Associate Director of Stewardship Development

Job Description

Position: Associate Director of Stewardship Development
Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa or Dubuque, Iowa or Waterloo, Iowa

The Archdiocese of Dubuque serves a vibrant Catholic community across northeast Iowa. We are dedicated to sharing the Gospel and supporting parishes, schools, and ministries that enrich lives through faith, service, and community. Join a collaborative team that values creativity, communication, and a mission-driven approach to work.

We are currently seeking a full-time Associate Director of Stewardship Development. This position will advance the mission of the Church by leading donor relations and fundraising execution for the Stewardship Development Team, by guiding pastorates and schools in building a culture of stewardship, and by connecting the generosity of the faithful to the Archdiocesan pastoral priorities of Evangelization, Leadership Formation, and Pastoral Planning. Stewardship is the way that missionary disciples follow Jesus through giving of their time, talent, and treasure to serve the Church, our communities, and the world.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque offers a competitive salary, benefits, and a generous time off policy.

Key Responsibilities Include:
- Monitor, analyze, and report on fundraising performance for each appeal, tracking different metrics, and donor engagement on fundraising communications. Compile and present benchmarking data with year-over-year analysis to allow for evaluation of the effectiveness of Stewardship Development Team efforts.
- Lead in connecting stewardship education and messaging to the cases for support for the Archdiocesan pastoral priorities of Evangelization, Leadership Formation, and Pastoral Planning.
- Partner with the Stewardship Development Director to plan, set up, and deliver regular gatherings and formation opportunities for pastorate stewardship and development staff, including the semi-annual Archdiocesan development gathering.
- Lead the promotion and implementation of stewardship planning within the Archdiocese, including pastorates and schools. Contribute stewardship best practices, expectations, and structures to the Journey in Faith implementation roadmap, and provide regular, ongoing support to pastorate stewardship and development staff.
- Meet in-person or by phone with priests, pastorate staff, schools, and other Catholic organizations as needed to assist in the advancement of the ministries of the Church in our pastorates, schools and cemeteries.
- Provide stewardship development guidance to Pastoral Center programs and other initiatives, including the Live to Give stewardship education program, fundraising for the needs of our international priests, and other initiatives as assigned.
- Produce content for the annual Archdiocesan Impact Report. This report serves as the Archbishop's report to the Archdiocesan Church on the human impact of ministries overseen by staff at the Pastoral Center and its satellite offices, including a fiscal-year financial summary.
- Lead the development of marketing materials for the Stewardship Development Team by identifying and recommending donor-facing content for the Archdiocesan website and social media channels, and work with the Communication Department to see them implemented and kept current.
- Provide strategic oversight of the gift acknowledgement framework and direct database segmentation executed by support staff.
- Understand and utilize the Archdiocesan donor database, currently Raiser's Edge NXT, to record donor interactions, maintain clean data, and produce donor lists and reports, as needed.
- Lead donor engagement and marketing efforts through traditional and digital mediums, such as Your Gift in Action eNewsletters (email) and occasional parish/pastorate bulletin inserts and monitor effectiveness via engagement metrics for each communication.
- Develop and execute a comprehensive donor engagement schedule for the Stewardship Development Team.
- Plan and execute all current and future Archdiocesan appeals in collaboration with the Stewardship Development Director, including fundraising for current Archdiocesan priorities, the Catholic Charities Annual Appeal, the semiannual Our Call to Share campaign, pastorate offertory promotion work, and potentially an Archdiocesan annual appeal in the future, which would become a primary responsibility.
- Manage a portfolio of major gift level donors and prospects. This includes conducting fundraising and relationship building meetings in support of the named Archdiocesan funding priorities, and large, ongoing needs such as priest retirement and seminarian education.
- Accept gifts on behalf of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, and its organizations (with permission), in accordance with the Archdiocesan gift acceptance policy.
- Assist in the cultivation and stewarding planned gifts to the Archdiocese of Dubuque. This work is to be done in close collaboration with the Catholic Foundation for the Archdiocese of Dubuque (CFAD).
*These responsibilities outline the primary focus of the role but are not exhaustive. Responsibilities may adapt over time and the position will contribute to other organizational priorities and department initiatives as needed.

Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Nonprofit Management, Communications, Marketing, Business Administration, Finance or related area.
- Three to five years of experience in fundraising, donor relations, or a related area required, with direct experience in annual appeals and individual donor solicitation preferred.
- Practicing Catholic in good standing, able to articulate and witness to the spirituality of Christian stewardship strongly preferred.
- Demonstrates exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to engage and present comfortably to individuals and groups.
- Basic knowledge of accounting, investment terminology and vehicles, and charitable gift instruments is required.
- Demonstrated proficiency in donor database management and segmentation (Raiser's Edge NXT or a comparable CRM) strongly preferred, including experience with email marketing and bulk communication platforms, and in the analysis and presentation of fundraising data.
- Must have the ability to represent the Archdiocese in a manner that aligns with the teaching of the Catholic Church.
- Ability to travel and connect with individuals across the Archdiocese.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and respond to sensitive matters.
- Proficient in using office technology including Google Workspace and Microsoft Office Suite.

General Working Conditions:
This position encounters frequent variations in work situations and complex fundraising questions. As this position requires frequent travel throughout the Archdiocese, a hybrid work arrangement would be considered. The Associate Director of Stewardship Development operates under general direction from the Director of Stewardship Development and is expected to exercise discretion and independent judgment in matters of significance affecting archdiocesan stewardship and development efforts.

About the Employer

Empowered by the Holy Spirit through prayer, Sacraments, and Scripture, the mission of the Archdiocese of Dubuque is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, thereby transforming our communities to become more like Him in thought, word, and deed.