers are actively and intentionally connected to their giving, and by extension, the University and community at large.

Baton Rouge, LA

LSU Foundation

<p>The LSU Foundation is the primary fundraising entity for academics at LSU.&nbsp;The LSU Foundation's sole purpose to provide philanthropic support to LSU, which we accomplish through the work of a campus-wide team of frontline development officers and a support team of advancement services, communications and marketing, donor relations, financial and talent management personnel. &nbsp;</p> http://www.lsufoundation.org/jobs

keywords: responsibilities,support,acknowledgement,compliance,event management,engagement,analysis,research,liaise,degree,experience,knowledge,skills

Associate Director

Overview: The Associate Director of Donor Relations is responsible for developing and implementing the comprehensive stewardship and donor relations program for the college, including but not limited to: acknowledgment, reporting, fund management, recognition, engagement and retention efforts. The Associate Director will serve as a subject-matter expert and resource and collaborate with the central donor relations team to ensure the University&rsquo;s most generous donors and volunteers are actively and intentionally connected to their giving, and by extension, the University and community at large.
Responsibilities: <p><strong>Essential Duties &amp; Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Donor relations program coordination:</strong>&nbsp;Serve as main point of contact for all donor relations and stewardship initiatives in the College of Engineering. Implements a college-wide, comprehensive donor relations program to support donor recognition, engagement and retention. Build strong relationships with the dean&rsquo;s office and college&rsquo;s faculty and staff to assist with information sharing between the college and the LSU Foundation. Utilize the donor database to document stewardship strategy with donors. Serve as initial contact for donors to the college and help resolve problems, questions, and concerns.</li> <li><strong>Fulfill donor acknowledgment systems:&nbsp;</strong>Manage the college&rsquo;s donor acknowledgement process, ensuring acknowledgements are produced in a timely manner and that acknowledgement letters are relevant. Draft personalized Dean&rsquo;s acknowledgments and assists the central office with the customization of special acknowledgments and other donor correspondences from the President, Vice President and other leadership. Review special receipts, pledge reminders and correspondences sent with donor reports to ensure that donors are properly listed and personalized in a way that honors the donor&rsquo;s relationship with the institution. Oversee the student acknowledgment process by contacting student beneficiaries, editing letters and tracking the distribution of letters in Advance database.&nbsp;</li> <li><strong>Donor reporting &amp; fund review:</strong>&nbsp;Support the compliance program by tracking and reviewing current-use and endowed funds to ensure that funds are spent in accordance with donor intent. Assist the dean and department chairs toward the effective use of available resources. Collaborate with the college&rsquo;s scholarship administrators and budget managers as well as the Office of Financial Aid to obtain scholarship recipient data and faculty professorship and chair appointments. Respond to individual requests for information about endowed funds. Track relevant beneficiary data within Advance and communicate fund awarding to donors and fund stewardees. Research and gather impact information and fund usage from departments, staff and students to generate donor reports. Write, edit and prepare custom impact reports.</li> <li><strong>Support donor recognition programs:</strong>&nbsp;Maintain the annual donor relations event calendar for the college, managing scheduling, event requests, and coordination with frontline fundraisers. This includes scholarship recognition events, naming dedications, gift announcements and other donor recognition events. Plan and collaborate donor recognition and retention through giving societies. Solicit and prepare nominations for campus, college, and department alumni awards. Design, document and produce donor signage for named spaces as needed. Work with college and foundation communications teams to create press releases, recommend placement of donor stories in various publications and manage publicity preferences of donors. Coordinate recognition efforts with the central donor relations team to ensure a consistent donor experience.&nbsp;</li> <li><strong>Create ongoing engagement opportunities:</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;Work closely with major and principal gift officers identify and facilitate engagement opportunities and new initiatives to enhance donor experiences. Advance the college&rsquo;s pipeline of support by establishing a customized stewardship and engagement strategy for top donors. Create opportunities for engagement tailored to each prospect&rsquo;s interests, passions and philanthropic goals. Execute and document plans and modify tasks as circumstances change. Engagement activities include but are not limited to outreach in specific cities with events or individual visits from development personnel and deans, managing ticket requests for football, baseball and basketball tickets, overseeing periodic calls from leadership, faculty or other ongoing touchpoints to communicate gift impact and other strategies designed to further donor engagement.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Marginal Duties &amp; Responsibilities</strong>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Assist with management and engagement of the college&rsquo;s advisory boards and committees. Work with the development staff and dean to determine communications, events and other activities to&nbsp;</li> <li>Collaborate with Senior Director of Donor Relations in departmental strategic planning.&nbsp;</li> <li>Participates in and contributes to the University-wide Donor Relations Council.</li> <li>Follow the LSU Foundation&rsquo;s relationship management best practices model and coordinate appropriately with all fundraising agencies on campus.</li> <li>Complete projects/reports as requested.&nbsp;</li> </ul>
Requirements: <div class="job-listing-header"><strong>Requirements</strong></div> <div data-bind="html: Job.Requirements"> <ul> <li>Bachelor&rsquo;s degree and a minimum of 3 years of progressive experience in a development, nonprofit or university setting, with an emphasis in donor relations, stewardship or fundraising.&nbsp;</li> <li>Proven project management experience along with demonstrated analytical, strategic-thinking, adaptability, communication and relationship-building skills are essential.</li> <li>Working knowledge of databases such as Raiser&rsquo;s Edge, Advance or similar and proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, with an emphasis on Excel and PowerPoint.</li> <li>Exceptional written and oral communication skills and experience writing and producing fundraising and development communications.</li> <li>Must be extraordinarily organized, demonstrate a meticulous attention to detail, be able to work effectively in a team and juggle multiple and varied tasks simultaneously.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preferred Knowledge &amp; Skill Qualifications</strong>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Experience managing high-profile events.</li> <li>Master&rsquo;s degree and/or Certified Fund-raising Executive (CFRE) is desirable.&nbsp;</li> <li>Experience working on large and complex fundraising projects and multi-year capital campaigns&nbsp;</li> <li>Member of professional associations such as the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Association of Donor Relations Professionals, Association of Advancement Services Professional or Association of Fundraising Professionals.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Supervisory Responsibilities</strong>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>None associated with this position.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Work Environment Requirements</strong>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>May be required to work extended workdays, evenings or weekends at various times throughout the year to accommodate donor relations events or projects.&nbsp;</li> <li>Occasional travel, both local and overnight may be required for donor cultivation and stewardship events, as well as professional development conferences.&nbsp;</li> </ul> </div>