Samford Athletics is seeking a mission driven individual whose focus is positioning the athletics development team to strengthen relationships with donors in order to increase retention, engagement and philanthropic giving. This will be achieved through timely gift acknowledgements, meaningful donor engagement, donor recognition and first-class donor events. It will be expected that the Donor Relations Coordinator will work collaboratively with the development team to increase gift revenue for the Athletics Department. 

Duties, responsibilities, and expectations of this position:

• Lead continual development of and oversee the execution of an effective and thoughtful stewardship plan for all athletic donors.
• Plan and execute first-class donor hospitality for all regular season home football and men’s basketball games.
• Plan and execute various annual fundraising and engagement events including but not limited to the Samford Classic and Samford Athletics Hall of Fame Celebration.
• Develop and oversee a donor communication strategy partnership with our athletics external team that includes monthly bulletins, a social media presence, email marketing, etc.
• Recruit, train and manage student-workers, student ambassadors and volunteers to support donor gameday hospitality, events and day-to-day operations.
• Effectively work within established budgets for all events and stewardship efforts
• Participate in strategic planning, goal setting, event planning and project status sessions alongside the athletic development team.
• Other duties as assigned.

Additional attributes that will be used in screening applicants: Individual must have the ability to interface professionally with current and prospective donors, vendors and University personnel. Individual must have exceedingly strong organizational skills that position the candidate to manage several projects at one time.

Describe the physical requirements of the job: The position requires working daily, evenings, weekends, and some travel as well as other related duties as assigned by the Director of Development and/or other senior leaders. Some lifting and moving of event-related items is required from time to time.

Applicant must have obtained a Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience in event management or fundraising/sales is strongly preferred. Knowledge of donor management software, Word, Excel and PowerPoint is preferred.