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Posted: 14-Nov-25
Location: Medford, Massachusetts
Internal Number: 22571
The Tufts University Advancement Division (UA) is a comprehensive development and alumni engagement enterprise with a staff of approximately 200 FTEs. Functional units within UA include development/fundraising, alumni engagement, stewardship and donor relations, special events, gift processing, research and prospect management, gift planning, corporate and foundation relations, and information systems and management. UA's mission is to build strong, lifelong relationships with Tufts University's constituents, match donors' interests with the university's needs and priorities, and secure the financial resources necessary for Tufts to achieve excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship.
The newly formed Principal Gifts team facilitates top university prospect strategy in collaboration with principal gift development officers, tracks top prospects, and supports the cultivation and solicitation of principal gift prospects for professional school and university priorities. Select staff members oversee cultivation and solicitation strategies for cross-school donors and key university programs.
To ensure strategic, meaningful, and robust relationships with donors, UA must create effective communication and engagement strategies that bring donors closer to the university and our professional schools. As donors consider principal gift commitments and ultimately invest in the institution, the Principal Gifts team establishes and maintains a donor-centered communications program that inspires, celebrates, and strategically communicates with donors about their meaningful support, and ensures that such activities are aligned with institutional priorities and adhere to institutional protocols.
What You'll Do
The Associate Director of Donor Engagement and Communications will report to the Director of Donor Engagement and Communications and will serve as a point-person for donor engagement and cultivation strategies on the Principal Gifts team. This person will partner with senior members of the principal gifts team, principal gift development officers and colleagues to drive a comprehensive donor communications strategy for the Principal Gifts team. S/he will also mentor two junior writers and assist the director with the team’s creation of custom proposals for high-level prospects, proposal templates, cases for philanthropic support of priority areas, and ad-hoc donor and prospect communications. This person will also collaborate closely with the Principal Gifts Directors and Executive Director to develop multidisciplinary big ideas and related proposals/cases for support.
The Associate Director of Donor Engagement and Communications will manage his/her own portfolio of principal gifts proposals and drive timely communications to facilitate the solicitation process, including researching, developing, writing, and editing proposals and other written/visual materials. S/he will work with Principal Gift Development Officers, faculty and school leaders to craft compelling cases for philanthropic support and identify funding opportunities. S/he will collaborate with colleagues in Central Donor Relations to coordinate high-level stewardship touch points – including impact reports, gift anniversary videos and notes, stewardship events (in consultation with the office of special events), and individualized stewardship plans for top donors. This person will help develop and execute high-level engagement programs and communications for principal gifts prospects, relevant Trustees, members of the President’s Council, and key pipeline programs. S/he will facilitate strategy sessions with gift officers to proactively assess and manage communications needs for principal gift donors.
Essential Functions:
Prospect Strategy:
- With principal gift development officers and independently, engage with faculty and other senior leaders to position appropriate funding opportunities in written proposals. This may include developing new content and/or strategic messaging for emerging campaign priorities.
- Oversee a cloud-based proposal library and toolkit, which is an inventory of principal-gift proposals for internal use across the university, and provide guidance related to best practices for these communications.
- Work with principal gift development officers to develop and implement strategic plans for the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of top prospects.
- Monitor progress of top donor solicitation strategies and tactics to inform proposal development and donor engagement.
- Partner with principal gift development officers and administrative staff to develop talking points for prospect briefings for university leadership.
Donor Engagement and Communications Strategy:
- Develop and implement custom communications for the university’s top donors. This includes monitoring for consistent engagement touchpoints for the top donors cultivated by members of the Principal Gifts team.
- Assist with the creation of engaging, donor-friendly documents that align with university branding.
- Engage in professional development opportunities. Stay current with industry trends and best practices to ensure continuous improvement and innovation.
- Work with various faculty and staff and UA’s donor relations and stewardship teams on donor relations projects such as recognition events and personalized stewardship.
Special Projects:
- Assist in the management of special projects as needed.
What We're Looking For
Please include a cover letter with your application.
Basic Requirements:
- Knowledge and skills typically acquired through a bachelor’s degree.
- 5+ years of professional experience with a strong focus on writing, preferably in development, alumni relations, marketing, or public relations.
- Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is required.
- Experience working with prospect strategy in a fundraising environment.
- Excellent writing and proofreading skills are required. Candidates must have a strong customer service orientation and be extremely detail-oriented.
- Must be able to work collaboratively, organize, manage, and prioritize multiple projects while meeting defined deadlines.
- Knowledge of major gifts fundraising practices and experience with philanthropic terms and practices.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills required.
- Must be poised and able to interact and respond appropriately to donors and senior officers in an academic setting, as well as interact with University staff and administrators at all levels.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Familiarity with Salesforce or a similar complex database is desirable.
- Skill with visual presentation platforms, including Adobe Creative Suite, Canva or similar.
Pay Range
Minimum $72,500.00, Midpoint $90,700.00, Maximum $108,900.00
Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.