Duke Alumni Engagement and Development (AED) seeks to hire a stewardship coordinator to support programming related to institution-wide recognition for annual, consecutive, leadership, and cumulative giving donors. AED oversees centralized recognition of donors across the entire university and health system. The stewardship coordinator will assist with strategic communications and robust recognition activities that contribute to the university’s reputation for excellence and align with development priorities and fundraising goals. This individual will work in partnership with alumni and development staff to cultivate and steward new and existing relationships with donors through organized and structured programming. This position reports to the assistant director for donor engagement.

Job Responsibilities: 

Recognition Programming:

• Support the senior director of stewardship and the assistant director for donor engagement in the effort to create and manage robust recognition programs for donors to Duke’s Annual Funds, as well as leadership, cumulative, and consecutive (loyalty) donors.
• Assist with print and digital communications to both new and current giving society members, including welcome letters, mailing/emailing of recognition touchpoints, event invitations, and regular updates.
• Support efforts to recognize giving society members at major campus events like Homecoming and Reunion.
• Train on and manage tools like ThankView to conceive of creative ways to engage various donor audiences.
• Provide support at recognition events as needed.

Executive-level acknowledgments:

• In partnership with Principal Gifts, Major & Leadership Gifts, and the schools and units, compose acknowledgment letters for the senior university leadership (e.g. presidential thank you notes).
• Manage biweekly/monthly acknowledgment process through letter writing, data collection, and distribution.
• Work with gift officers to personalize communications and prioritize the executive’s time spent on acknowledgements.
• When needed, record information about acknowledgement letters in the prospect management system (called DADD).
• Maintain a system for archiving acknowledgment letters electronically.
• Respond to any special requests related to acknowledgements from gift officers.
• Help establish a process for any new acknowledgements needed for campaign specific initiatives, working with the executive’s communications staff to manage the process.

Special Recognition Stewardship:

• As part of the campaign planning phase, learn how to run reports to capture donors to major campaign areas to ensure accurate and timely donor recognition.
• Assist with any special stewardship programming needed in each campaign priority area.
• Partner with the stewardship reporting team to manage stewardship of expendable campaign funds.
• Provide administrative support for stewardship that recognizes key milestones, such as first time major gifts, anniversary consecutive giving, and non-philanthropic engagement such as board service.

Preferred Skills/Experience:

• Ability to maintain high degree of confidentiality and responsibility regarding information related to donors and the university.
• Strong customer service mentality.
• Attention to detail and the ability to prioritize and execute multiple projects under demanding deadlines.
• This position requires the ability to work occasional evenings and weekends for events and programs.
• Experience working within a CRM to manage donor information and data.
• Experience working in a complex environment and managing situations involving numerous and competing priorities.
• Ability to remain flexible and adaptable to fundraising trends, leadership direction, and donor needs
• Interest in learning best practices and partnering with colleagues to advocate for improvements across the development and alumni relations enterprise.

Behavioral Skills

• Collaborating with Others:  The willingness and ability to work with others to achieve shared success. Includes formal and informal collaborative efforts within one’s work group and across the organization.
• Attention to detail:  Creates a personal system for making sure details are not overlooked; double checks the accuracy of work. Provides information in a usable form and timely manner. Understands the importance of being consistent with documentation.
• Task Management:   Ability to create appropriate timelines, adjust them as needed, and set clear expectations.
• Planning, Prioritizing, and Multitasking:  The ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work; effectively manages multiple tasks or projects simultaneously.
• Curiosity and Information Seeking:  Ask probing questions to get to the root of a situation or task and eventually come up with their own system or habits to get information or training.

Minimum Qualifications: 

Education: 

Work requires communications, analytical and organizational skills normally acquired through completion of a bachelor’s degree program.

Experience: 

Work requires one year of experience in fundraising, alumni affairs, public relations, student activities, program administration or a related field to become familiar with activities involved in planning special events or programs.  OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.