Associate Director, Stewardship

Job Posting Location:

Claremont, CA

Job Posting Title:

Associate Director, Stewardship

Job Description:

ABOUT POMONA COLLEGE: Located near Los Angeles, California, Pomona College is widely regarded as one of the nation's premier liberal arts colleges. Established in 1887, Pomona College is known for small classes, a challenging curriculum, close relationships between students and faculty, and a range of student research and leadership opportunities. Pomona is a member of The Claremont Colleges.

JOB PURPOSE: The Associate Director of Stewardship (“Associate Director”) plays a vital role in ensuring the effective creation and management of gift funds, implementation of gift terms and reporting of gift outcomes. Success in this role requires a detail-oriented, analytical and highly organized professional with strong business acumen and a deep understanding of donor stewardship best practices. This position requires strategic thinking and proactive problem-solving to ensure accurate, transparent, and compliant communication of gift details across internal stakeholders.

The Associate Director must demonstrate exceptional communication and relationship-building skills as the primary liaison for fund administrators, fund recipients, finance, investments, and other stakeholders. This role oversees fund activity, reconciliation, audits, and annual reporting; leads stewardship campaigns and endowment reporting; engages students and donors through meaningful stewardship activities and events; supports gift agreements and fund strategies; and supervises one Stewardship Coordinator.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Reporting directly to the Director Stewardship, the Associate Director Stewardship performs the following essential duties and responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Office of Events and relevant stakeholders on the coordination and management of marquee stewardship events (e.g. Intensive Summer Experience Symposium and Dinner, Scholarship Luncheon, President’s Leadership Reception, etc.)

• Experience in fund administration, donor relations, or financial stewardship within higher education or nonprofit organizations, with a demonstrated commitment to transparency and accountability in philanthropic giving.

• Collect, analyze, summarize, organize and assemble information for endowment and impact reporting, including but not limited to financial research, program updates, recipient profiles, testimonials, etc.

• Conduct stewardship audits

• Fund related audits across multiple systems.

• Departmental and Program specific audits (e.g. Class Day Prizes, Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Pomona College Internship Program, etc.).

• Fund Reporting audits (e.g. new funds, fund status changes, calendar year end, fiscal year end, etc.)

• Ensure new gift funds are properly structured and documented across systems.

• Engage fund administrators and ensure shared understanding and compliance with gift terms, fund restrictions and reporting expectations.

• Generate reports, queries and analytics to monitor and assess gift fund records and activity.

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date gift detail, record of donor communications and interactions, as well as constituent information in CRM/database(s) to ensure data integrity and adherence to donor preferences and privacy regulations.

• Maintain endowment/stewardship report files.

• Provide supervision, management, coaching, mentoring, and performance evaluations for the Stewardship Coordinator, who serves as the direct report.

• Plan and coordinate stewardship project deliverables and content as assigned.

• Oversee and execute end-to-end planning, coordination, and execution of stewardship projects and campaigns (including but not limited to annual endowment reporting, Intensive Summer Experience Thankview campaigns, and similar or related activities)

• Research best practices, peer institutions, market/economic conditions, and government rules and regulations and recommend changes and enhancements to improve administrative effectiveness, services, and/or resources.

• Support the oversight and management of processes related to new gift discussion, gift documentation for both new and existing gift funds as well as gift compliance.

• Support the preparation, coordination and review of gift documentation to ensure compliance and adherence to established policies and alignment with advancement objectives as well as gift administration systems, partners and practices.

• Facilitate training sessions on gift documentation and fund establishment.

• Research and support drafting, interpretation and review of gift agreement documentation.

• Respond to fund related inquiries.

• Additional duties as assigned as it relates to the position.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree is preferred, or equivalent combination of education and experience. 

• Licenses/Certificates: A valid driver’s license is required or equivalent means of reliable transportation to off-site meetings and events.

• Experience: A minimum of 5 years of advancement experience or related field at an academic institution is preferred.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND CRITICAL SKILLS: The Associate Director must possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to be able to successfully perform the essential functions of the position or be able to demonstrate how the essential functions will be performed, with or without reasonable accommodation, using other skills and abilities not listed below.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, within a team and as a collaborative facilitator.

• Demonstrated curiosity with strong learning orientation, openness to feedback and commitment to listening, learning, and mentorship.

• Exceptional organizational and project management skills to independently manage multiple priorities, timelines, and deliverables in a fast-paced, high-volume environment with accuracy and efficiency.

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills to clearly communicate complex concepts and strong interpersonal skills to establish healthy rapport, connect, engage, and inspire a diverse group of employees, volunteers and stakeholders.

• Familiarity with associated professional software and aptitude to quickly navigate and learn new tools and systems (e.g., Workday, Box, EverTrue, Cognos, Tableau, MailChimp, ThankView, Salesforce, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Give Campus, marketing automation and email marketing platforms and prospect research tools).

• Foundational understanding of fundraising—the giving pyramid, donor [life] cycle, strategic donor engagement, donor stewardship programs, donor reporting, impact driven communications, and fundraising campaigns.

• Must be able to work with highly confidential information with utmost sensitivity and discretion.

• Must be meticulous, precise and analytical with solid business and risk acumen.

• Proven ability to accurately query, manage, analyze, and report on complex data sets.

• Proven technical literacy including Microsoft Office software proficiency (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Customer relationship management (CRM) systems, social media networking, cloud-based content management and communication platforms, internet research and menu-driven databases.

• Skilled in developing, implementing, and improving guidelines, procedures, workflows, and operational systems.

• Strong critical thinking and solution-oriented approach with the ability to independently exercise sound judgement in decision-making.

• Understanding of gift, pledge, payment and gift accounting requirements and processes.

• Able to articulate the mission of the College, the College’s strategic vision and the division’s annual goals with a high standard of integrity and ethics.

REQUIRED HOURS: The regular hours for this position are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday, except during the designated summer period when office hours end at 4:30pm. Holiday, weekend and evening work hours may be required. Travel may be required. Regular hours may vary due to needs of the College or division. This position is eligible for a hybrid remote work schedule with supervisor approval.

ADDITIONAL POSITION DETAILS: The rate for this role is between $80,000- $90,000. The specific factors that the College will consider when offering a salary to an individual will include, but not be limited to: education, training, relevant prior experience, and performance in prior roles. All staff positions are ineligible for visa or permanent resident card sponsorship. As a California employer, Pomona College requires all employees to be residents of California.

POMONA COLLEGE REWARDS: Pomona College offers a wide variety of benefits and perks including health, dental, and vision plan options; paid time off; flexible spending accounts; retirement benefits; tuition assistance; fitness and wellness programs; ride share incentives; and so much more! 

ADA/OSHA: This job description defines the essential job duties of this position.  The College expects that employees hired for this position can perform the essential functions of this job without imposing risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of themselves or others.  It may also include marginal functions, generally defined within Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

DISCLAIMER: This job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification.  It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this position.  When duties and responsibilities change and develop, the College will review this job description and make changes of business necessity.