Senior Director of Donor Relations & Direct Marketing

Description

The Sr. Director of Donor Relations & Direct Marketing is pivotal in driving donor acquisition, retention, and stewardship to meet and exceed fundraising objectives. This position manages a high performing team of five professionals focused on enhancing donor engagement and maximizing revenue. The team achieves this through comprehensive donor relations programs, advancing institutional philanthropy (including grant, corporate and foundation funding), and executing strategic direct response marketing initiatives. 

As a strategic leader, the Sr. Director spearheads tailored stewardship efforts across key donor segments, and collaborates with partners to develop personalized engagement strategies that strengthen donor satisfaction and loyalty. By leveraging CRM insights to inform fundraising, stewardship, and direct marketing strategy, the Senior Director partners closely with teams across the organization—including Marketing on messaging, design, and production, and Development on strategy and audience segmentation. These cross-functional collaborations ensure that donor engagement efforts are data-driven, personalized, and aligned with the Federation’s fundraising priorities and core community values.

Federation receives about 4,000 unrestricted Annual Campaign gifts and 2,000 targeted gifts to specific programs and partners each year, plus additional endowment, capital, and multi-year commitments. Total funds raised are roughly split between unrestricted and targeted giving, underscoring the importance of donor stewardship for all types of support.

This team leads:

· Community Campaign solicitations under $1,000 via direct response.

· Institutional fundraising proposals for Federation, Mandel JCC, and other partners as needed.

· Acknowledgements and stewardship for all gift types and levels to keep donors engaged.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Donor Stewardship:

· Oversee major gift donor society strategies, collaborating with the Director of Grants & Stewardship, Marketing team, and Donor Officers on newsletters and impact communications.

· Develop and oversee custom solicitations, impact letters, and acknowledgments to support enhanced stewardship of specific major donors.

· Develop and implement emergency campaign stewardship plans.

· Oversee standard and custom acknowledgment letters and tribute cards for Annual Campaigns, targeted gifts, emergency campaigns, and other forms of giving.

· Review and enhance acknowledgment letters to ensure they effectively convey gratitude and impact to donors.

· Supervise the review and distribution of tribute cards, appropriately acknowledging donor contributions and commemorations.

· Oversee special, personalized tribute campaigns organized to honor donors.

· Development, execution, and project management of the annual donor honor roll.

· Supervise accurate logging of standard and custom acknowledgment letters, tribute cards, and donor recognition activities in CRM.

· Manage Federation’s Thank You Committee including engaging members, collaborating with stakeholders and supporting partnership with the committee chair 

· Coordinate and support Thank You Committee operations, including scheduling meetings, leading monthly outreach process, maintaining  accurate CRM records and evaluating program impact.

Direct Marketing:

· Develop and execute direct response marketing strategies to drive donor acquisition, retention, and engagement.

· Lead the creation of targeted marketing content, design, variable messaging, and calls-to-action in collaboration with analysts and the marketing team.

· Oversee donor segmentation strategies within CRM to ensure personalized outreach and effective communication.

· Collaborate with data analysts to implement campaign strategies, track performance, and support ongoing optimization.

· Manage CRM-based reporting, data management, and response analysis to improve campaign effectiveness.

· Analyze campaign performance to identify trends, improve retention, and uncover new donor acquisition opportunities.

Institutional Philanthropy (Grant & Corporate funding):

· Lead strategy and execution of grant, corporate, and foundation funding efforts, partnering with the Grants & Stewardship team to create grant requests, custom proposals, impact reports, and custom acknowledgements aligned with dono