Bow Valley College is Calgary and region’s only Comprehensive Community College with 14,000 full- and part-time students and campuses in Airdrie, Cochrane, and Okotoks. Our graduates contribute to the digital economy, careers in business, TV & film production, and serve on the frontlines of healthcare and social services. Bow Valley College invests in three applied research pillars: educational technology, social innovation, and health.
Why work at Bow Valley College? Bow Valley College is an Alberta Top 75 employer made up of employees who are committed to our learners´ success, as well as each other´s. Our values of respect, inclusion, creativity, teamwork, and resilience are reflected in how we work together to include all learners, challenge our thinking, remove barriers, provide opportunity, and make all learning count
Reporting to the Director, Fund Development and Alumni Engagement, this role will lead the strategy to manage and activate a fully integrated donor and alumni communications/stewardship program, as a central component of Bow Valley College’s fundraising initiatives and campaigns.
This position will be responsible for developing and implementing a broad range of communications strategies and materials for current and prospective donors to the College. There is a particular emphasis on a donor centric cultivation and stewardship strategy, to highlight the impact of donations and thus retain and grow donor support for the College. This position will also provide leadership and direct supervision to the Lead, Advancement and the Donor Relations Content Specialist.
Donor Stewardship and Communications Strategy, Design and Implementation:
Working closely with the Director, Fund Development and Alumni Engagement, will provide expertise in designing, implementing, and directing an integrated and comprehensive donor relations and stewardship program.
Specifically:
• Creates the strategy for, manages, and continually improves stewardship programs that relay impact and educate donors on our work including, but not limited to, acknowledgement letters, tax receipt processes, fund utilization monitoring, compliance and fund reporting.
• Establishes a structured, systematic and streamlined program for endowment reporting which will assure perpetual and mutually beneficial relationships with donors.
• Plans, manages and oversees the administrative and daily operations of all large-scale stewardship/impact reporting programs.
• In conjunction with Finance and Accounting, monitors spending balances of endowment accounts.
• Works closely with other senior leaders to ensure effective and streamlined processes across functions, linking database analytics, finance, gift processing, and donor management.
• Researches and communicates emerging trends and best practices in all areas of donor relations, and seeks opportunities to share knowledge with both central and non-central Advancement staff members.
• Provides ongoing education for internal partners on “best practices” in donor relations and engagement.
• Manages donor cultivation and stewardship events.
• Seeks to enhance current processes and implements new technology for added efficiency, improved donor experience, and benefit to unit partners; collaborate with Business Process Management department as needed.
• Works closely with Prospect Management to ensure donor records and data are pertinent and useful for Donor Relations purposes.
• Develops effective communication materials, in digital and print formats, to support fundraising and donor cultivation/ stewardship strategies in order to engage prospective donors (including alumni), and enhance relationships with existing donors.
• Works in collaboration with other members of Development team (front-line fundraisers) by providing communications and stewardship expertise to develop stewardship strategies for those donors. The primary goal is to make the relationship more meaningful and provide a basis for continued and increased support from the donor for Bow Valley College. This position will be responsible for activating a stewardship program for donors at all levels, working in collaboration with fundraisers (Relationship Managers) on stewardship strategies and reporting requirements for principal, major and leadership donors.
• Reviews all gift recognition and reporting requirements with fundraisers and liaises with departments as required in order to ensure reporting and recognition requirements are understood, planned for, implemented and captured for reporting purposes.
• Prepares customized:
o Stewardship letters
o Donor reports
o Endowment reports to donors
o Personalized/customized reports
o Pre and post event communiques
o Donor project updates
o Videos featuring students thanking donors for support
• Works with internal academic departments, and awards office in the collection of student award recipient thank you letters and photos for use in donor reports, and project updates on donor-funded initiatives.
• Writes articles in the internal communication site College Connect to keep campus community informed of Fund Development activities and events, and the impact of faculty and staff giving.
• Writes donor relations-style content for Fund Development website, and other media where donors and prospective donors are the audience.
• Acts as departmental contact responsible for Fund Development content on College Connect and Bow Valley College website, ensuring content is up to date and accurate.
• Provides support for campus tours as required for donor cultivation.
• Manages stewardship matrix or framework to support collaboration with front-line fundraisers on donor stewardship strategies.
• Alumni engagement and stewardship programs to coordinate various communication channels, both print and electronic.
• Reviews and edit alumni invitations, letters, proposals, processes and other documents.
Leadership
• Exercises overall supervisory discretion of the Lead, Advancement and Donor Relations Content Specialist
• Based on operational needs of the team, has overall authority to assign/reassign work of employees.
• Reviews and ensures compliance with the professional, ethical, legal and legislative requirements of the various functions and staff within the unit.
• Develops, gains approval for, recruits and hires staff to meet the changing needs.
• Responsible for overall supervision, evaluation, scheduling, , performance management and motivation of staff to ensure optimal service is maintained;
o Performance appraisals on direct reports;
o Provides any required feedback on matters requiring coaching or discipline.
o Responsible for the recruitment and hiring of direct reports subject to the necessary approvals according to Bow Valley College delegated signing authority; evaluates candidates and make recommendations on candidates to be hired; writes and reviews job descriptions, recruitment action forms; reviews postings and interview scripts; shortlists candidates, participates in interview panels;
o Considers and approves vacation requests, professional development and overtime needs with consideration to budget parameters;
o Maintenance of absence reports, vacation and other absence approvals.
• Ensures all team members understand their roles in specific projects/activities and how these activities align with the strategic direction of the unit, department, and College.
• Provides methods for completing work and provides instructions on the application of policies, processes and procedures or situations that deviate from the norm.
• Establishes key objectives for staff – ensure these objectives are achieved as outlined to a high quality standard and comply with college/unit policy and procedure.
• Leads team meetings to ensure all team members understand their roles in specific projects/activities and how these activities align with the strategic direction of the unit, department, and College.
• Develops, maintains and instills in staff concepts and strategies for good customer service.
• Establishes, maintains and manages a customer service satisfaction model and culture within the unit.
• Reviews reports for accuracy prior to distribution to stakeholders.
• Identifies areas of opportunity within Fund Development and proactively advises on issues that affect the College.
• Provides leadership, as appropriate, in the absence of the Director.
Donor Communications for Events
• Oversees the activation of donor cultivation and stewardship initiatives including:
• Celebrating Student Futures
• Premier’s Scholarship Luncheon
• Campus Tours
• Individual donor events
• Donor Stampede event(s)
• Choices Donor Appreciation events
• Campaign related events
• Other as required
• Develops donor communications for each Fund Development event (pre- and post-event) including photographic requirements, and donor recognition, utilizing multi-media vehicles.
Database Management
• Raiser’s Edge Database
• Enters stewardship-related actions (reporting requirements) for all new gift agreements.
• Utilizes (navigate) RE to retrieve donor and gift information for accurate and impactful donor reporting.
Job Requirements
Minimum Qualifications
• Diploma
• 3 years of directly relevant experience
• Strong understanding of donor communications
• Some experience with strategic event management
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills
• Well-developed knowledge of the field and practice of fund development and the non-profit sector
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered
Preferred Qualifications
• Bachelor’s Degree – Non-profit management, Communications or Journalism preferred; or equivalent combination of training (diploma) and experience
• Advanced oral and written communication abilities (writing for a variety of audiences) and strategic planning skills.
• Connections within and knowledge of the Calgary community are also an asset.
• CFRE – Willingness to work towards designation
This is a temporary, Exempt position.
Please note all successful candidates will be required to provide copies of government issued identification and proof of educational qualifications upon hire and may be required to provide an enhanced police information check.
Diversity and Inclusion Commitment
Bow Valley College is strongly committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within our community. We welcome applications from qualified candidates who would contribute to the further diversification of our employees including, but not limited to, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity.
Minimum Education Requirements: Diploma
Location: BVC CALGARY – CA (Primary)
Job Family: Fund Development
FTE Per Individual (%): 1.00
Closing Date: 5/26/2023
Employment Status: Temporary
Salary: commensurate with experience
