Development Specialist

Working Title Donor Relations Specialist, Reporting and Stewardship

University Advancement plays a vital role in advancing the University’s mission by strengthening academic excellence, elevating healthcare, and enriching the broader community. As a nationally respected and continuously evolving division, we take pride in fostering strong donor relationships and delivering exceptional stewardship.

The Donor Relations Office is seeking a full‑time Donor Relations Specialist who is detail‑oriented, motivated, and committed to high‑quality work. As an essential member of the Stewardship, Gift Agreements, and Recognition team, this position supports core functions related to fund reporting, project coordination, and accurate data management.

Key responsibilities include capturing, organizing, and auditing large sets of donor reporting data in Salesforce Ascend; ensuring data accuracy; and managing project timelines and deliverables. The Specialist will coordinate impact and fund reporting efforts initiated by the Donor Relations team, collaborating with campus partners and internal stakeholders to meet firm deadlines. The role may also support reporting projects initiated by campus units and executed in partnership with Donor Relations staff.

• Enforce a sophisticated matrix of audience tiers and deliverables to steward and cultivate university donors.
• Lead project logistics for university endowment reporting, managing large data sets, communicating with stakeholders, copyediting, and physical and digital report collation and personalization.
• Capture data related to donors, compliance, and reporting, and accurately enter it into the University’s Advancement CRM, Salesforce Ascend.
• Audit and correct data as necessary, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of constituent profiles, reporting records, and preferences.
• Oversee other project timelines, deliverables, and team collaboration to ensure successful completion, leveraging Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Box, Asana, and other project management systems and software. Examples of other projects include principal donor reporting plans, mass communications, or system and process enhancements.
• Monitor progress, schedule meetings, and address any issues that arise to keep projects on track.
• Outreach all fundraising areas to capture up‑to‑date donor and reporting data.
• Develop instructions and tutorials as needed to guide fundraisers and team members on reporting and compliance practices.
• Provide excellent customer service to campus partners by triaging, addressing, resolving, or redirecting compliance questions efficiently and effectively.
• Maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of compliance regulations and university policies.

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience (One year of education is equivalent to two years of experience).
• 1-2 years of professional experience.
• Applicants must demonstrate the potential ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined in the position description. Demonstrated human relations and effective communication skills also required.

Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.
Must have proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
Experience using digital tools, such as Asana, Salesforce, and/or Airtable.
Skills related to marketing, communications, project management, operations management, and data entry/analytics are a plus.
Candidates with experience in college advancement, such as fundraising, alumni relations, donor stewardship, communications, or related areas that promote institutional growth and engagement, are preferred.

The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and patients from all backgrounds and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education and quality healthcare for historically underrepresented students and patients.
All qualified individuals are strongly encouraged to apply. Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to…