Job Summary:

The Director of Donor Relations supports TCU’s donor stewardship program by supervising the endowed fund and major and principal gift stewardship program, supervising the leadership gift acknowledgment program, and, as a member of the Donor Relations Management Team, collaborating on the development of overall strategic stewardship and engagement of TCU donors that also serves as cultivation for future philanthropic support. This role also leads TCU’s comprehensive donor-funded scholarship program.

Duties & Essential Job Functions:

1. Assists AVC for Donor Relations with overall strategic plan for best practice donor stewardship and engagement.
2. Assists AVC for Donor Relations with personalized stewardship/cultivation of major and principal donors.
3. Develops and manages a thoughtful and strategic endowed fund and major gift stewardship program that includes donor reports, experiences and other opportunities for recognition that serve as cultivation for future philanthropic gifts.
4. Annually reviews ROI and continuously seeks opportunities to implement best practices, including adequately planning for budgeted resources.
5. Manages daily operations of the Donor Relations Office by managing staff and departmental projects, establishing work procedures, standards and schedules, identifying opportunities to streamline processes and best utilize current technology, hiring, training and evaluating staff, and providing opportunities and accountability for professional development.
6. Collaborates with Donor Relations, University Advancement and other partners across campus to ensure a seamless donor experience related to stewardship efforts and fund management.
7. Leads intricate, cross-departmental impact and financial reporting processes supported by University Advancement’s CRM system; maintains donor, scholarship recipient and scholarship fund data; analyzes data for use in reporting and other communications.
8. Manages content development and donor report delivery in digital donor stewardship and engagement platform.
9. Oversees scholarship fund agreements by collaborating with and providing counsel to Development gift officers and other university partners during gift solicitation and closure and preparing documents with detailed information for specific gifts to be signed by donor(s) and administration; maintaining and tracking files for all endowed fund agreements and annually monitoring fund balances for unitization.
10. Supervises and administers the process of matching student scholarship recipients in partnership with the Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid; ensures donor intent is met.
11. Leads the creation and implementation of communication plans to notify and educate student scholarship recipients and recruits students’ partnership in donor stewardship efforts.
12. Supervises leadership gift acknowledgment process.
13. Manages the Clark Society Endowed Scholarship program, including coordination of the Scholarship Committee, marketing to and recruiting scholarship applicants, directing scholarship selection process and scholarship publications.
14. Supports the timely resolution of donor relations and stewardship-based inquiries through research, problem solving, and communication with Advancement staff members and on campus partners.
15. Assists with planning and implementing experiences for major gift, principal gift and endowment donors.
16. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Required Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree.
• 5 years of related experience in writing, fundraising, donor relations or program management, preferably in a higher education setting.

Preferred Education & Experience:

• Previous work in a higher education environment

Required Licensure/Certification/Specialized Training:

• None

Preferred Licensure, Certification, and/or Specialized Training:

• Demonstrated knowledge of the AP writing style.
• Proficiency in customer relationship software.
• Proficiency in project management tools and methods.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Knowledge of communication, presentation and interpersonal relationship techniques.
• Knowledge of strong organizational techniques with attention to detail.
• Knowledge of strong analytical techniques.
• Knowledge of AP writing style.
• Skill in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher, with Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including ability to manipulate and analyze.
• Skill in effective written and verbal communication and in drafting grammatically correct professional correspondence.
• Ability to interact with a variety of constituents.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously and work both independently and in a team environment.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality while working with sensitive information.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple, large, complex projects through to completion.
• Ability to learn navigation and data entry in a complex, enterprise-wide CRM system (Blackbaud CRM); experience with and ability to work within a digital donor engagement and stewardship platform (e.g. Ovrture); ability to navigate or learn emerging donor stewardship platforms (e.g. ThankView).

TCU Core Competencies:

University Core Competencies definitions may be found on the Human Resources website and in the staff performance management system.

Physical Requirements (With or Without Accommodations):

• Visual acuity to read information from computer screens, forms and other printed materials and information.
• Able to speak (enunciate) clearly in conversation and general communication.
• Hearing ability for verbal communication/conversation/responses via telephone, telephone systems, and face-to-face interactions.
• Manual dexterity for typing, writing, standing and reaching, flexibility, body movement for bending, crouching, walking, kneeling and prolonged sitting.
• Lifting and moving objects and equipment up to 10 lbs.

Work Environment:

• Work is indoors and sedentary and is subject to schedule changes and/or variable work hours.
• There are no harmful environmental conditions present for this job.
• The noise level in this work environment is usually moderate.
• Event support may be required on nights and weekends.
• This role is an on-campus, in-person position.

AA/EEO Statement:

As an AA/EEO employer, TCU recruits, hires, and promotes qualified persons in all job classifications without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ethnic origin, disability, genetic information, covered veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.