Donor Relations Officer

Job Description

Job Description

Department: Donor Relations

FLSA Status: Full-time Exempt

About the University of Hawai’i Foundation:

The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation was established in 1955 to encourage private support for the University of Hawaiʻi. Today it is the central fundraising organization for the UH System and is contracted by the Board of Regents to be the sole provider of fundraising and alumni services. In addition to fundraising, the Foundation manages more than 7000 gift accounts for the benefit of the university and its students.

The UH Foundation is a private, institutionally related corporation designated as a 501(c)(3) organization by the Internal Revenue Service. It is a legally separate entity from the University of Hawaiʻi, the UH Alumni Association, and all other UH affiliates. However, the UH Foundation works closely with these organizations, as well as with others in the community, exclusively for the benefit of the university.

Our Vision

To inspire giving and partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi by fostering UH pride and passion among donors, alumni and the community.

Our Mission

To unite donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi's aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawaiʻi and our future generations.

Our Values

Our values shape our relationships and guide our thinking and actions. By living our values, we build trust with our fellow employees, our donors, the university and the broader community.

Position Summary:

The Donor Relations Department provides strategic partnerships with other UH Foundation departments to enrich, continue, and elevate relationships with donors, paving paths toward future donations.

The Donor Relations Officer (DR Officer) is responsible for helping to foster positive and long-term donor relationships that are critical to philanthropic support. The Donor Relations team, which includes the Donor Relations Coordinator, collaborates with Development and other central unit teams to help build a culture of gratitude, inspiration, and transparency among donors by providing stewardship strategies and plans, meaningful recognition, impactful reports and communications, and engaging experiences.

In November 2023, the UH Foundation entered the public phase of their comprehensive $1 billion campaign, For UH, For Hawai‘i. The Donor Relations Officer will be a key player in the overall success of the Donor Relations team and the engagement and stewardship efforts of the Foundation throughout the campaign, and beyond.

Reporting to the Senior Executive Director of Corporate, Foundation, and Donor Relations, the DR Officer is responsible for the implementation and coordination of a comprehensive donor relations individualized major donor stewardship strategic plan. They develop and execute a range of integrated, consistent, and scalable programs and processes that contribute to meaningful donor stewardship. The DR Officer works in close collaboration with the UH Foundation’s development officers and central unit teams to help execute key projects essential to the success of the donor relations team. The ideal candidate will be detail-oriented, organized, and collaborative with a clear understanding of the importance of timely and accurate communication with donors regarding their funds.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Donor Stewardship and Project Management (60%)

• Lead the collaborative development of individual stewardship and engagement strategies for priority groups as identified in the comprehensive strategic plan.
  1. Develop accurate and high-quality donor relations and stewardship communications, including personal communications and custom impact reports that are donor-centered and convey the impact of their giving.
  2. Create/coordinate meaningful custom touches for identified donor groups.
  3. Manage donor interest tags in the Foundation’s fundraising management software and coordinate the dissemination of relevant UH/UHF communications based on interest groups.
• Participate in planning meetings with development officers to determine the appropriate individualized stewardship strategies.
• Responsible for collating accurate information and data associated with the donor stewardship and custom impact reporting.
• Liaise efficiently with development officers, fund account administrators, beneficiaries, and unit leadership to collect information for stewardship reporting purposes.
• Manage a system to prioritize, prepare, and track stewardship deliverables.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date contact reports in the fundraising management software.
• Oversee, coordinate, and where appropriate, execute special projects and initiatives as assigned.

Donor Relations and Professional Development (30%)

• Support key donor relations projects in-line with the UH Foundation’s goals, including but not limited to endowment and fund reporting, scholarship impact reporting, and special events.
• Ensure that the intent of major gifts is observed, and the donors’ interests are represented by the UH Foundation.
• Support a culture of knowledge of donor relations across the UH Foundation.
• Support metrics-driven donor relations activity utilizing existing fundraising management software.
• Represent the UH Foundation in a positive manner to all constituencies.
• Establish and maintain successful working relationships with internal colleagues and external partners.
• Adhere to stewardship standards set forth by the UH Foundation and UH-System partners.
• Stay abreast of industry trends in stewardship and donor relations and seek to identify new methods that can improve the UH Foundation’s donor relations best practices.
• Comply with UH Foundation policies and procedures.

Donor Relationship Management and Engagement (10%)

• As appropriate and agreed upon, DR Officer may be designated as a relationship manager for donors identified in permanent stewardship.
• Respond to donor and beneficiary inquiries, providing exceptional service.
• Work with other teams to leverage UH Foundation events, as appropriate, and proactively seek additional donor engagement opportunities.

Other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree.
• Minimum of five years of professional experience, including two years in a donor relations capacity.
• The ability to work effectively in a large, complex, and dynamic organization, balancing competing priorities with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience working with CRM and project management systems.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and Adobe, with base-knowledge of emerging donor-communications platforms (ThankView, Mailchimp, Eventbrite, etc.).
• Excellent time and project management skills.
• A strong sense of professional ethics, and commitment to the core values of trust, teamwork and excellence, accountability, and service.
• Sensitivity to confidential information.
• Familiarity and understanding of financial reporting procedures.
• Previous work in an academic/higher education environment preferred.

Benefits:

UHF voluntarily pays 100% of the following –

• 10% 403(b) contributions after 7 months of employment. This is automatic and NOT dependent on the employee making any contributions. PLUS, ALL contributions are 100% immediately vested!
• Term life insurance
• AD&D insurance
• Short term disability insurance
• Long term disability insurance
• Tuition reimbursement after 1 year of employment
• Employee assistance program
• Generous PTO and paid holidays

UHF voluntarily provides the following in which the company and employees share the cost –

• Health, Prescription, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Free parking after 5 years of service

Other benefits available for employees to purchase –

• Medical Flexible Spending Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Insurance coverages for spouse and/or children
• Critical care insurance
• Legal insurance
• Pet insurance