Director of Donor Relations

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Job Posting Title:

Director of Donor Relations

Job Description:

Title of Job: Director of Donor Relations

POSITION SUMMARY:

Reporting to the Assistant Vice President of Advancement Operations and Campaigns, the Director of Donor Relations is a strategic leader responsible for architecting a world-class donor experience.
 

This role bridges the gap between operations and front-facing engagement. As the College targets ambitious growth (targeting $25M+ annually), the Director will design the systems, data-driven workflows, and personalized stewardship frameworks necessary to sustain a high-velocity fundraising program. This role will lead the transition from traditional stewardship to a comprehensive donor experience model: ensuring every supporter feels the impact of their investment in our students and faculty.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Principal Donor Stewardship and Relationship Management

• Develop and execute individualized stewardship plans for the College's most significant donors at $1M+ ensuring each donor experiences a highly personalized and meaningful connection to Harvey Mudd College.

• Manage a portfolio of principal, major, and legacy donors in stewardship phases of the donor lifecycle. Conduct regular donor visits, campus meetings, virtual briefings, and strategic outreach designed to deepen engagement and strengthen long-term philanthropic relationships.

• Serve as the primary institutional relationship manager for select donors whose commitments have been fulfilled or are in active stewardship, maintaining momentum between solicitations and ensuring readiness for future philanthropic conversations.

• Design customized stewardship experiences that connect donors directly to the impact of their giving through faculty engagement, student interactions, research updates, campus visits, and special programs.

• Partner closely with Philanthropic Advisors to ensure seamless transitions between cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and renewed investment.

• Serve as a central point of coordination for select principal donors and families, ensuring a thoughtful, seamless, and highly personalized donor experience across the College.

Strategic Stewardship Planning and Donor Experience

• Lead the College's comprehensive stewardship strategy, creating differentiated engagement plans for annual, major, principal, and planned giving donors.

• Develop individualized stewardship roadmaps for the College's highest-priority donors, coordinating engagement opportunities across academic departments, leadership, students, trustees, and alumni.

• Create signature stewardship experiences that reflect Harvey Mudd's distinctive culture and demonstrate the impact of philanthropy on students, faculty, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

• Evaluate and enhance donor recognition programs, giving societies, and engagement opportunities to strengthen donor retention and long-term loyalty.

• Design and oversee a comprehensive acknowledgment strategy that ensures timely, personalized, and meaningful donor recognition at every level.

• Oversee strategic stewardship events and donor experiences, identifying opportunities for meaningful engagement that deepen donor connection to the mission and future of the College.

Campaign, Capital Project, and Naming Strategy

• Partner with Advancement leadership, campus stakeholders, and frontline fundraising staff to develop comprehensive stewardship and recognition strategies for major campaign initiatives, including capital projects, endowed programs, faculty positions, and transformational philanthropic investments.

• Contribute to campaign planning by establishing stewardship frameworks, donor recognition strategies, naming opportunity guidelines, and long-term engagement plans that support campaign success and donor retention.

• Lead the development and refinement of tiered stewardship models that define engagement, reporting, recognition, and experiential opportunities across donor segments, with particular emphasis on major, principal, campaign, and legacy donors.

• Oversee stewardship commitments associated with naming agreements and major gift commitments, ensuring recogni