Executive Director of Donor Relations
William & Mary
Williamsburg, VA
Internship
Management
Posted on March 17, 2023
The Executive Director of Donor Relations is a leader on the Principal Gifts and Gift Planning team in the Office of University Advancement at William & Mary.
The Executive Director reports to the Assistant Vice President of Principal Gifts and Gift Planning and is responsible for the leadership, strategic vision and oversight of all aspects of donor relations and stewardship at William & Mary. The Executive Director is a seasoned donor relations leader with demonstrated expertise in a broad range of areas, including donor cultivation and recognition, campaign fundraising and stewardship best practices, program building, strategic planning, gift administration and compliance, and project coordination. The Executive Director's duties include implementing strategies to enhance donor pipeline development, with particular emphasis on principal gift prospects, and executing best practices related to donor engagement and retention. The Executive Director will develop and manage a professional and administrative team responsible for cultivation and stewardship efforts that support annual, major, principal, deferred, corporate and foundation gifts as well as transformational investments in William & Mary.
The successful candidate will demonstrate an ability to collaborate with a diverse community of campus partners to deliver a high caliber donor experience for all university donors. An overview of duties includes:
- Lead the development, management, implementation, execution and evaluation of all donor relations programs, processes and systems, campus-wide - for individual schools, programs and units - to optimize the effectiveness of top donor and broad-based donor stewardship strategies.
- Serve as the primary architect of innovative strategies, policies and protocols for a comprehensive donor cultivation, recognition and stewardship program including relevant experience with campaign planning and execution.
- Develop and execute highly customized engagement plans or deliverables for individual donors in partnership with the Associate Vice President for Development, the Assistant Vice President of Principal Gifts and Gift Planning and the Executive Director of Strategic Events. This includes active management of the President and Vice President for University Advancement's portfolios, as well as development and execution of customizable donor stewardship plans for $1 million+ donors.
- Demonstrate institutional commitment to providing appropriate, meaningful information to donors and/or donor families about the use and impact of gifts.
The successful Executive Director of Donor Relations will be a proactive member of the development team, a champion for diversity and equity who will find innovative ways to incorporate diverse perspectives into all aspects of their work. This is a hybrid position based in Williamsburg, Virginia, that offers a flexible work environment.
Please review the full position description with all job duties under the "Featured Job Opportunities" on the University Advancement recruitment website: https://advancement.wm.edu/come-work-with-us/open-positions/index.php
Required:
- Bachelor's degree or the equivalent combination of education, professional experience and specialized expertise.
- Experience developing, managing, implementing, executing and evaluating donor relations and stewardship strategies, initiatives and programs (typically five or more years).
- A successful track record of using innovative, entrepreneurial and strategic approaches founded in fluency in donor relations best practices related to relationship management strategies and technologies, pipeline development, campaign tactics, donor communications and events experience.
- Experience successfully managing people, programs and resources with a strong leadership principles in a highly matrixed organization (typically five or more years).
- Demonstrated skills in analysis and problem-solving, as well as strategic goal setting, business planning and successful implementation of new programs or services
- Effective strategic planning experience with the ability to quantify measurable short and long-range goals.
- Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills, with the ability to work effectively with a diverse audience and a diverse community of internal stakeholders.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness, including, but not limited to, collaboration, staffing and programming.
Preferred:
- Advanced degree
- A successful track record leading a donor relations team and whole pyramid stewardship strategies at a major university in a complex, decentralized environment (typically five or more years).
- An in depth understanding of best practices in donor relations and stewardship including analysis, assessment and evaluation along with knowledge and understanding of gift compliance, reporting, administration and campaign best practices.
- Experience in integrated media communications.