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About the Role

The Manager of Donor Relations & Stewardship is the museum’s strategic leader for donor engagement, stewardship, recognition, and membership experience. This position develops and implements a comprehensive donor relations program to strengthen donor retention, deepen engagement, and foster long-term philanthropic relationships. The role ensures donors, members, and supporters receive thoughtful, personalized, and mission-centered engagement, overseeing stewardship strategy, recognition programs, membership engagement, benefit fulfillment, impact reporting, and donor communications. This position also leads fundraising event committees and cultivates a modest donor pool with an annual revenue goal, supervising the Membership Engagement Coordinator and partnering with fundraising staff.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead a comprehensive donor relations and stewardship strategy.
Establish stewardship standards, recognition policies, and engagement practices.
Cultivate, solicit, and maintain a pool of 30-50 donors.
Create and maintain stewardship matrices for various donor types.
Ensure consistent, personalized, and timely stewardship experiences.
Oversee all donor recognition programs.
Develop and implement donor impact reporting initiatives.
Coordinate stewardship reporting for major, endowment, planned giving, and campaign donors.
Partner with fundraising staff to create customized stewardship plans for leadership donors.
Provide strategic oversight of the museum’s membership program.
Supervise the Membership Engagement Coordinator.
Partner to establish clear pathways from membership to philanthropic giving.
Oversee member and donor engagement programs.
Collaborate with Events staff to create meaningful donor, member, and volunteer committee experiences.
Oversee stewardship, communications, recognition, and benefit fulfillment for donor circles, giving societies, and volunteer support groups.
Partner on engagement strategies for various donor communities.
Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, Curatorial, Learning & Creativity, and Advancement colleagues to develop donor-centered communications.
Ensure donor communications reflect the museum’s mission, values, and commitment to exceptional hospitality.
Promote a museum-wide culture of stewardship and donor appreciation.
Develop stewardship metrics and regularly assess donor engagement and retention outcomes.
Manage budgets associated with stewardship, recognition, and membership engagement initiatives.
Serve as a strategic thought partner to Advancement leadership.
Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and minimum of four (4) years of successful professional fundraising OR 8+ years of comparable experience.
Experience soliciting, securing, and stewarding corporate gifts/sponsorships preferred.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Excellent written, verbal, and listening skills.
Ability to make effective presentations to individuals and groups.
Proven ability to work effectively with a diverse population of donors and prospects, board members, staff, and community leaders.
Demonstrated success in working both independently and as a team member to create and implement fundraising strategies at the major gifts level.
Strong sense of organization, planning, and time management.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office products.
Must be able to work some evenings and weekends.
Travel required.
Must have a valid passport.
Knowledge of donor software programs, preferably Blackbaud products.

Skills

Interpersonal skills
Written communication
Verbal communication
Listening skills
Presentation skills
Independent work
Teamwork
Organization
Planning
Time management
Microsoft Office proficiency
Donor software knowledge

Location

Buffalo, NY 14222

Work Type

Full-time

Experience Level

4+ years of professional fundraising experience
8+ years of comparable experience

Education Level

Bachelor's degree

Salary/Compensations

$63,000.00 - $68,000.00 per year