• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $85,000 to $95,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Senior Director, Development Operations and Alumni Engagement at Columbia Engineering the Associate Director for Donor Relations and Stewardship is responsible for leading a portfolio of donor relations and stewardship efforts for Engineering Development and Alumni Relations, including reporting, communications programs, giving societies, and events.

Responsibilities

(60%) Lead a portfolio of Donor Relations and Stewardship Programs primarily focused on principal and major gifts in partnership with senior leaders and fundraisers, including strategic planning, writing and developing creative content, distribution of annual reporting, managing mass mailings, maintaining a stewardship tracking system, and managing occasional event planning.

• Manage and grow program for principal and major gifts reporting, focused on reports and individual communication to donors for specific high-level gifts, such as school-wide awards and prizes, stewardship reports on unique endowed gifts, and principal gifts where special and customized reporting is required.
  Work closely with senior team members on the development of principal gifts and campaign-related donor relations programs, including educational materials, acknowledgments, events, etc.
  Coordinate the internal approval process to establish new professorships partnering with SEAS Finance, HR, and relevant fundraisers.
  Maintain records of donor touchpoints in a timely manner.
  May provide support for other stewardship processes including donor acknowledgment programs; annual reporting on scholarships, fellowships, and internships; the annual Columbia Engineering Scholarship and Fellowship event and the Archimedes Society Lecture & Dinner; donor recognition societies.

 (20%) Liaison for Engineering faculty-sourced gifts

• Act as the primary liaison between the Donor Relations and Stewardship team and department administrators and faculty engaged in the gifts process, including drafting gift agreements; coordinating internal review processes and in some cases, facilitating gift agreement negotiations between donors and Gift Strategy; working with colleagues within departments, Finance, and other relevant teams to ensure gifts are set-up, received, and processed as needed; providing regular updates and education on development processes and serving as a general resource for development questions from department assistants and faculty.

(10%) Support Development Communications Programs

• Support development communications initiatives for the Engineering Development and Alumni Relations team in partnership with senior leadership. Examples include campaign marketing and solicitation materials, or strategic outreach to donors in connection with milestone events throughout the year. e.g. board meetings, alumni weekend, homecoming, special events, etc.
• May collaborate with senior gift officers to write proposals for key fundraising priorities at Columbia Engineering.

 (5%)

• Represent EDAR at appropriate University-wide donor relations, stewardship, and development communications planning and benchmarking meetings.
• Ensure that all development and alumni relations officers are apprised of best practices in donor relations and stewardship activity.
• Work closely and collaboratively with other members of the Donor Relations and Stewardship team to ensure team-wide knowledge of stewardship and donor relations programs.
• May directly supervise part-time student workers who assist with donor relations, stewardship, and development communications work.

(5%) Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelors??? degree and a minimum of 3-5 years related experience is required. 

• Exceptionally strong written communication skills, preferably with a demonstrated track record of strategic donor communications experience in the university or non-profit sectors. Effective project management skills and the ability to manage multiple project streams simultaneously. Strong verbal communication skills, editing and proofreading proficiency are required, as well as the proven ability to work independently.

• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills are essential. Experience working with academic departments is preferred.

• Knowledge of fundraising and alumni relations processes, especially in the area of major gifts cultivation, is preferred. Experience with design programs such as Adobe or Canva is helpful but not required. Experience partnering laterally across teams in a major, complex organization like Columbia University is preferred.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

Connections working at Columbia University