Senior Director of Donor Relations & Direct Marketing

About the position

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.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 donor interests and organizational priorities.
• Oversee the grant writing process, ensuring high-quality proposals and applications are submitted to secure funding.
• Lead the team in developing compelling narratives that align with funder interests with Federation goals.
• Oversee corporate philanthropy initiatives, including the Corporate Members Program.
• Monitor grant and corporate funder information in CRM, ensuring deadlines, reporting requirements, and communications are accurately tracked.
• Manage the full philanthropy management cycle including tracking, reporting, analysis and compliance with funding requirements.
• Lead, mentor, and inspire a cohesive team of five professionals responsible for various aspects of donor relations, direct marketing and institutional philanthropy.
• Foster a collaborative and positive office environment that promotes employee satisfaction, high morale, and professional growth.
• Establish clear performance expectations, provide ongoing feedback, and monitor individual and team performance.
• Guide the team in planning, scheduling, and executing projects that align with donor acquisition, stewardship, and retention strategies.
• Collaborate with Marketing and ITS on implementing a Grants and Stewardship project management platform that supports the organization’s current and future needs.
• Partner with ITS and Campaign Operations teams to track revenue via opportunity/move management in CRM to across donor relations programs, institutional philanthropy, and direct response marketing.
• Develop content for Campaign HQ emails sent on behalf of Development chairs to FRD committees and lay ambassadors, providing regular updates and motivation to our volunteers.
• Respond to C-suite requests for special funding and stewardship projects by coordinating cross-functional efforts, developing tailored proposals or presentations, and ensuring timely, strategic communication.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in fundraising, donor relations, direct marketing, or a related field.
• Experience managing high-performing teams.
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and operate effectively in a culture of rapid change.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and relationship-building abilities.
• Aptitude for working independently and collaboratively with senior leaders, volunteers, and cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in data analysis, performance metrics, and interpreting reports to identify trends and set goals.
• Advanced experience using donor databases or CRM systems at a management level.
• Strong proficiency in MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).
• Strong project management skills, managing multiple, frequently changing priorities and producing high-volume content under tight timelines.
• Acute attention to detail with excellent problem-solving, critical thinking, and goal-setting skills.
• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree preferred.
• Knowledge of the Jewish community and experience working with philanthropic organizations is a plus.