Description

The Stewardship Officer is a member of the Virginia Tech Pamplin Advancement team with
responsibilities to pursue and promote goals for the college and overall institutional goals related to best
in class stewardship, relationship building and customer service for internal and external constituents.
This role will contribute to the Virginia Tech goal of increasing donor retention and the alumni giving rate.
The Stewardship Officer will create and implement an annual strategy to manage, coordinate and
distribute customized stewardship for a portfolio of donors who have supported Virginia Tech. This
position manages multiple and competing priorities in the dynamic environment. This role is part of a
transparent, innovative, high performing and dynamic team. The Stewardship Officer demonstrates best
in class standards including being meticulously accurate and anticipating constituent needs. This position
has frequent contact with internal and external constituents providing information and assisting in the
resolution of questions while maintaining confidentiality of sensitive donor information.

Additional duties may include strategic collaboration with university partners, along with internal and
external stakeholders to ensure alignment with the Advancement Division Stewardship Plan and best in
class stewardship initiatives. The Stewardship Officer will be responsible for things such as leading gift
acknowledgment processes, overseeing stewardship content and strategic messaging, and audience
based or personalized stewardship plans. Additional responsibilities could also include leading
scholarship stewardship, executing strategic stewardship for initiatives such as Giving Day, or helping to
ensure appropriate documentation and stewardship of leadership, major, and principal gifts; capital
project stewardship, including preparing commemorative tributes resolutions, including but not limited to
donor recognition in the Global Business & Analytics Complex, developing and managing a
comprehensive stewardship program, providing guidance and management for future capital naming
projects associated with the Innovation Campus, and project managing stewardship efforts and impact
reports for all named donor funds in the college.

This position reports directly to the Director of Development with a dotted line reporting relationship with
the Director of Donor Relations.

Duties / Responsibilities

70%

Stewardship Portfolio
Work to meet the strategic advancement goals of the college by creating, improving upon, and
executing stewardship efforts
Develop/implement a college donor stewardship plan and best practices for:
o All levels of donor stewardship
o Development, coordinate and implement high level donor’s recognition plans in collaboration
with Advancement colleagues within the college, in Central Advancement Offices, and in other
colleges/units
o Providing unique opportunities for high-level donors to view the impact of their personal giving
o Scholarship and endowment management, including development of impact reports
o Partnering with Advancement colleagues within the college to implement donor strategies
o Strategic engagement of donors through showcasing the impact of giving that would
encourage increased giving
Serve as the main contact for the Pamplin Advancement office for all donors who are not
managed by a development officer
Develop and maintain relationships with departments and centers across the college to be able
to provide unique individualized experiences for donors.
Assist the director of development and director of engagement in the management of
recognition programs.
Work with the Pamplin alumni relations team and University’s Office of Donor Relations in the
development of stewardship and donor focused events.
Align the college’s donor relations programming with the University’s Advancement Stewardship
Plan.
Serve as the Pamplin Advancement stewardship contact to departments with a focus on
education of stewardship best practices and alignment with the college stewardship plan
Strategically engage students in stewardship and cultivation for donor relations events,
meetings, and programs.
Capital project stewardship including preparing commemorative tributes resolutions and
managing a comprehensive stewardship program.
Coordinate and serve as project manager lead for all named donor funds or contributions,
including preparing impact reports for endowed and naming gifts, special acknowledgements
such as Giving Day. As well as future capital namings associated with the GBAC/Innovation
campus initiatives

10%

Communications/Correspondence
Collaborate with Advancement Marketing and Communications colleagues to develop content
for webpage, emails, invitations, and other correspondence in coordination.
Submit calendar items for publication on college and university calendars and websites.
Manage and execute correspondence to the college when related to donor stewardship
Develop donor mail merges and mass mailings by email and postal mail.
Develop and maintain impact reports to high level donors whose funding impacts the college in
collaboration with Advancement colleagues.
Oversee gift acknowledgement procedures, with particular attention to special correspondence
for managed prospects.

10% Project Management
Track and meet deadlines.
Prepare reports, presentations, and publications for stewardship initiatives, either for individual
donor inquires or for college administrators.
Manage the scholarships stewardship process for college in collaboration with appropriate
college and university colleagues.
Oversee impact reporting to donors.

10% Data Management and Evaluation
Supervise the creation and data management of events in Blackbaud (AIMS) by administrative
support.
Supervise mailing list requests in Blackbaud (AIMS) for the college and departments by
administrative support.
Supervise and assist in updating records in Blackbaud (AIMS) by administrative support.
Supervise and assist in preparation final reports of event survey data for donor events by
administrative support.
Supervise and oversee the entering of plans, interactions and opportunities in Blackbaud
(AIMS) by administrative support.

Requirements

-Familiarity with Advancement operations, donor relations, alumni operations, event management, and/or
volunteer programs.

-Demonstrated experience interacting and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders such as
faculty, staff, volunteers, alumni, donors, students, and external vendors.

-Experience developing effective strategies to foster relationships and engagement.

-Demonstrated experience creating innovative stewardship programming that leads to increased
engagement.

-Ability to speak and write articulately, persuasively and with sensitivity to donor concerns.