The Stewardship and Recognition Director provides strategic leadership for benefactor relations strategies to advance Mayo Clinic’s fundraising priorities, administer complex gifts and deepen key relationships. This role leads and oversees the stewardship and recognition lifecycle for large and transformational gifts within their portfolios, ensuring an exceptional, innovative, high-touch customized benefactor experience while honoring benefactor intent and advancing institutional priorities. Ensures all stewardship and recognition strategies are grounded in a cultivation mindset, intentionally designed to strengthen relationships, deepen engagement, and support long-term philanthropic partnerships. Thismay include developing benefactor-specific pre-gift and post-gift stewardship and recognition strategies; operationalizing new large and/or complex gifts in partnership with funding area stakeholders; and ensuring accountability, allocation oversight and timely impact reporting in alignment with benefactor intent. Partners closely with Development staff, including gift officers, to proactively plan and manage benefactor relationships, , align expectations, and support solicitation and stewardship strategies throughout the gift lifecycle. Acquires and maintains knowledge and fluency of Mayo Clinic’s business strategy, fundraising strategy and top fundraising priorities, and translates this knowledge into informed stewardship and recognition recommendations for department and executive leadership. Contributes to solicitation strategies for complex gifts and reviews gift agreements. Leads through influence and convenes interdisciplinary teams, including campaign administration, events, communications, creative, digital, data and technology services, finance and facilities to implement creative and innovative ideas that advance excellence, improve operational practices, and enhance the benefactor experience. Leads problem solving and decision-making activities; develops documentation for stewardship and recognition best practices, processes and procedures; and delivers training to colleagues. Maintains and promotes an enterprise perspective in all activities.
This Stewardship and Recognition Director will have a focus on Digital Stewardship, leading the strategy and execution of technology-enabled benefactor stewardship and recognition strategies designed to strengthen relationships, demonstrate impact, and deepen cultivation efforts across the giving pyramid. This role focuses on stewarding and recognizing benefactors at scale through personalized, digitally driven strategies that complement frontline fundraising and elevate the benefactor journey. By leveraging digital communications, engagement analytics, automation platforms, and emerging technologies, the director creates coordinated stewardship programs that connect benefactors to mission outcomes and institutional priorities in meaningful, timely, and relevant ways. This position partners closely with Development Communications and Annual and Midlevel Giving teams to deliver cohesive, benefactor-centered engagement.
The Director is responsible for designing scalable digital stewardship programs that move beyond transactional acknowledgment toward dynamic, relationship-centered engagement. Responsibilities include developing digital impact reporting, personalized recognition programs, automated stewardship journeys, and multi-channel experiences tailored to benefactor interests and giving areas. The role also explores innovative approaches such as AI-assisted personalization, interactive storytelling, virtual engagement experiences, and digital benefactor communities to expand reach while maintaining authenticity and meaningful connection. The Director will also maintain a portfolio of benefactors and/or institutional priority areas requiring high-touch stewardship and engagement.
Minimum Education and/or Experience Required: (Education Requirements and Experience):
Bachelor's degree in business, communications, marketing or related field required plus five to seven years of experience in donor relations, communications, marketing, events, healthcare administration or finance, including at least one to three years of Development experience. Demonstrated knowledge of fundraising required
Additional Experience and/or Qualifications: (Has Achieved Competency in the Following Areas, Job Knowledge and Additional Considerations):
Master's degree preferred. Requires excellent oral and written communications skills, financial analysis and reporting skills and the ability to work in a complex environment with multi-dimensional points of view. Incumbents will have demonstrated competencies in leadership and project management and legal agreement development and interpretation. Incumbents will have demonstrated a strong digital mindset, including the ability to leverage technology, data, and emerging tools to improve processes, inform decision-making and drive innovation within the benefactor experience and the ability to function effectively in a consensus-style operation that expects and promotes teamwork. Must be comfortable with ambiguity. Required creativity in innovative messaging. Must possess the ability to inspire trust and confidence and communicate effectively with internal and external audiences, including Mayo benefactors at the highest levels. The ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism and confidentiality is essential. Must be proficient in the use of information technology and management of database systems. Manages time effectively and maintains flexibility to work around tight timelines, which may require work outside of standard business hours.
Mayo Clinic has expanded and changed in many ways, but our values remain true to the vision of our founders. Our primary value – The needs of the patient come first – guides our plans and decisions as we create the future of health care. Join us and you'll find a culture of teamwork, professionalism and mutual respect, and most importantly, a life-changing career.
Mayo Clinic was founded in Rochester, Minnesota by brothers Dr. William James Mayo and Dr. Charles Horace Mayo. More than 100 years later, their vision continues to evolve around a single guiding value: "The needs of the patient come first." Today we are the largest integrated, not for-profit medical group practice in the world.
We are recognized for high-quality patient care more than any other academic medical center in the nation. These endorsements are very gratifying, but also humbling. They remind us of the tradition that has been entrusted to each one of us, and the legacy of excellence that we uphold every day.
