The Director of Donor Relations oversees stewardship strategies that effectively demonstrate the impact of philanthropy at Davidson College. The Director is charged with ensuring funds are expended according to donor directions, that acknowledgments are timely and personal, and that leadership donors receive additional stewardship touches as needed. Strong collaboration with senior leadership, fundraisers, and fund managers is essential. The position reports to the Associate Vice President for Engagement and serves as a member of cross-campus oversight committees for restricted purpose funds.

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership and Strategy: The Director will create and implement a comprehensive stewardship and donor communication plan for Davidson College and lead efforts to acknowledge donors and demonstrate the impact of their philanthropy on campus and beyond. This person develops metrics, evaluates strategies, and introduces new programs as necessary to improve the donor experience. 

2. Acknowledgment and Stewardship: The Director offers strategic oversight of the donor acknowledgment and recognition processes. These efforts ensure the timely and personal acknowledgment of donors at all giving levels and the development of targeted donor stewardship including in-person meetings, video acknowledgments and reflections, donor reporting, and other expressions of gratitude. This work also includes supervisory support for donor recognition including the Ne Ultra and Fideles giving societies and the physical donor recognition on Davidson’s campus (signage, communications, design, and installation).

3. Fund Management and Reporting: The Director will work with the Donor Relations team to create gift agreements, establish funds, and maintain donor documentation. This position works with cross-campus partners to ensure funds, including scholarships, are spent in accordance with donor intent and in a timely manner, monitors fund balances, and utilization.

4. Management: The Director supervises and mentors a team of four including a Senior Stewardship Advisor, Associate and Assistant Directors and an Administrative Assistant. The Director hires, evaluates, and encourages the professional development of the DR team. This position also manages the department’s operational budget.

5. Engagement and Collaboration: The Director works with College Relations and cross-campus partners to foster a culture of philanthropy including in-person events, the college’s annual week of gratitude (‘Cats Say Thanks), and multiple annual donor stewardship events. The Donor Relations team plans annual Board of Visitors events including the nominations process, annual meeting, communications, and event planning. 

6. The position will also include special projects as assigned and require staffing of Donor Relations and College Relations events from time to time. The Director of Donor Relations reports to the Associate Vice President of Engagement.

Minimum Qualifications     

Bachelor's degree (Relevant experience will be considered in lieu of a Bachelor's degree)

Preferred Qualifications      

Direct experience in donor relations or frontline fundraising

Prior management responsibilities

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The College Relations leadership team at Davidson College strives to advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In practice, that means doing our part to hire, grow, retain, and reward great employees from diverse cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, national origins, socio-economic backgrounds, and abilities. This is really important to our team, and we hope it’s important to you as well. 

Compensation and Benefits

College Relations is committed to salary transparency in the hiring process as a characteristic of an inclusive organization. Our salaries are benchmarked to national liberal arts colleges and regional colleges and universities. The position hiring manager is happy to discuss our salary benchmarks at any stage of the interview process. Davidson College also offers numerous other benefits as an employer, including: 

• 4 weeks of vacation in your first year, plus College holidays.
• Health insurance.
• A 403(b) retirement plan to which the college contributes at least 8.5% of your salary.
• Tuition assistance for employees and their dependents, after 7 years of continuous full-time employment.
• See https://www.davidson.edu/offices-and-services/human-resources for details.

Flexible Work Location

Davidson College Relations has a flexible work location program in line with the College’s telecommuting policy. This position is eligible for partial flexibility in work location, during non-event days, as determined with the position’s manager and reviewed regularly through our performance management processes. Candidates should expect to maintain a residence within commuting distance of the Charlotte metro area. An initial campus orientation period (of several weeks to months) worked from the office may be required. This policy is reviewed periodically. 

Information about how to submit an application can be found at https://employment.davidson.edu.

At Davidson College, we believe the college grows stronger by recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty and staff committed to building an inclusive community.  In order to achieve and sustain educational excellence, we seek to hire talented faculty and staff across the intersections of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, political perspectives, abilities, cultures, and national origins.