Donor Relations Associate Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

Texas Lutheran University invites applications for a full-time Director of Donor Relations and Advancement Services. This position reports to the Associate Vice President for Advancement Services. This position is responsible for creating, implementing, and leading a comprehensive donor stewardship program while providing strategic support for Advancement Services operations. Responsibilities include oversight and support of advancement systems, prospect research and management, reporting, records management, and stewardship initiatives that strengthen fundraising efforts across the university. Serving as the bridge between donor stewardship and advancement services, the Director collaborates closely with the Advancement Services team to ensure data integrity, support the effective use of advancement systems, and enhance the donor experience.

Responsibilities Include:

• Design, launch, and manage comprehensive stewardship and recognition programs for donors and volunteers at all giving levels.
• Establish and maintain policies, quality standards, and best practices for volunteer and donor recognition and stewardship.
• Collaborate with the President, senior leadership, faculty, staff, volunteers, and donors to achieve strategic objectives and deliver appropriate messages for all stewardship efforts.
• Revise and manage a stewardship communications program, including donor- and volunteer-focused publications that communicate the university's stewardship programs.
• Manage the production and distribution of annual stewardship reports to individual donors for ongoing donations, endowed funds such as scholarships and professorships, and major capital gifts to ensure consistency and quality, including the production of an annual honor roll of donors.
• Oversee the stewardship budget.
• Research, benchmark, and adopt industry best practices to strengthen TLU’s donor relations programs.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive system for tracking donor relations activities involving development officers, administrators, faculty, and staff.
• Maintain a prospect identification and research system that feeds new prospects into major gift and annual giving prospect portfolios.
• Identify pools of prospects through constituent list segmentation and analysis, electronic database screening, and peer/constituency screening and rating.
• Maintain a comprehensive prospect rating strategy.
• Maintain a reporting system for gift officers to reflect pipeline development and metric tracking.
• Work closely with the Development Services Coordinator on gift acknowledgments and correspondence.
• Participate actively in the Advancement Team, assisting in creating and carrying out the overall operational and strategic plans for the university.
• Serve as backup administrator for the Advancement database, providing technical support and ensuring operational continuity.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred.

• Minimum of two years of experience using a fundraising CRM required; knowledge of Jenzabar preferred.
• Experience in donor relations, stewardship, fundraising, or a related field required.
• Proficient in using the Microsoft Office Suite.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Experience in higher education in a development setting preferred.
• APRA membership or equivalent professional experience preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Creative, team-oriented, and constituent-focused.

• Ability to set priorities and manage several projects at once with minimal supervision.
• Resourceful and self-motivated.
• Understanding of and appreciation for the mission of a church-related university.

• Benefits are competitive.

Texas Lutheran University, an accredited university affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is located 35 miles from downtown San Antonio. For more information about TLU, consult our web site at www.tlu.edu.

This is the eleventh consecutive year TLU has been featured in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Other notable recognitions include TLU’s acknowledgment as a “Best Southwest” school by The Princeton Review. The University is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) and is also subject to the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA).