Annual Giving Manager

St. James School in Philadelphia, PA, has engaged DovetailED to lead a search for an Annual Giving Manager with a January 2025 start date. Interested candidates should review the Opportunity Statement and submit a cover letter, resume, and list of references as a consolidated PDF to Zack Lehman, President at DovetailED Talent Sourcing, at zack@dovetailedsourcing.com.

Do you have a strong desire to forge lasting relationships that support a mission using best practices in annual giving? Make an impact at our innovative school and community organization!

About St. James:

St. James is a faith-based educational community deeply rooted in transformative loving relationships.

Located in the Allegheny West neighborhood of Philadelphia:

• The School serves students and families who are most in need, providing a full scholarship to every student. Students benefit from small class sizes, an extended day, robust music programs, extensive social-emotional support, and an 11-month school year (Sept - July)
• The Graduate Support Program is a lifelong commitment to every child. It prepares students for future success and supports them along the way – through high school, college, careers, and beyond.
• The Welcome Table designs community actions and creates spaces for members of the school and broader community to address essential needs and experience a community of sharing.
• The Church of St. James the Less seeks to be a place to encounter God, build community and grow personally with weekly mass and worship services.

Position Summary:

The Annual Giving Manager serves as an integral member of the Advancement team overseeing all annual giving efforts including all mail and digital campaigns and a robust mid-level giving program ($1,000 - 9,999), as well as serves as the lead for the annual Scholarship Benefit. This role is an integral member of St. James’ fast-paced, growing Advancement Team, which raises $6M annually. Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the organization’s annual giving efforts, using print, digital, and in-person strategies.
• Developing key donor relationships and maintaining a robust portfolio of mid-level donors.
• Providing oversight management and coordination for the annual Scholarship Benefit fundraising event, engaging more than 300 individuals to raise $500,000 in support of the St. James mission.
• Collaborating with the Advancement Team to engage prospects and donors.

The ideal candidate:

• A passion for St. James School’s mission and a strong desire to forge lasting relationships that support that mission.
• Poised and engaging, empathetic communications style based on natural warmth, authenticity, and enthusiasm.
• Exceptional written and communication skills; ability to present information effectively.
• Experience managing numerous projects and deadlines along with a demonstrated ability to initiate and follow through on projects.
• Knowledgeable about all aspects of a robust Advancement program.
• Experience collaborating with fundraising volunteers and internal partners.
• Demonstration of good judgment, professionalism, and the highest standards of ethical conduct.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience, ideally with a focus on annual and mid-level giving as well as fundraising events.
• Strong computer skills including proficiency with data.
• Proficient in Raiser’s Edge or equivalent CRM database.
• Advanced in Microsoft Office Suite
• We strongly encourage all candidates of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

Key Responsibilities:

Annual Giving

• Set goals and strategy to increase donor participation in annual giving by undertaking new initiatives to acquire, retain and upgrade annual donors. Determine a data-informed strategy to identify, qualify, cultivate, and solicit based on annual fund best practices, a knowledge of emerging technologies, and an understanding of the “St. James donor.”
• On an annual basis develop and execute multi-channel, philanthropic marketing campaigns, creating, designing, writing, and editing annual fund marketing and solicitation materials that engage, inspire and educate donors. Use a variety of modalities including print, digital, and in-person tactics that optimize donor acquisition and retention and increase dollars for annual fundraising activities.
• Employ the donor database and other technology to support and enhance annual giving efforts.
• Partner with the Associate Director, Stewardship & Volunteers to support a high-engagement, cultivation-first stewardship plan that improves retention and upgrades.
• Partner with the Associate Director, Advancement Operations to inform strategies, generate mailing lists, monitor appeal responses, analyze giving trends, and generate appropriate reports for review, discussion, and strategy.
• Oversee additional programs that support St. James’ mission, including employee giving, matching gifts, and institutional tax credit funder programs.
• Support overall Advancement efforts to engage prospects and donors.

Mid-Level Annual Giving

• Create and implement a mid-level giving strategy to encourage donors to upgrade to the $1,000 - $9,999 level by engaging, soliciting, and stewarding mid-level prospects and donors.
• Serve as Lead Fundraiser for donors within the $1,000-$9,999 annual giving range, maintaining a robust portfolio of 125-150 individuals that serves as a pipeline to major giving, planned giving, and tax credit programs.
• Cultivate meaningful donor connections that result in annual giving volunteers with whom you will partner to host annual small-scale cultivation events focused on mid-level donors.

Scholarship Benefit Event Management

• Provide oversight management and coordination for the annual Scholarship Benefit, a 300-person fundraising event that provides $500,000 in annual scholarship funds to St. James.
• Serve as primary liaison with supports within and outside of St. James to ensure an event that fully embodies the organization and taps all of the natural resources to ensure a successful event.
• Partner with the external marketing and design team on all event marketing materials.
• Devise the solicitation strategy and solicitation materials for fundraising event solicitations and serve as the primary solicitor on event sponsorships between $1,500 - $9,999, supporting other Gift Officers on their sponsorship solicitations when appropriate.
• Develop an attendance strategy, taking multiple audiences into account, and partnering with staff and volunteers to engage audiences and meet attendance goals.
• Manage, motivate, and evaluate the part-time Scholarship Benefit Event Planner contract role, who coordinates the day-to-day event logistics and serves as onsite support the day of the Scholarship Benefit.

Additional Duties

• Required participation in common life at St. James School (e.g., lunch, Mass, House Meetings, etc.).

Physical Requirements and Work Environment:

• Regularly works in standard office conditions and climate
• Regularly uses close and distance vision, including working at a computer screen for extended periods of time
• Frequently required to move around the office; works at a desk for extended periods of time; occasionally moves around campus
• Ability to occasionally move items weighing up to 30 lbs. across the office or campus
• Ability to regularly work flexible hours to support the team members with emergent and urgent items and to meet deadlines; position will require some non-traditional work hours, including evenings and weekends.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

St. James is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. St. James seeks to have the best available person in every job. St. James School policy prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, training, promotion, discipline, compensation, benefits, and termination of employment. All unlawful discrimination is expressly prohibited.

Commitment to Anti-Racism Education:

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

St. James School is committed to partnering with others to dismantle systemic racism and to build antiracist, multicultural diversity within our school community and beyond. Through teaching a more complete and unbiased history, St. James School will arm students, graduates and employees with the tools and knowledge to better engage in complex issues like systemic racism and privilege and to hopefully solve them rather than contribute to them.