Development and Donor Communications Manager

The Organization

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (GLI) is the nation’s leading American history organization dedicated to K–12 education. The Institute’s mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources. Since its founding in 1994, GLI has created powerful and meaningful ways to teach and learn history. Focusing on primary sources, the Institute offers teacher seminars, online courses, exhibitions, digital materials, and print publications that enable students of all ages and backgrounds to study the nation’s past.

The Institute brings the work of today’s leading historians into classrooms and homes worldwide. Through public events, publications, posters, videos, exhibitions, essays, and a dedicated website rich in primary sources, GLI brings every period of American history to life. Diverse education programs, including the acclaimed Hamilton Education Program, provide opportunities to explore five centuries of American history. The Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School network comprises more than 12.6 million students and 97,000 educ ators from more than 36,000 schools worldwide.

The Role

Do you enjoy storytelling and stakeholder engagement? Are you excited about fuelling a mission-driven organization focused on American history education and civic engagement?

We are currently seeking a Development and Donor Communications Manager, reporting to the Associate Director of Development, to support fundraising efforts and enhance donor communication strategies. The Manager works closely with the Director of Development and the Associate Director of Development to grow fundraising activity by strengthening relationships with prospects and donors, driving donor communication strategy and content creation, executing VIP cultivation events, and growing our recurring donor base. The Manager will be an integral member of GLI’s small team, with influence on individual giving strategy and significant room for growth in the future. The ideal candidate will be a skilled, passionate fundraiser with strong communications, project management, and collaboration skills and take pride in impeccable attention to detail.

The newly created position of Development and Donor Communications Manager will be joining GLI at a dynamic time as we continue to enhance and expand our nonpartisan K–12 and public programming in response to the urgent needs of the moment.

This role will be based in New York City and currently requires working in person at least one day per week in GLI’s midtown office.

Position Overview

The Development and Donor Communications Manager will lead critical fundraising and communications projects in collaboration with the Associate Director of Development. This includes individual donor cultivation and communications management on our primary channels including working with our marketing team on email distribution to prospects and donors.

Specific responsibilities will include

• Donor Relations (40%)
  • Steward, cultivate, and track relationships with potential and current individual donors with a giving capacity of $4,999 and below to keep them engaged, updated, and actively supporting GLI
  • Update and maintain knowledge base of potential, current, and past donors with relevant details like giving priorities and cultivation strategies
  • Create, distribute, and track fundraising deliverables like thank you and tax acknowledgement letters, invoices, grant paperwork, etc., and ensure accurate and timely acknowledgement of gifts
  • Provide support for donor meetings with prospects at all giving levels, and assist with board meeting support
  • Conduct prospect and donor research

• VIP Cultivation Events (20%)
  • Support the smooth execution of exclusive VIP cultivation events to maximize donor cultivation
  • Activities include but are not limited to invitation list generation and distribution, event preparation and management, donation tracking, running the show the day of, and assisting with follow up

• Donor Communications Strategy & Implementation (40%)
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive donor communications strategy and plan in partnership with the Associate Director of Development, incorporating sub-strategies centered on formal appeals, special events, and stewardship and cultivation touchpoints
  • Lead the drafting and design of donor communications materials in partnership with the Associate Director of Development, including formal appeal letters, one-pagers, and pitch decks
  • Lead and track the distribution of multiple multi-channel campaigns per year coordinating with the Institute marketing team and external mail house, including the calendar mailing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Commitment to GLI’s mission and enthusiasm for communicating the mission to external audiences
• Progressive experience in fundraising or communications with a proven track record of growing donor base and revenue preferred. Candidates with other compelling experience related to the role and/or GLI’s mission will be considered.
• Outstanding project, time management, and problem-solving skills with a strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to drive projects forward independently
• Exceptional writer and storyteller with a passion for big picture, strategic thinking and driving outcomes
• Team oriented with a desire to participate in creating a strong team culture
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Suite applications
• Experience with Canva and Salesforce preferred
• Ability to occasionally manage events after traditional business hours