Associate Director of Donor Relations & Scholarships

Position Summary*

Reporting to the Director of Development Communications and Donor Relations, the Associate Director, Donor Relations & Scholarships is responsible for the oversight of the donor acknowledgement process for gifts over $1,000; management of pledge tracking and reminders; oversight of the gift and endowment reporting process; strategy and implementation of the donor-relations aspects of the scholarship process across the University; and will work with Advancement Services leadership in the areas of fund analysis, fund administration, accountability and other donor relations/stewardship responsibilities for the SF State Foundation.
 

Position Information

Gift Acknowledgement and Stewardship
- In accordance with Advancement's stewardship plan and gift acknowledgement policies, manages the timely production of personalized gift acknowledgment letters for gifts of $1,000 and above.
- Identifies gifts that qualify for acknowledgement, crafting highly personalized letters and tracking their progress to ensure they are sent to donors in a timely manner and meet the University's stewardship standards
- Monitors non-annual fund pledges of $1,000 and above and produces pledge reminders according to an annual schedule as well as upon request.
- Produces all related donor financial information correspondence including payroll deduction letters and annual year- end tax letters for donors with cumulative giving of $5,000 or more in a calendar year
- Acts as a lead point person to respond to donor inquiries or assists Development officers in responding regarding the funds that donors have established.
- Partners with Development and Advancement Services staff to develop and implement policies and templates on gifts and pledges
- Collaborates with Development, Advancement Services and other university stakeholders to develop, execute and improve practices in reporting, acknowledgments and donor communications
- Preparing, periodically reviewing, and updating departmental processes and procedures as related to donor relations and stewardship best practices;
- Provides a high level of professionalism, responsiveness and customer service to internal and external constituencies;
- Stays current on donor relations and stewardship trends, strategies and services offered by other educational institutions and non-profits.

Scholarship Monitoring
- Proactively monitors and maintains donor and awardee-related information concerning Academic Works, the University’s scholarship management system, to ensure that the scholarship process is administered properly.
- Designs and implements an annual campus-wide training series on the scholarship management system in collaboration with the Office of Financial Aid
- Identifies and collaborates with administering faculty, staff and Directors of Development to resolve issues that may impact the timely awarding of funds
- Encourages and provides best practice options, templates, and other support to scholarship award administrators and relevant faculty to ensure that they are announcing and publicizing available awards.
- Confirms that the award has been given to recipient and that the donor has been acknowledged with a thank you letter from the awardee.
- Ensures awards are disbursed and acknowledged properly for scholarships that are not incorporated into the automated scholarship management system.
- Tracks and monitors the current status/fiscal health of the University’s numerous and rapidly expanding current use and endowed scholarship accounts. 
- Serves as a liaison between Development and other Advancement units (especially Advancement Services) and the Office of Financial Aid, University Corporation, department chairs and project directors.
- If a donor relations plan for a scholarship donor includes arranging personal interaction between a donor and awardees, assist the assigned Development colleagues with contact information and biographical information on awardees where available.
- Alerts the appropriate staff (project director, department office staff, et al.) to submit the necessary documentation (scholarship agreements, special project agreements, endowed fund agreements, etc.) to University Corporation, the SFSU Foundation and Financial Aid to establish and maintain scholarship accounts.
- Alerts fundraisers when recipients are selected, awards are made, thank you letters are sent, and which scholarship funds appear well-positioned for renewal or possible endowed funds to be solicited.
- Acts as a lead point person to ensure that all benefits appropriate to scholarship donors are implemented (e.g., recognition in event publications, impact reports, external publicity etc.)
- Directs the Post-Acceptance process for the Academic Works system and produces its related reporting, obtaining high quality collateral from recipients in advancement of stewardship goals for the purposes of timely reporting to donors, recognition of gifts and the elevation of departmental publications.
- Collects information on selected award recipients to share in donor reports and other donor relations recognition channels (e.g., donor e-news, annual report, development webpages, etc.)
- Ensures scholarship reporting is captured in the Advance database
- Partners closely with Alumni Association staff in the budgeting, publication and administration of its scholarship applications each spring.  Assists Alumni Association staff, in coordination with Development officers, to recruit/coordinate application readers from among the University's internal and external volunteers (some of whom are major donors and prospects).
- Collaborates closely with Special Events and/or Alumni Relations staff to ensure that scholarship-oriented recognition events where donors and awardees are recognized are of the highest quality and that all event publications and promotions are accurate, comprehensive and attractive; and that event programs are donor-oriented and engage as many students and scholarship volunteers (e.g. application readers) as possible.
- As appropriate, assists the staff and development officers managing College-based scholarship recognition events and other stewardship initiatives designed to deepen the relationship between donors and awardees, and increase donor support when possible.

Donor Service for SF State Foundation
- The Associate Director, Donor Relations & Scholarships will serve as the Foundation’s Associate Director for Scholarships & Donor Services. In this capacity, the incumbent will be responsible for the following:
- Overseeing the annual production of high quality endowment reports, ensuring these reports are captured in the Advance database
- Providing updates and analyses of donor-funded accounts, upon request or as scheduled. This will require substantial judgment in the analysis, interpretation and application of policies and procedures relating to endowment management and fund administration. 
- Partnering with Development Directors and Advancement Services and Operations personnel to develop gift agreements and MOU¿s that conform to policies instituted by the University and the CSU, in line with the  Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Fund Act (UPMIFA) and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
- Collaborating with project directors, departmental administrators and key staff at the Foundation and/or University Corporation to facilitate the prompt establishment of unique funds through appropriate documentation, including the Special Project Agreement and the Endowed Fund Agreement, and communicating the process to establish these funds to internal and external groups such as donors, Deans and other campus administrators.
- Monitoring philanthropically-funded accounts held by the Foundation to ensure that program directors are administering gifts in accordance with donor intent.
- Working with scholarship committees and department chairs to ensure that scholarships are being awarded in a timely manner and providing leadership/expertise on scholarship administration on behalf of the Foundation. Providing mid-year updates on endowment payouts to guide strategic planning at the college and department levels, as needed.
- Managing donor relations/stewardship for the Foundation, including generating annual donor endowment reports.
 

Minimum Qualifications*

- Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent experience
- Three to five years of experience in a non-profit fundraising environment, preferably in higher education (or a comparably complex organization) in development, stewardship, advancement services or related field.
- Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective relationships and interactions with high level internal and external individuals is essential.
- Demonstrated experience and ability to create and/or assist with maintaining, expanding and overseeing a comprehensive campus-wide scholarship management system with an emphasis on proactive major donor relations, acknowledgement and recognition plan.  
- Must have experience managing highly sensitive information with the highest level of confidentiality.
- Demonstrated proactive service-orientation toward internal and external constituents.  Excellent organizational, interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills are essential.
- Ability to understand and interpret financial data required. 
- Demonstrated ability to initiate and manage a gift acknowledgment system focused on writing and producing personalized letters and reports,   including the ability to compile and interpret financial data for donor and endowment reports. 
- A working knowledge of databases (preferably Advance/AWA), Microsoft Office, especially Excel, and ability to work in a PC/Network environment is necessary. 
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision is required. 
- Proven skills and ability to manage multi-phase projects from inception to completion, including the ability to build consensus among team members and balance multiple concurrent priorities.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Detail oriented, well organized, focused and goal-oriented, with a high level of initiative and energy.
- Adept at problem solving and using judgment in situations requiring independent initiative and tact.