Sr. Assistant Director, Donor Relations

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The Senior Assistant Director, Donor Relations is a key member of the advancement team, responsible for managing stewardship programs aimed at retaining and upgrading donors to Emerson College. Reporting to the Director of Donor Relations & Stewardship, this role maintains core services while launching new initiatives. It requires strong organizational and communication skills to build and sustain long-term relationships with alumni, parents, and friends, encouraging continued support for Emerson’s strategic priorities.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

• Design and execute a donor acknowledgment strategy that provides timely, personalized, and meaningful recognition to donors at all levels. This includes crafting thank-you notes and videos, overseeing gift acknowledgment workflows, and ensuring all gifts are properly acknowledged in a variety of ways. Continuously assess and refine the acknowledgment process to enhance donor engagement, incorporating best practices and automation where applicable.
• Create and launch a student thank you initiative that actively engages students in expressing gratitude to donors, fostering a culture of philanthropy within the student body. Develop a strategy for integrating student participation, including handwritten notes, video messages, and social media engagement, and work to recruit and train student ambassadors who will take part in donor recognition efforts.
• Provide support for the annual fund reporting process by ensuring that all fund reports are tracked in the database and all funds are properly matched to interested parties (donors, faculty, leadership).
• Collaborate with all members of the Institutional Advancement team to develop stewardship communications, donor recognition collateral, and a new and thoughtful recognition program for the College's donors.
• Support all advancement events and operational needs as required, including all donor-related event activity, fulfill data entry and reporting requests, maintain accurate and up-to-date donor contact and biographical information, and document best practices for further enhancement of the College’s donor relations and stewardship programs.

QUALIFICATIONS – Qualifications are deemed required or preferred and represent what is needed to effectively perform the job.

• A bachelor’s degree in a related field is required
• 2-4 years of experience in donor relations, advancement/development, non-profit administration, or alumni relations (or a closely related field) required
• Direct experience in higher education is required
• Proven track record in effectively working with a broad range of internal and external constituents, including faculty, staff, students, and donor constituents required
• Demonstrated experience handling confidential and/or sensitive information required
• Demonstrated experience working on multiple projects and meeting deadlines required

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES – This may be representative but not all-inclusive of the knowledge, skills, and abilities commonly associated with the job. 

• Demonstrated project management skills, ability to work independently, and attention to detail and follow-through are essential
• Exceptional organizational skills, including demonstrated ability to effectively handle multiple tasks while paying close attention to detail
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; creativity, initiative, and independence in carrying out responsibilities; demonstrated planning and teamwork
• Direct experience with Raiser’s Edge NXT and proficient knowledge in Microsoft Office and Google Suite preferred
• Exceptional customer service competencies: developed active, reflective listening skills; capacity for creative problem-solving; can-do attitude
• Ability to lead and thrive in a fast-paced, fluid, entrepreneurial, and collaborative environment

PHYSICAL ABILITIES – Activities commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job. The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Requires the ability to effectively communicate in person and through communication media
• Requires the ability to lift and move objects that are light
• Requires the ability to lift and move ma