Executive Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship

Executive Director, Donor Relations And Stewardship

Rice University has retained Lindauer, an executive search firm, to assist in this search. Consideration of candidates will continue until the position is filled. Candidates should submit, in confidence, a resume and cover letter. Communications, nominations, applications, and inquiries concerning this search should be directed to Raegan Harvey, Senior Consultant, rharvey@lindauerglobal.com, and Alex Barber, Senior Consultant, abarber@linduerglobal.com.

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name RICE Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

The Development and Alumni Relations Division (DAR) at Rice University seeks an experienced and creative leader for the position of Executive Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship. As an integral part of DAR, the Executive Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship works to foster lasting relationships between the university and its benefactors, promoting positive attitudes toward giving among current and prospective donors.

This position is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of a high performing, comprehensive, campus-wide donor relations program, in collaboration with the DAR Working Group and Leadership Teams. The position will focus on executing a comprehensive donor relations program designed to increase donor satisfaction and retention to drive fundraising growth; creating and maintaining a positive and professional relationship between the university and its donors, alumni, and constituents; collaborating with various DAR units to determine effective gift stewardship strategies; and elevating the overall giving experience.

The Executive Director, Donor Relations and Stewardship manages a staff of professionals with responsibilities for acknowledgments, impact and scholarship reporting, donor recognition, and principal gift donor engagement. This position provides recommendations to DAR and University leadership on stewardship and donor relations to develop strategic direction, determine priorities, and initiate and monitor the performance of efforts consistent with those priorities. The Executive Director, Donor Relations will provide data-informed recommendations to leadership and fundraisers about donor recognition and experiences, develop collaborative reporting approaches with fundraising teams, and work to ensure all donors experience gratitude and understand the impact of their giving. This position also has responsibility for conceptualizing and overseeing execution of initiatives that reach principal gift prospects and helps to elevate Rice's reputation among potential and existing donors.

The ideal candidate is a highly collaborative leader and strategic thinker with a demonstrated track record and the proven ability to create and implement a successful and effective large-scale program.

This position is offered as a hybrid role, combining both in-office and remote work to provide flexibility and support collaboration. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change. Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements :

• Bachelor's Degree with a major in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, and / or Business
• 5+ years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in professional and higher education fundraising, public relations, marketing, development of budgets, preparation and presentation of case statements, and analysis of operations

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