Department
ARD Principal Gifts Stewardship
About the Department
Alumni Relations and Development (ARD) engages alumni (~220k), current students, parents, and friends of the University through intellectual, professional and social activities on campus, around the world and online. ARD raises $600 Million annually to support faculty and researchers, practitioners and patients, and students and programs across the University. Our work supports priorities in every division, school, department, and institute.
Job Summary
This position develops and implements programs with senior leadership and colleagues to lead a comprehensive University-wide donor relations program to enrich the relationship between donors and the University. Plans, organizes, and leads the donor program to recognize, steward, and cultivate individuals in meaningful ways and at different giving levels. This role implements programs to support central principal gifts stewardship and engagement to enrich the relationship between principal gift donors, donors who have cumulatively given $10M and above, and the University.
Responsibilities
- Contributes to the overall success of the comprehensive stewardship program to recognize, steward, and develop meaningful experiences for principal gift donors across the University.
- Assists in creation of annual narrative and financial reports, demonstrating donor impact through informative and engaging stewardship reports.
- Cultivates and maintains strong relationships with colleagues across the University, particularly with Leadership Engagement, Events, and relationship managers to closely partner on stewardship projects.
- Maintains thorough and timely records and tracks stewardship activity through proficient use of the University’s relationship database (Salesforce).
- Supports a portfolio of principal gift donors, capturing notable milestones and gift anniversaries.
- Crafts strategic, tailored engagement plans, including exploring, developing and executing new and creative ways to surprise and delight the University’s most generous donors beyond written reports.
- Represents the donor voice, participating in the planning and execution of stewardship events and experiences that are donor-centric, advancing overall fundraising goals, and are consistent and coordinated across the University.
- Engages with donors remotely and at visits, meetings, and events as needed.
- Demonstrates a sophisticated understanding within the areas of recognition, acknowledgements, donor engagement, and stewardship reporting.
- Assists in guiding the creation of University-wide standards on appropriate ways to recognize and steward the University’s most generous donors. Uses expertise in donor relations to develop policies and quality control guidelines.
- Educates and trains colleagues on policies and best practices through a variety of communication tools and vehicles, including written information, presentations, and staff training.
- Attends and participates in team, departmental, and all-staff meetings.
- Seeks opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance, including attending webinars, seminars, building networks within the University and with colleagues at peer institutions.
- Guides the creation of University-wide standards on appropriate ways to recognize and steward donors. Uses deep understanding in donor programs to develop policies and quality control guidelines for donor relations programs.
- Has a deep understanding within the areas of recognition, stewardship, acknowledgement, and proposal writing. Sets activity goals and develops the annual operating budget for donor related programs.
- Performs other related duties as needed or requested.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Certifications:
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Preferred Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor’s or advanced degree in non-profit management, business, project management, or communications.
Experience:
- A minimum of five years of professional work experience in nonprofit management, development, alumni relations, marketing, public relations or similar field.
- Familiarity with higher education advancement.
- Background managing complex projects.
Technical Skills or Knowledge:
- Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools available to the Office of Alumni Relations and Development, including the Salesforce, Microsoft Windows computer environment, Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.
- Working knowledge of fundraising, relationship management, and database software.
- Analyze, manipulate, and apply data from Excel.
Preferred Competencies
- Outstanding interpersonal, diplomatic, and communications skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, write, edit and proofread effectively. Explain complex ideas clearly and simply.
- Demonstrates customer (donor/fundraiser) focus with mastery of customer service skills.
- Manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
- Act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
- Work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting.
- Self-motivated and take initiative.
- Prioritize multiple projects and independently follow through with detail.
- Passionate about development work and a genuine interest in the ongoing affairs of the University and higher education.
Working Conditions
- This position has a hybrid work schedule which includes weekly in office presence.
- Standard office environment.
- Travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business.
- Work evenings and weekends as needed.
- This position is located in Hyde Park at 5235 South Harper Court.
Application Documents
- Resume/CV (required)
- Cover Letter addressed to the Hiring Committee (preferred)
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.
Job Family
Alumni Relations & Development
Role Impact
Individual Contributor
Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5
Drug Test Required
No
Health Screen Required
No
Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No
Pay Rate Type
Salary
FLSA Status
Exempt
Pay Range
$74,375.00 - $87,500.00
The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.
Benefits Eligible
Yes
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in theBenefits Guidebook.
Posting Statement
The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.
All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.
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