The Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations leads stewardship efforts for high-level annual fund donors, endowed and estate gifts. This role collaborates with major gift officers and donors to create personalized stewardship plans, donor recognition initiatives, and tailored touchpoints. Ensure gift funds align with donor intent, track stewardship metrics, and produce the university’s annual impact report for unrestricted giving. With creative autonomy, this role develops donor stories, personalized communications, compelling proposals and impact reports to support fundraising efforts. As a front-facing partner to donors, the Director conducts interviews, shares donor stories, supports solicitations, and collaborates with the Director of Advancement Communications to craft strategic gift announcements and donor communications that strengthen engagement and inspire giving.  This is a full time, benefits-eligible, on-campus position. Generous benefits include health, retirement, considerable time off and tuition assistance.

Responsibilities:

• Lead efforts to enhance donor satisfaction and strengthen long-term philanthropic relationships through innovative and personalized stewardship strategies; collaborate with major gift officers and other Advancement staff to create strategic, personalized stewardship plans and outreach for key donors; develop an effective, compelling impact report for the Wesleyan Fund that shows the benefits of donor funds; facilitate connections between donors and fund beneficiaries, such as students and faculty; maintain and revise stewardship plans to appropriately maintain strong donor relationships with institution; serve as supervisor of Stewardship and Donor Relations Coordinator

• Drive impactful donor engagement and recognition through strategic communication, targeted outreach initiatives, and events; develop and execute strategies to engage, thank, and retain donors through diverse communication channels; analyze donor audiences to optimize mass stewardship communications; collaborate on donor recognition efforts in print and web publications with Advancement Communications; develop compelling proposals and impact reports to engage donors along their entire giving journey; execute stewardship events such as scholarship receptions, donor appreciation celebrations, and capital project groundbreaking and anniversary events

• Collaborate across departments to effectively manage gift funds, ensure donor intent is honored, and maintain accurate records for seamless reporting and engagement; facilitate meaningful connections between donors and fund beneficiaries; ensure fund management aligns with donor intent and institutional priorities in collaboration with major gift officers; maintain accurate fund records within the donor database to ensure compliance and streamlined reporting; partner with campus units and departments to manage gift funds and provide thorough donor reporting

• Develop and optimize systems and metrics to ensure efficient, impactful, and data-driven donor stewardship practices; establish and refine processes for acknowledging key donor groups; design metrics and workflows to monitor and improve stewardship efficiency; evaluate and report on stewardship outcomes to measure impact and inform continuous improvement efforts

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in communications, public relations, marketing or related field
• Five years’ related experience; knowledge of philanthropy, within higher education or comparable setting, in development, stewardship, advancement services
• Commitment to engage with colleagues and alumni in ways that actively foster a diverse and inclusive environment
• Strong analytical skills including the ability to recognize trends from qualitative and quantitative data
• Protection of confidential donor, volunteer, employee and program elements is essential
• Travel as needed

Application Information:

Please download the application at www.iwu.edu/human-resources/job-openings/.  Feel free to include a cover letter, resume and contact information for three professional references. Review of applications will begin immediately and the position is open until filled.  

Email:  hr@iwu.edu

Illinois Wesleyan University
Human Resources, Holmes 209
1312 N. Park Street
Bloomington, IL  61701
Fax:  309-556-1710

Salary $65-70k, based on experience

The final candidate will pass a pre-employment background investigation.

An overview of IWU benefits can be found here. Illinois Wesleyan University does not sponsor work visas at the time of hire or anytime during employment for this position. All persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and maintain work authorization throughout the employment term.

Illinois Wesleyan University is committed to recruiting, supporting, and fostering a diverse, inclusive, and civil community of outstanding faculty, staff, and students. We seek candidates who have a demonstrated commitment to supporting and further building our community in these dimensions. Illinois Wesleyan University is an EEO Employer.  Illinois Wesleyan University’s sexual misconduct policy may be accessed at www.iwu.edu/human-resources/SexualMisconductPolicy.html.  Illinois Wesleyan University is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusive excellence; details at www.iwu.edu/diversity.

Travel as needed

About Illinois Wesleyan University

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