Position Description:

Title: Donor Relations Manager

Office: Development, Alumni Relations, and Communications

Reports to: Vice President of Development, Alumni Relations, and Communications

Background

International House (I-House) is an interdisciplinary residency program in New York City for graduate students and young professionals from around the world. Founded in 1924, I-House was built on the simple yet radical notion that living in a diverse community instills a lifelong dedication to cross-cultural understanding. Through an intentional admissions process, and both informal and targeted programming aimed at building core competencies in social and cultural intelligence, I-House is leading the way in creating a more secure, peaceful, and collaborative coexistence across the globe.

I-House is celebrating its centennial year in 2024-25 and is planning a comprehensive capital campaign to mark the milestone and position the organization for success in its next century.

Position Overview:

I-House seeks a dynamic, collaborative, and resourceful people-person with a can-do attitude to join a growing team of development professionals as the Donor Relations Manager. Under the direction of the Vice President of Development, the successful candidate will create and manage a comprehensive stewardship and donor relations program that appropriately and consistently acknowledges individual and institutional donors at all levels. The Donor Relations Manager will synthesize trends; create stewardship reports; acknowledgement letter templates; funding proposals; manage naming opportunities; and draft donor correspondence, gift agreements, and annual campaign-related special projects. The ideal candidate enjoys both people and data analysis, proposal/report writing, project management, and has a passion for building and fostering deeper and positive relationships with donors over their lifetime.

Key Responsibilities:

• and implement innovative donor stewardship initiatives to enhance donor retention and satisfaction, and to attract new donors.
• gift receipting and thank you letter process, ensuring all donors are acknowledged in a timely and accurate manner; establish efficient workflow; optimize use of technology
• with Admissions, Programs, and Finance teams to obtain pertinent information; write and edit stewardship reports to inform donors of how their gifts were utilized and the impact of their philanthropy on I-House’s residents and mission.
• VP of Development, design and implement individualized stewardship plans for major and principal donors, annual donors, and Board.
• new methods of measuring and communicating I-House's impact to inspire the highest level of donor engagement.
• gift agreements and ensure accurate records regarding gift purpose, donor intent, and naming/reporting requirements are kept in database and completed.
• all named spaces at I-House and work with VP of Development and development team members to identify spaces for future naming opportunities.
• collaboration with the development team, plan small stewardship and cultivation events in NY, elsewhere in the United States, and on occasion, globally for I-House alumni, Board members, and friends both in-person and online.
• events (on-site and off-site) as needed to oversee logistics and serve as point person for vendors, staff, and attendees.
• internal opportunities for I-House residents to thank donors. This includes, but is not limited to, planning a “Donor Appreciation Day,” managing the writing of thank you notes and/or videos to send to alumni and other donors, and other initiatives to involve residents in recognizing donors.
• a small (up to 50 people) portfolio of prospects and donors to cultivate and steward. Participate in team’s LYBUNT and SYBUNT solicitation initiatives. Consistently communicate with prospects by phone, email, Zoom, and in-person.
• post-event debrief, collect and enter notes into donor database, draft post-event communications
• collaboration with Director of Communications, Director of Alumni Relations, and others, write and edit copy for alumni newsletter and proactively select and contact alumni to feature.
• with grant proposals and update reports, as needed.
• other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Experience:

• degree required and minimum of four years of experience in development or related field.
• written and verbal communications skills.
• understanding of the development process, particularly in the areas of major gift cultivation and stewardship.
• and resourcefulness around creating, updating, editing, and managing documents, presentations, and data.
• project management, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• planning both small and large events.
• of working independently with little supervision, as well as serving as a productive team member.
• to take direction, manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and take initiative.
• experience in collaborating effectively with colleagues, exhibiting diplomacy, and excellent interpersonal skills.
• ability to act with tact and maintain a positive attitude under pressure are critical as this position will interact with high-level internal and external constituents.
• to work occasional evenings and weekends for events and programs, travel may be necessary on occasion.
• of Raiser’s Edge or similar donor database software.
• in Microsoft Office Suite; experience with Photoshop, Canva, Mailchimp, Qualtrics, and/or other communications and design tools.
• of social media best-practices preferred.
• degree of professionalism, ethical sensitivity, confidentiality, and discretion; proven ability to apply good judgment and responsible decision-making.

International House provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, International House complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. International House expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.