Donor Engagement & Grants Manager

Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center; Sandy Springs (GA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center in Atlanta, GA is seeking a thoughtful, organized Development professional to serve as Donor Engagement & Grants Manager. You will drive donor communications, stewardship, and foundation relations, while tracking gifts and commitments with accuracy and care.

Working with the Director of Development, you will engage donors through appeals, updates, and events, and support grant proposals, reports, and grant management to sustain Ignatius House’s mission.

Qualifications

• Approximately 2–4 years of nonprofit development experience.
• Experience in fundraising, grant writing, donor communications, or related fields.
• Strong writing and relationship-building abilities.

Responsibilities

• Engage and steward donors through appeals, updates, letters, and impact stories.
• Support foundation and grant relationships, including proposals and reports.
• Maintain accurate donor records, pledge tracking, and reconciliations with Finance.
• Coordinate donor events and collaborate with Marketing for donor-facing materials.
• Prepare and manage project timelines, deadlines, and milestones.

Skills

Excellent writing

Grant processes

Organizational skills

Donor databases

Bloomerang

Interpersonal skills

Project management

Independent collaboration

Education

Nonprofit development experience

Fundraising background

Tools

Bloomerang

MS Excel

Job description

Ignatius House seeks a thoughtful, creative, and highly organized development professional to join our team as Donor Engagement & Grants Manager

For more than 65 years, Ignatius House has offered a place of peace, reflection, and spiritual renewal on 20 wooded acres along the Chattahoochee River. Rooted in the tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola, our ministry welcomes people from a wide range of faith traditions and backgrounds who are seeking greater clarity, meaning, healing, and connection with God.

The Donor Engagement & Grants Manager will help strengthen the relationships and resources that make this ministry possible. Working closely with the Director of Development, this person will play a meaningful role in donor communications and stewardship, fundraising appeals, foundation and grant relationships, donor events, and the careful tracking of gifts and commitments.

This is an opportunity for a development professional who enjoys both storytelling and stewardship, relationships and details — someone who can communicate the impact of a mission with warmth and clarity while also ensuring that the systems behind that work are accurate, timely, and well cared for.

What You’ll Do

Engage and Steward Donors

At Ignatius House, fundraising begins with relationship.

You will help us communicate thoughtfully with the people who sustain this ministry — through fundraising appeals, donor updates, acknowledgement letters, impact stories, stewardship communications, and special initiatives.

You will work with the Director of Development to strengthen donor retention, renewal, and engagement, helping ensure that donors are thanked well, informed about the impact of their generosity, and invited into deeper relationship with Ignatius House.

You will also help steward commitments from our recently completed capital campaign and support the preparation of Ignatius House’s annual report.

Grow Foundation and Grant Support

You will help strengthen and expand Ignatius House’s foundation and institutional giving program.

This includes researching prospective funders, identifying opportunities that align with our mission and programs, preparing letters of inquiry and grant proposals, coordinating application materials, tracking deadlines, and completing reports and stewardship.

The role offers an opportunity not simply to maintain an existing grants calendar, but to help thoughtfully grow this area of support over time.

Care for the Details Behind the Relationships

You will help maintain accurate records of gifts, pledges, donor relationships, and commitments in Bloomerang and supporting spreadsheets. You will track pledge schedules, prepare reports and mailing lists, monitor fundraising progress, and work closely with Finance to ensure gifts are recorded and reconciled accurately.

We are looking for someone who sees this work not simply as administration, but as another form of stewardship: caring well for the information donors have entrusted to us and ensuring that commitments are honored on both sides.

Create Thoughtful Donor Experiences

Ignatius House hosts gatherings throughout the year that allow us to thank donors, share the story of the ministry, and deepen relationships.

You will help coordinate these events from invitation through follow-up, working with colleagues across Ignatius House to manage guest communications, RSVPs, timelines, event materials, and the many details that help people feel genuinely welcomed.

You will also collaborate with our Marketing and Communications team and outside vendors to produce donor-facing materials for appeals, events, stewardship, and other development initiatives.

What You’ll Bring

We are looking for someone with approximately 2–4 years of experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, grant writing, donor communications, or a related field.

The strongest candidates will bring:

• Excellent writing skills, with the ability to communicate in a way that is clear, warm, specific, and honest about impact.
• Experience with grant processes, including proposal preparation, submission logistics, and/or post-award reporting.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and priorities.
• A genuine care for accuracy and the discipline to keep donor records, pledge tracking, and reconciliations current.
• Comfort working with spreadsheets, donor databases, and fundraising data; experience with Bloomerang is a plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues across an organization.
• Initiative, sound judgment, and the ability to move work forward independently.
• A willingness to move comfortably between creative and relational work and detailed, deadline-driven execution.

Why Ignatius House?

Ignatius House is a place where the work itself is closely connected to the mission.

The people who come here may be seeking rest after a difficult season, greater clarity about a decision, deeper spiritual life, or simply a place to be quiet. The donors and foundations who support Ignatius House make those experiences possible — including scholarships, programs, spiritual direction, care of our campus, and the ongoing ministry of retreat.

As a member of the Development team, you will have the opportunity to see the impact of your work firsthand and to help others understand why this place matters.

Our approach is rooted in the Ignatian tradition of attentiveness, reflection, hospitality, and care for the whole person. You do not need to be Catholic to work at Ignatius House. We welcome colleagues who respect our Jesuit and Catholic identity and who are drawn to work that serves people with compassion, dignity, and care.

You will join a collaborative team, take meaningful ownership of your work, and help shape the next chapter of donor engagement and grant development at Ignatius House.

About Ignatius House

Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center provides a sacred place of peace and quiet and offers the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola to facilitate an encounter with God that leads to willing and loving service of others.