Assistant Director, Donor Relations and Development Communications

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) has built a global reputation based on its immersive and innovative management programs. We provide students a transformative leadership experience, pushing the boundaries of knowledge with faculty research, and offering a portfolio of entrepreneurial and non-degree programs that deliver global impact. We invite you to be part of our mission of developing innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change lives, change organizations, and change the world.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business seeks an Assistant Director, Donor Relations and Development Communications. The Assistant Director will work as part of a dynamic and collaborative team that is responsible for ensuring accurate, timely, and compelling recognition, stewardship, and communications for donors; and the coordination of related operational processes with the university Office of Development (OOD), GSB Finance, and other departments within the school.

The Assistant Director will manage stewardship programs designed to communicate with the university's donors, create and implement customized and comprehensive stewardship plans; and manage data and processes for producing donor communications deliverables.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to partner with the Development team to articulate and celebrate the impact of our programs, research initiatives, faculty, and students. You will illustrate the school's innovation, breakthrough knowledge, and teaching excellence to the school's donors.

This is a full-time position with the expectation of being onsite a minimum of two days per week.

Your primary responsibilities* include:

• Participate in defining the donor relations strategy for the GSB portfolio of donors in adherence to the university's donor relations guidelines. Ensure messaging aligns with GSB communications plans and strategic priorities. Identify key information, messages and topics.
• Develop and implement programs that provide comprehensive reporting to donors. Communicate donor relations plans across the OOD, GSB, and with partner teams.
• Establish and maintain strong partnerships with gift officers in order to maximize engagement for their portfolios of donors. Build complete understanding of each donor's involvement and giving activity.
• Oversee design and production of development materials from creation to deployment. Research, develop, execute and manage high profile written reporting on complex topics.
• Develop, compile and edit supplementary materials that support written communication (i.e., backgrounders, biographies, briefing materials and talking points, and other related materials).
• Responsible for the allocation of resources for donor relations reporting and donor relations requests. Conceptualize and ensure effective use of informational systems (e.g., donor database, financial reporting systems, Excel, Google Sheets) as powerful tools for data analysis and management of donor stewardship and communications deliverables.
• Execute fiduciary responsibility to ensure that gifts are awarded and utilized in accordance with donor expectations and university policy in a timely manner. Resolve discrepancies and escalate when needed.
  • Manage systems to analyze financial data and fund information in coordination with the university OOD and GSB Finance departments, university development operations, and legal departments to ensure accurate and timely use of funds and financial reporting to donors.
• Proactively monitor and manage the donor relations needs of donors. Build a complete understanding of each donor's involvement and giving activity.
• Coordinate with staff and development officers to develop and produce key donor relations deliverables, including written (hard copy, email or online content), video, and stewardship events.
• Manage vendors/consultants on specific projects and may oversee key vendor and consultant relationships.
• Set priorities for GSB donor relations functions and manage their overall effectiveness. Develop tracking methods for reporting of the team's overall productivity.
• Assess donor relations opportunities and track donor relations trends. Recommend donor relations improvements based on findings.

To be successful in this position, you will bring:

• Bachelor's degree and five years of relevant experience or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Strong client service orientation and attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and professionalism to interact with a wide range of people at different levels of an organization.
• Ability to clearly and credibly communicate a diverse array of topics.
• Ability to articulate progress and impact in a way that is understandable and meaningful to various constituencies.
• Demonstrated understanding of a wide variety of donor audiences.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to edit high-level correspondence.
• Demonstrated experience leading project teams.
• Proven ability to effectively and efficiently manage multiple priorities, with competing deadlines.
• Must be able to conduct research and ability to interpret information available in a database.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Tact, discretion, and experience handling confidential information.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite, Google Suite, and database applications.
• Demonstrated project management skills.
• Demonstrated sound judgment in situations requiring independent decision-making and in handling confidential and sensitive material.
• Ability to work a hybrid schedule.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends.

In addition, preferred requirements include:

• Familiarity with nonprofit fundraising, InDesign, Qwilr, advanced Excel, and Oracle Financials is preferred.
• Experience with databases for university fundraising is desirable (e.g., Salesforce).

The expected annualized pay range for this position at 100% FTE is $107,167 to $115,229 per year.

Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs.

At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package. The Cardinal at Work website (https://cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/benefits-rewards) provides detailed information on Stanford's extensive range of benefits and rewards offered to employees. Specifics about the rewards package for this position may be discussed during the hiring process.

Why Stanford is for You

Stanford's dedicated 16,000 staff come from a breadth of educational and career backgrounds. We are a collaborative environment that thrives on innovation and continuous improvement. At Stanford, we seek talent committed to excellence, driven to impact the future of our legacy, and improve lives on a global sphere. We provide competitive salaries, excellent health care and retirement plans, and a generous vacation policy, including additional time off during our winter closure. Our generous perks align with what matters to you:

• Freedom to grow. Take advantage of career development programs, tuition reimbursement, or audit a course. Join a TedTalk, film screening, or listen to a renowned author or leader discuss global issues.
• A caring culture. We understand the importance of your personal and family time and provide you access to wellness programs, child-care resources, parent education and consultation, elder care and caregiving support.
• A healthier you. We make wellness a priority by providing access to world-class exercise facilities. Climb our rock wall, or participate in one of hundreds of health or fitness classes.
• Discovery and fun. Visit campus gardens, trails, and museums.
• Enviable resources. We offer free commuter programs and ridesharing incentives. Enjoy discounts for computers, cell phones, recreation, travel, entertainment, and more!

We pride ourselves in being a culture that encourages and empowers you.

How to Apply

We invite you to apply for this position by clicking on the "Apply for Job" button. To be considered, please submit a cover letter and rsum along with your online application.

*The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.

Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact Stanford University Human Resources by submitting a contact form.

Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law