Director, Advancement Communications and Donor Relations

Summary: The Director for Advancement Communications and Donor Relations is a senior leader of the Development team, reporting directly to the Chief Advancement Officer. The director will develop and lead a comprehensive advancement communications and donor relations strategy. This role will be a key architect of The Lawrenceville School's strategy to communicate the central role philanthropy plays in advancing the School's mission.

The Advancement Communications and Donor Relations function is charged with communicating the impact of philanthropic support from case and proposal development through reporting to existing donors. The Director is a consummate story-teller who can creatively and compellingly communicate complex messages across mediums from print and digital to in-person events.

The director will be a positive leader who is able to work collaboratively across the organization with a commitment to excellence and accountability. This role is best suited to someone who is agile, adaptable, solution-oriented, and committed to innovation and continuous improvement. The director should be excited to shape a team committed to becoming a peerless advancement organization and will be a keeper of a strong, positive culture committed to personal and professional growth in a fun, collegial, and flexible work environment.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Provide strategic vision for and manage the Stewardship and Donor Relations function within A&D:

• Develops programming and strategy to guide the overall efforts around donor relations and stewardship, in accordance with industry best practices
• Areas of focus include, but are not limited to: acknowledgement letters; annual reports; endowment fund reporting; working with key campus partners on stewardship-related projects; partnering with A&D colleagues to proactively steward the School's most important donors.
• Manages a selected stewardship caseload of high capacity donors to appropriately recognize and engage some of Lawrenceville's most loyal donors
• Leads strategic initiatives to increase engagement and philanthropic opportunities with Lawrenceville's philanthropic community and other high-level strategic initiatives, as assigned
• Create personalized stewardship plans for the School's most generous donors, defined as those who have given $1M or more to Lawrencville. Executes on all aspects of these plans, in conjunction with frontline fundraisers and the School's senior leadership
• Work closely with assigned Major Gifts Officers to identify potential stewardship opportunities for both current donors and those nearing the $1M threshold. Reviews donors in the stewardship cycle and suggests opportunities to advance gift conversations
• Ensure that donor reporting to this constituent group is delivered in a thorough, personalized and timely way, coordinating with campus partners as appropriate
• Creatively identify opportunities to engage lead donors in areas of interest -- eg., video thank you, personal tour, School news article, Zoom call with a program administrator. Executes all aspects of these opportunities, in the medium required (print, email, video, etc.)
• Collaborate with members of the School's Communications and External Relations team, leveraging the power and resources of the full Communications and External Relations division to achieve Alumni and Development objectives. The director will ensure that the ongoing communications strategy for Alumni and Development complements that of the School and that all branding and identity guidelines, design specifications, tone and voice standards set by Communications are consistently followed.
• Communicate the role of philanthropy across multiple mediums, from print and digital to in-person events.
• Provide strategic vision and manage the execution of: proposal development; case development and communications pieces for advancement priorities.
• Oversee social media, email marketing, and event promotion across A&D.
• Partner closely with the Director of The Lawrenceville Fund to provide leadership, support, and direction to execute a solicitation and communication plan for all mass marketing channels: direct mail, email, social media, web-giving, and giving days.

• Bachelor's degree.
• 5-7 years' experience working in a fast-paced institution/professional setting.
• Experience in nonprofit/education fundraising preferred, specifically communications and/or stewardship related.
• Excellent attention to detail, communication and organizational skills, as well as proficient computer and database skills.
• Self-motivation with the ability to prioritize, take initiative and work independently with minimal supervision is critical.
• Must be able to work in a friendly and collegial manner, with a thorough appreciation for the goals and mission of Lawrenceville, the interests of independent secondary education, and an understanding of liberal arts education as well as the operations that attend to schools of that nature.
• Proficiency in excel, access, word and donor databases (ex: Raiser's Edge)
• Delegate and manage multiple time-sensitive tasks with little supervision.
• Ability to build and maintain a positive work environment by collaborating and partnering with colleagues across campus.
• Occasional work during nights and weekends is expected in order to successfully execute efforts for the office.

Employees Supervised:

• Assistant Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship
• Communications Writer
• Communications and Digital Strategy Manager

Work Characteristics and Physical Demands:

The work environment characteristics and physical demands described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

1. Physical demands are in excess of those for sedentary work. Must be able to remain on their feet for extended periods of time, go up and down flights of steps, as well as stoop, kneel, crouch, and lift.
2. Routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, fax machines, etc.
3. Must be capable of using visual display terminal with continuous wrist movement on a keyboard
4. Required to stand for long periods of time
5. Required to, talk, hear, walk, use hands to finger, handle or feel and reach with hands and arms
6. Required to work evenings, weekends and holidays in conjunction with School calendar and events
7. Must be able to lift up to 25lbs. without assistance
8. Ability to see with normal parameters.
9. Operates in a professional work environment

The Lawrenceville School is a diverse and inclusive community and makes all employment decisions without regard for an individual's race, creed, color, religion, national origin, nationality, sex, pregnancy, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability (including AIDS and HIV related illness), genetic information, refusal to provide genetic information, refusal to submit to genetic testing, ancestry, familial status, marital status, domestic partnership status, civil union status, atypical cellular or blood trait, military service, application for military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. The Lawrenceville School will also provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals in accordance with applicable law.

The Lawrenceville School conducts pre-employment screening for all positions which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

Eligible employees receive a competitive benefit package that includes health insurance coverage, paid leave and retirement plan options and many other valuable programs.