Employer: Stanford University
Location: Stanford, CA, United States
Category: Development
Job function: Development
Workplace type: Hybrid
Contract type: Regular
Grade: K
Posted: 2026-10-16T21:29:24+00:00
Stanford Job Title: Development Officer 2
VPUE Unit: Haas Center for Public Service
Location: Stanford Main Campus (hybrid, at least 2 days on-site each week)
Job Code: 4292
Exemption: Exempt, full-time
Budgeted Salary: $150,000 - $165,000
About the Team
The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) supports programs that help Stanford undergraduates learn broadly and deeply, discover and create, live and grow in community, and contribute beyond themselves. Its development program partners with faculty, academic leaders, and a growing base of philanthropic supporters across VPUE’s units, including the Haas Center for Public Service, Bing Overseas Studies Program, and Stanford Introductory Studies.
In May, the university approved VPUE’s fundraising priorities and goals for the next five years, including an ambitious target for the office as a whole. Meeting it will require growth on two fronts at once: larger gifts at the top of the program, and a deeper base of leadership annual giving. VPUE has an immediate opening for a Development Officer to advance both at the Haas Center, building leadership annual giving while cultivating emerging major gift prospects.
Job Purpose
Reporting to the Director of Development, VPUE, the Development Officer plans and implements fundraising for the Haas Center for Public Service. Working independently, the position identifies and cultivates prospects, develops proposals, solicits gifts, and handles the internal coordination the work requires.
Many Haas donors give to public service as a cause, in addition to giving to Stanford. The Development Officer is the Center’s fundraising presence for that constituency, working alongside Haas faculty and executive leadership and supporting its National Advisory Board.
The role is weighted toward leadership annual giving: the $10,000–$50,000 donors who sustain the program between campaigns and form its future major gift pipeline. The Development Officer also carries a portfolio of emerging major gift prospects, moving them toward larger, multiyear commitments. Portfolio composition is set with VPUE and the Office of Development and reviewed on a regular cycle.
Core Duties
- Develop solicitation goals, objectives, and strategies for the Haas Center for Public Service and for the alumni and parent populations that support it, in coordination with VPUE's broader undergraduate education priorities.
- Manage an active portfolio spanning leadership annual giving and major gift prospects, identifying new prospective donors, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding their support, and developing relationships leading to gifts in the $125,000–$2,000,000 range while building the multiyear pledges and upgrade pathways that carry donors toward that level.
- Own the contact reports and pipeline records, as well as proposals for assigned prospects — debriefing the development officer specialist who prepares them, then finalizing the proposal and making the ask.
- Staff the Haas Center’s National Advisory Board, leading member recruitment, onboarding, and committee activation, and managing the board's calendar and communication with members.
- Own the program's broad-based donor communications, including the Haas Center's annual report, periodic stewardship touchpoints, and the annual appeals that reach alumni and parents most likely to enter the leadership giving band.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience raising funds for undergraduate education, public service, or other programs whose constituencies cut across schools and departments.
- Experience building or rebuilding a leadership annual giving pipeline — the $10,000–$50,000 tier of donors whose support and continued growth are central to the program's long-term health.
- Experience staffing a national advisory board or comparable volunteer body through recruitment, onboarding, and committee work.
- Experience producing annual donor reporting and stewardship communications at program scale.
- Knowledge of Stanford University systems, policies, and its decentralized development structure.
To be considered, please submit a resume and a one-page cover letter with your online application. In the letter, share what draws you to this role and how your fundraising experience prepares you for it, including an example of a donor relationship you’ve helped grow.
Completed applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis beginning October 28, 2026.
Core Duties
- Develop solicitation goals, objectives, and strategies for development projects and/or specific donor populations or geographic regions. Cultivate and solicit gifts to the university.
- Manage an active portfolio, and track solicitation assignments and progress. Work with a portfolio of assigned prospects to cultivate, solicit, and steward their support.
- Take responsibility for a wide range of fundraising activities, including maintaining an active level of contacts, identifying new prospective donors and volunteers, providing stewardship, and coordinating volunteer fundraising efforts.
- Stay informed on current university initiatives and activities.
- Develop relationships leading to gifts in the $250,000 - $5,000,000 range.
- Enhance relationships between current and prospective major donors and the school or unit's faculty, students, dean, staff and volunteers.
- Work with staff, donors, volunteers, and other university staff to assist in establishing and maintaining relationships with all university constituencies.
- Design and manage appeals (e.g., direct mail, email, video, phone, and other channels) to target key populations to maximize fundraising potential.
- Establish ongoing relationships with individual alumni through personal visits, phone calls, and meaningful contacts.
- Prioritize prospects, prepare background information, make volunteer assignments as appropriate, and follow up with volunteers to ensure completion of assigned solicitations.
- Work closely with other colleagues in development to align program goals with the overall giving goals of the university’s development organization.
Minimum Education and Experience
Bachelor’s degree and five years of relevant experience or combination of education and relevant experience.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Demonstrated effectiveness in prospect identification, relationship building, and solicitation.
- Demonstrated experience mentoring and working with volunteers, faculty, and staff.
- Superior written and oral communication skills, with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to articulate a compelling case for philanthropic support programs.
- Ability to translate complex concepts into compelling development proposals.
- Demonstrate a commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace culture where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered.
Drivers License Requirements
- Must possess and maintain a valid California non-commercial Class C Driver's License.
- Ability to drive day or night.
- When conducting university business, must comply with the California Vehicle Code and Stanford University driving requirements.
