Donor Relations Assistant (Part-Time Hourly)

Thank you for your interest in working at William Paterson University.

Reporting to the Director of Donor Relations, the Donor Relations Assistant is responsible for supporting donor relations activities that steward and engage the University’s donors, to foster meaningful relationships. The Donor Relations Assistant works independently to provide comprehensive support for a complex fundraising and stewardship operation, with a focus on effectively acknowledging the University’s donors, supporting stewardship events, and drafting, editing, and proofreading correspondence, briefings, and reports.

We value our talented employees, and whenever possible strive to help people grow professionally before recruiting new talent to our open positions. If you think the open position you see is right for you, we encourage you to apply!

Our people make all the difference in our success.

We invite you to join William Paterson University: a wonderful community to learn, work, grow, and thrive. William Paterson University has been named to Forbes’ prestigious “Best Employers by State” list for 2024, recognizing the institution as one of the best-ranked employers in New Jersey based on nationwide surveys. WP is one of four education institutions on the Garden State’s list this year. Here is the link to the article forbes-best-in-state-employers-new-jersey-2024. William Paterson University is among more than 40 companies and organizations that will be honored with a 2024 NJBIZ Empowering Women Award for their commitment to supporting and elevating women employees.

William Paterson University employs approximately 1000 full time employees in the state who work in a variety of positions ranging from professors to administrative assistants and administrators, physical plant operations, campus police, athletics coaches, academic advisors, and more. William Paterson University supports a remote friendly hybrid work schedule for this role. William Paterson also boasts a four-day summer work week from mid-May to mid-August (Fridays off), during which all employees participate in our award-winning Summer Learning series.

Spanning more than 400 wooded acres in suburban Wayne, New Jersey – just 20 miles from New York City – our campus is one of the most diverse in the nation and it ranks in the top 4 percent of colleges for social mobility. William Paterson is a strong proponent of employees growing their careers there. More than fifty percent of the University’s roles are filled by promotions from within. We’re not only committed to social mobility for our students, but also for our employees.

Your work as a member of our team is important to our students and to the progress of our University. What you do here matters, and we value every contribution.

Reporting to the Director of Donor Relations, the Donor Relations Assistant is responsible for supporting donor relations activities that steward and engage the University’s donors, to foster meaningful relationships. The Donor Relations Assistant works independently to provide comprehensive support for a complex fundraising and stewardship operation, with a focus on effectively acknowledging the University’s donors, supporting stewardship events, and drafting, editing, and proofreading correspondence, briefings, and reports.

Major Duties and Responsibilities    

    Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Prepare donor acknowledgement letters and receipts, including drafting original writing and tailoring existing materials for specific audiences and in various voices (i.e., President, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Director of Donor Relations) in an accurate and timely manner, and assist with the preparation of other donor correspondence, stewardship materials, and mailings (i.e., pledge reminders, giving society mailings, holiday cards), as needed.
• Assist with the logistics for stewardship events, including pre- and post-event activities for the annual Donor Scholarship event, and with other Institutional Advancement division events (i.e., Legacy Gala, Golf Outing), as needed.
• Assist with the administration of the Donor Scholarship program.
• Perform other duties, as assigned, that are appropriate for the position.

                                                                                       

 Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university preferred. 
• At least two (2) years of professional experience in fundraising or in a similar environment exercising autonomous decision making and project management preferred.

Competencies/Skills Required