Donor Relations Officer

To secure funds for WHYY by managing a group of assigned and qualified donors, assuring that as many as possible are retained as ongoing donors to the organization and upgraded in their giving and involvement.

The Donor Relations Officer is a hybrid front-line fundraising professional responsible for managing a small group of major donors ($5,000+) along with the management and solicitation of a caseload of donors who make mid-level donations ($500 – $4,999) to WHYY. 

In this role, the Donor Relations Officer develops an authentic relationship with each donor in the assigned portfolio of major donors to discover donor interests and organizational priorities to help donors accomplish their philanthropic goals and ambitions in partnership with WHYY.  The Donor Relations Officer plans and manages relationship journeys that include qualifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding prospects and donors.

In the mid-level capacity of this role, he/she/they seeks to identify donor interests and build relationships around donor interests to deepen the donors’ commitment to WHYY with the goal to retain and/or upgrade their level of support. This person will be responsible for the systematic cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of mid-level donors.  As appropriate, this person will identify those mid-level donors who have the capacity and readiness to become major donors to WHYY. This person is highly disciplined, organized and goal-oriented with demonstrated competencies in relationship building, information management, project support, donor research and verbal and written communication.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manages a portfolio of 40 – 50 major donors with the capacity to give five, six and seven figure donations.
• Manages a portfolio of 250-500 mid-level donors giving between $500 and $4,999 through cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.
• Researches, identifies and creates detailed moves management plans for major gift prospects that will strengthen relationships and move them along the giving path towards greater engagement and philanthropy with WHYY.
• Partners with Major Gift Officers in moves management of prospective mid-level donors.
• Creates and executes a strategic plan with donors through phone, email and mail communication.
• As appropriate, this person will engage personally with mid-level donors through personal visits and tours of WHYY.
• Knowledgeable of all the types of giving opportunities with WHYY such as estate planning, gifts of stock and donating assets.
• Learns about WHYY’s programs and projects and effectively communicates the mission to donors.
• Will create individual goals for each person in the Major gifts caseload based on the donor’s history of giving and the organization’s knowledge of that donor’s potential.         
• Will create a plan for each donor that will serve as a foundational communication and marketing plan for each person in the Major Gifts caseload. Will faithfully and timely basis execute that plan so that individuals in the caseload are retained and upgraded.
• Will work with the Director of Philanthropy and other team members to secure appropriate project information, including budgets, and create offers, proposals and asks used to secure gifts.        
• Will create monthly reports as required by management that accurately reflect caseload activity and performance.      
• Will perform other major donor activities as may be required.
• Maintain regular and predictable attendance.

ACCOUNTABILITY – Performance will be measured by:

• Ability to qualify donors from the larger pool of organizational donors that meet the major gift criteria.
• Ability to create reasonable financial goals for each donor based on their giving and their potential
• Ability to create tailored engagement plans that consider the individual donor’s interest, motivations, giving patterns and ask preferences for each donor on their caseload in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Ability to retain and upgrade donors.
• Ability to secure project and organization information and create and write compelling offers, proposals and asks.
• Ability to synthesize information that can be sent back to donors to report on philanthropic impact.
• Ability to create timely reports that reflect caseload performance.
• Ability to manage people, process, deadlines and budget while adhering to WHYY’s policies and procedures.
• Ability to get along with peers, subordinates and management and maintain a positive and constructive attitude while solving problems. Ability to be a team player and protect the mission, goals and values of the organization.

Education: Bachelors degree required.

Experience: Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Flexibility, attention to detail, bottom-line orientation, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collegial environment. High proficiency with technology, including Microsoft desktop applications and database/CRM systems. Must have the ability to research and correlate data; use judgment in the interpretation and communication of rules and regulations and policies and evaluate and interpret basic statistical reports; spreadsheets, etc. 

Technical Skills: Advanced level knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and familiarity with database structures.