Director of Signature Events and Stewardship

The Director of Signature Events & Stewardship serves as the departmental leader for donor stewardship, recognition, engagement, and signature events. This position develops and executes comprehensive stewardship programs, oversees donor recognition initiatives, manages signature events, and ensures meaningful donor engagement across all giving levels.

1. Lead strategy and execution for Development signature events, overseeing planning, logistics, budgets, and on-site execution from concept through completion;
2. Oversee event planning, communications, programming, logistics, and post-event assessments;
3. Partner with internal and external stakeholders to deliver meaningful donor engagement opportunities;
4. Collaborate with the Director of Hospitality & Premium Experiences to coordinate hospitality components for all signature events;
5. Lead all stewardship efforts for Kansas Athletic donors, including Ad Astra members, Annual Fund donors, K Club members, and major gift donors;
6. Develop and implement comprehensive donor stewardship and engagement strategies;
7. Oversee donor acknowledgment processes, impact reporting initiatives, stewardship communications, and recognition efforts;
8. Manage donor recognition initiatives, including Limestone Society naming opportunities, recognition displays, signage, and related materials;
9. Coordinate the endowed scholarship stewardship program, including donor and student-athlete engagement initiatives and annual stewardship events;
10. Assist with selection for donor team travel; this may or may not involve travel to specific sites. This includes setting up meal and hotel reservations and relaying information to the various sports or Development contacts;
11. Develop donor impact stories, testimonials, and stewardship content illustrating philanthropic support;
12. Collaborate with development staff to ensure consistency in stewardship messaging and donor communications;
13. Serve as a liaison with university and external partners on donor engagement initiatives;
14. Support donor-facing communications related to recognition, impact reporting, and stewardship;
15. Supervise and provide leadership to one Development Coordinator, including delegation of duties, training, and performance management;
16. Oversee the events and stewardship budget, working with the gift administrator to process payments;
17. Recommend and implement strategies to increase donor engagement and operational efficiency;
18. Other work-related duties as assigned by the Athletics Director or their designee.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university;
• Minimum two years' previous special event and/or stewardship work experience;
• Demonstrated experience with donor stewardship, donor relations, or customer/client relationship management;
• Demonstrated proficiency using the Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Word, etc.);
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills;
• Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively under multiple deadlines in a fast-paced office environment with the capacity to adapt quickly to major and minor changes in projects/events and outcomes;
• Ability to work well both independently and in collaboration with staff as a team member;
• Experience in dealing with the public while providing exceptional customer service;
• Self-starter that takes a proactive approach to work;
• Prior supervisory experience or demonstrated leadership capability;
• Ability and willingness to work occasional evenings, weekends, or holidays as needed;
• Knowledge of and commitment to NCAA rules.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous event and/or stewardship work experience in a college or professional athletics environment;
• Previous experience supervising staff;
• Master's degree from an accredited college or university.