Donor Relations Officer

Humane Society of Southern Arizona; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona is seeking a Donor Relations Officer to manage a diverse portfolio of donors, cultivating gifts ranging from $500 to $5,000 annually and advancing donor engagement across departments.

This role combines frontline fundraising with back‑office support, including gift processing, CRM updates, reports, and donor recognition activities, while building strong relationships to increase philanthropic support.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of nonprofit donor management.
• Experience cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Proficiency with CRM and MS Office.

Responsibilities

• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a donor portfolio.
• Manage a portfolio of up to 500 donors contributing $500–$5,000 annually.
• Coordinate donor outreach via visits, calls, tours, and mail.
• Prepare donor briefings and advance CRM documentation.
• Oversee donor recognition programs and reports.

Skills

Donor relations

Portfolio management

Fundraising

CRM

Communication

Bilingual English/Spanish

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Job description

EOE Statement It is the policy of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, Inc. to provide all persons with equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information, or any other factor protected by law.

Category Development

Description

Job Summary

The Donor Relations Officer is responsible for the identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors supporting the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. The Donor Relations Officer manages an active portfolio of donors and prospects while developing a pipeline of new donors to advance HSSA‘s strategic goals. They are responsible for cultivating gifts and work collaboratively across departments to strengthen donor engagement, increase philanthropic support, and enhance overall donor experience. Beyond these frontline duties, this position spends approximately 45% of their time working closely with Development and Finance colleagues to provide essential back‑of‑house administrative support to the Development Office. They serve as a backup to Development Coordinator, implement HSSA’s donor‑recognition program, manage the vehicle‑donation program, and lead development volunteers in essential donor stewardship tasks.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Trains and directs assigned volunteers

Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the supervision of the Director of Development, contribute to Development revenue goals and implementing approved fundraising procedures.
• Cultivate and manage a portfolio of up to 500 individual, foundation, and corporate donors who contribute $500–$5,000 annually with responsibility for solicitation, stewardship, retention, renewal, follow-up, and CRM documentation.
• Identify, research, and qualify prospective individual donors and develop strategies for cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Conduct identification and research work to prepare donor briefings for other frontline development team members and leadership.
• Build and maintain an active pipeline of new donors through relationship‑building, networking, and prospect identification.
• Conduct donor outreach through personal visits, phone calls, tours, written correspondence, and digital communications.
• Facilitate face‑to‑face meetings with donors and prospects to strengthen relationships and encourage philanthropic support.
• Ensure timely and meaningful stewardship activities, including donor acknowledgments, recognition, impact reporting, and ongoing engagement.
• Assist the Director of Development, board of directors, volunteer fundraisers, and other stakeholders with advancement activities.
• Monitor and manage incoming bequest intentions, triaging the appropriate staff member for follow‑up and stewardship, or personally managing stewardship.
• Provide regular communication and exceptional customer service to donors at all giving
  levels over the phone, in writing, and in‑person.
• Own and manage the donor recognition program, coordinating impact reports
  and ensuring donors receive promised recognition and are notified of their recognition
  being displayed.
• Own and manage the acknowledgement and stewardship of donors who give through alternative revenue streams such as CARS, employee giving, matching programs, etc.
• Conduct donor engagement tours on campus.

• Maintain accurate donor records and interactions within HSSA’s constituent relationship management (CRM) system.
• Partner with the Marketing team to obtain approved stories, campaign materials, etc. to personalize donor outreach.
• Coordinate with outside vendors to ensure the timely and accurate creation of
  development deliverables.
• Support the planning and execution of special events, donor tours, and other donor‑facing activities.
• Produce and run reports, mail lists, donor research, giving trends, and analysis.
• Train and manage development volunteers in tasks such as donor entry, event
  preparation and execution, and thank‑you calls.
• Assist with processing daily donations, entering donor and donation information into
  CRM, and related computer databases and applications.
• Understand and abide by HSSA’s gift acceptance policies.
• Represent HSSA in a professional and positive manner.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions or qualifications associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change, for example, emergencies, changes in personnel, workload, rush jobs, or technological breakdowns in departments.

Position Requirements

Required Skills and Abilities

• Strong customer service and front‑of‑house experience.
• Proven track record in fundraising and relationship management.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to gather logistical details and develop fundraising strategies.
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office software suite, especially Word, Outlook, and Excel.
• Bilingual proficiency in written and oral English and Spanish preferred.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in nonprofit donor management.
• Demonstrated success in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donors.
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive donor information with a high level of accuracy, confidentiality, discretion, and sound judgment.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a cross‑functional environment, building effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience volunteering or working with an animal welfare organization preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Sedentary office environment; Long periods of sitting required.
• Work is performed in a shelter or community environment.
• Must be able to handle animals of various sizes and temperaments.
• Exposure to zoonotic diseases, loud noises, and outdoor weather conditions is common.

Full‑Time/Part‑Time Full‑Time

Temporary

Referral Source

Position Donor Relations Officer 2026

Close Date

Number of Openings 1

Exempt/Non‑Exempt Exempt

Hiring Manager(s) Jennifer BUCHANAN

Location Humane Society of Southern AZ

About the Organization

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA), founded in 1944, is a private, independent, non‑profit 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization with the mission of acting with compassion and responsible stewardship through innovative programs that serve pets and the people who love them. HSSA is the largest charitable animal welfare and protection agency in Southern Arizona with 100+ employees and 1300 volunteers. In 2018, HSSA moved into a new state‑of the‑art animal shelter and spay/neuter clinic.

Vision: A community in which all pets are cared for and loved

As staff of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, we pledge to be committed to our team as we are to the organizations mission. We will foster a compassionate environment for each other, our volunteers, and the human and animal clients we serve; empowering one another with knowledge, empathy, encouragement and recognition. We aim to eliminate negativity, support positive and effective communication, promote individual and organizational growth, and work as a cohesive team at all times regardless of tenure, position or department.

HSSA values and and champions diversity and inclusion. these values are part of who we are. Together we will continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our HSSA team and teh communities we serve.

This position is currently accepting applications.