Overview

The Steward School’s mission is to prepare each child for college and for life in a community defined by robust academics, inspiration, engagement, and care. Since we began over 50 years ago, we have been a community that helps students become their own best selves. Our tagline is a succinct summary of who we are at our core: Inspire the Future.

We fuel our students’ minds with rigorous academics and unbridled imagination. Program initiatives like Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Service Learning, and Health and Wellness are our hallmarks. Our athletic teams have won eight state championships in the last six years, and our high-quality arts program and world-class theatre are known throughout the region. Our community prizes inclusion and well-being for all students; our most recent parent survey noted resoundingly that 95% of students are enthusiastic about school. Our faculty love being here too — in 2024, we were named a Richmond Times-Dispatch Top Workplace for the tenth year in a row, based on the results of an employee survey.

The Opportunity

The Steward School has an immediate opening for an Assistant Director of Development. This is a full-time, twelve-month, fully benefited position, reporting to the Director of Development.

The Assistant Director of Development works in partnership with the Director of Development, volunteers, and staff to provide leadership for our comprehensive development program as we build a strong culture of philanthropy throughout the school and community. Reporting to the Director of Development, the Assistant Director will lead the creation and implementation of all annual giving initiatives with special attention to participation, community engagement, and volunteer management. This position will also manage all development office operations. Lastly, the Assistant Director plays a supportive role in capital campaigns through assisting with marketing and communication efforts, volunteer engagement, donor solicitation, and special events as needed.

Specific responsibilities include:

 Fundraising

• Make personal and direct major gift solicitations (Annual Fund, specific campaigns/projects, capital campaigns) of members of the immediate and extended Steward community via face-to-face meetings, phone calls, personal mail, and email.
• Meet the financial and participation Annual Fund goals each year.
• Identify, recruit, train, and support parent volunteers for the Annual Fund Committee.
• Manage the grant process, which includes maintaining the grant calendar, grant applications, outreach to foundations, and prospect research for programs including LEAP, Visiting Innovators, The Center for Engagement, and other programs and campaigns as applicable.

 Operations/Stewardship

• Enhance existing relationships and build new relationships, processes, and programs to further tap into the generous resources of the community.
• Assist the Director of Development with capital campaigns to include marketing and communication efforts, volunteer engagement, donor solicitation, and special events as needed.
• Provide regular reports to the business office to ensure accuracy of giving records, including monthly giving summaries, audit reports, pledge reports, and other reports as requested.
• Use appropriate systems to maintain, analyze, and report appropriate data related to donors and potential donors.
• Regularly review and audit the database to ensure the accuracy of data.
• Create online donation and event registration forms in Blackbaud NXT and oversee management of online gift processing.
• Ensure that all gifts are recorded, entered in the database, and acknowledged in a timely manner.
• Oversee the preparation of deposits of all cash and checks according to business office procedures.
• Prepare pledge reminders as scheduled.

Events

• Manage donor appreciation events, including the Founders Society celebration each fall, calendar year-end volunteer leadership appreciation gifts, and other stewardship as needed.
• Manage logistics of Grandparents’ Days, including program, invitations, registration, and follow-up communications.
• Support all special events in the development office, including volunteer events, alumni events, campaign events, and donor receptions, in collaboration with the development event staff.

 Auxiliary Groups

• Provide support for the Parents Association, Spartan Board, and Artlink, including best practices in stewardship and volunteer management.
• Assist the alumni engagement team as requested in creating and implementing a strategic alumni plan through special events, communications, volunteer activities, and other programming as requested.

Marketing Support

• Manage all aspects of development marketing pieces, including direct mail/marketing efforts, annual giving brochures, social media campaigns, and online presence for the annual giving and campaign in coordination with the Marketing & Communications department.
• Create content for the philanthropy section of the Year in Review and Colonnade publications and generate the list of annual donors.
• Manage communication of the planned giving program, including partnership with outside vendor and internal communications.

Qualifications:

• Commitment to the school’s mission and values.
• Exceptional communication skills, both oral and written.
• Detail-oriented, flexible, able to prioritize multiple tasks, and meet deadlines.
• Collaborative team player.
• Sense of humor and appreciation for/understanding of independent school communities.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 5 years of development experience.
• Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, Google Docs, etc..
• Database knowledge (Blackbaud NXT/Raiser’s Edge preferred).

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift up to 10 lbs.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Commensurate with experience and education.
• Comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, life, disability, retirement, and PTO.
• Partial tuition remission.

Interested candidates should upload their resume and cover letter as part of the online employment application. Please reference “Assistant Director of Development” as the position you are interested in. No calls or visits, please.

About The Steward School

The Steward School's mission begins with "to prepare each child for college and for life." Critical to this endeavor are the faculty and staff members of our private school. Our core character values are honor, responsibility, and achievement, balanced by caring and respect for oneself and for others. Our faculty and staff are much more than mere representations of these values—they are the designers, sculptors, and builders that frame our students’ educational goals with these values in mind. The Steward School is committed to diversity and the development of an educational environment that fosters mutual respect, responsibility, and empathy in our school and in life. We value the presence of individuals whose differences include, but are not limited to, age, ethnicity, gender, learning style, talents, physical ability, political views, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and family structure. We actively encourage applications from candidates with broad and diverse backgrounds and from individuals of all races, nationalities, and beliefs.

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