Director of Grateful Patient and Families Program

Development Director

The University of Utah Advancement Office seeks an experienced and strategic fundraising professional to serve as the Director of the Grateful Patient & Families Program. This role leads a comprehensive grateful patient philanthropy strategy that strengthens patient engagement, advances a culture of gratitude, and drives philanthropic support across the health system. The Director oversees the Here for You Fund, manages key vendor partnerships, reports and analyzes giving, and collaborates closely with clinical and administrative leaders to build a sustainable pipeline of grateful patient prospects and donors.

Responsibilities include :

• Program Leadership & Strategy :
• Lead the overall strategy, design, growth, and assessment of the University of Utah's Grateful Patient & Families Program.
• Implement a year-round calendar for print, phone, and digital communications.
• Serve as the lead of the Here for You Fund, ensuring its visibility, impact, and alignment with institutional priorities.
• Collaborate with the Annual Giving Team on new strategies for digital engagement and donor cycles.
• Develop and implement clinician engagement programs.
• Partnership & Collaboration :
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clinical area fundraisers.
• Act as a liaison for the hospital and clinical areas fundraisers.
• Provide emerging leads, hand-offs, and potential major and legacy gift donors to development directors across the U Health system.
• Act as a strategic advisor to clinical partners on philanthropy, grateful patient practices, and donor engagement opportunities.
• Collaborate with the Annual Giving Team, Information Services, and Donor Relations on strategies for digital engagement, stewardship, and donor cycles.
• Vendor & Tech Management :
• Manage the University's relationship with third-party vendors supporting grateful patient programs.
• Oversee vendor performance, contracts, workflow optimization, and technology integration with internal systems.
• Identify opportunities for innovation using data analytics, automation, and best-practice grateful patient tools.
• Operations & Performance :
• Establish KPIs, dashboards, and regular reporting to measure program effectiveness, pipeline growth, and ROI.
• Build an effective hand-off model and trackability.
• Develop reporting and data cleaning processes and policies with the Prospect Research, Information Services, EPIC, and our Salesforce CRM.
• Ensure compliance with HIPAA, patient privacy, and institutional policies in all processes and communications.

Minimum Qualifications :

Preferences :

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 individuals with disabilities. The University of Utah is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity employer and does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran's status.