Associate Director, Leaders in Annual Giving

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business has built a global reputation based on its immersive and innovative management programs. We provide students a transformative leadership experience, pushing the boundaries of knowledge with faculty research, and offering a portfolio of entrepreneurial and non-degree programs that deliver global impact like no other. We are committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in service of our mission of developing innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change lives, change organizations, and change the world. We invite you to be part of this mission.

The GSB is seeking an Associate Director of Leaders in Annual Giving to build membership of Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Leaders in Annual Giving Society—which recognizes donors who support the Business School Fund through gifts of $2,500 or more—and contribute to Major Gift pipeline development. A core expectation for the associate director is engagement with business school alumni regarding the compelling case for unrestricted support of the Graduate School of Business (GSB). The associate director will engage existing and potential donors through extensive outreach efforts, progressing to increased prospect work. The associate director will directly cultivate, solicit, and steward a pool of prospects with leadership annual giving capacity. The associate director will recruit and support volunteers to aid in this process.

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), hybrid position where work can be performed with the expectation of being onsite 2-5 days per week.

Your primary responsibilities include:

*Build a pipeline development program in close partnership with GSB External Relations teams to move prospects up the donor pyramid and manage the Business School Fund’s Leaders in Annual Giving Society.
*Develop and manage a portfolio of prospects/donors to cultivate, solicit (gifts ranging from $2,500 to the $1M-$2M figure range), and steward leadership-level annual giving donors. *Focus on engaging existing donors to inspire higher levels of annual commitment and expanding the Leaders in Annual Giving and Major Gift pipeline through entrepreneurial research, ambitious prospect qualification, and creative cultivation.
*Develop and manage the creation of prospect and donor collateral, e.g., marketing materials, written solicitations, and stewardship letters.
*Partner closely with Business School Fund colleagues (class agent and reunion campaigns) as a key fundraiser; serve as the primary or secondary liaison for alumni reunion campaigns and volunteer teams, as needed.
*Establish ongoing relationships with individual alumni through personal visits, phone calls, and meaningful contacts.
*Create and enhance processes for identifying prospects, specifically through Business School *Fund programs and Alumni Relations opportunities.
*Strategically plan objectives and key results for development activities; report on objectives, activities, and overall results to internal and external constituencies.
*Work with Business School Fund and Major Gift colleagues to assist with and partner in solicitations, leveraging volunteers as needed.
**Other duties may also be assigned.

To be successful in this position, you will bring:

*Bachelor’s degree and five years of relevant experience, or a combination of education and relevant experience.
*Demonstrated experience with fundraising in a higher education or nonprofit environment.
*Strong sense of fundraising ethics and practices, and respect for confidentiality of donor information.
*Strong project management skills with ability to develop, initiate, and execute on new strategies and ideas.
*Excellent relationship management and interpersonal skills.
*Close attention to detail and outstanding organization and time-management skills.
*Comfortability in working both independently and collaboratively with varied stakeholders.
*Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
*Propensity to think out of the box and iterate on solicitation strategies.
*Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse constituencies and develop relationships that enhance overall development goals.
*Skilled at articulating compelling cases for annual discretionary support and major gifts.
*Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), Airtable, Slack, and Salesforce.
In addition, preferred requirements include:

* Experience in annual giving. Experience in a higher-education development setting.
*Experience with gift solicitations and closures.
*Understanding of planned giving vehicles and gift opportunities that include an annual giving and planned giving component.