Donor Relations Specialist

The Salvation Army Greater New York Division; New York (NY); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Salvation Army Greater New York Division seeks an entry-level Donor Relations Specialist to join a professional fundraising team in NYC. You will manage a large portfolio of mid-level donors, cultivate relationships, and guide strategies toward major gifts, leveraging direct mail, phone outreach, and events.

You will collaborate with marketing, major gifts, and gift planning teams, requiring strong communication, data skills, and travel across the region to support fundraising goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; 2–3 years of work experience preferred.
• Direct donor interaction experience and fundraising requests.
• Strong written and verbal communication, presentation, and organizational skills.
• Advanced Excel data analytics and Salesforce proficiency.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and collaborate across teams.
• Willingness to travel regionally and nationally as needed.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of up to 450 mid-level donors and 150 prospects.
• Build relationships via calls, emails, visits, events and mailings.
• Develop engagement plans to grow giving and transition to major gifts.
• Collaborate with Major Gifts leadership to set annual goals and track progress.
• Handle donor acknowledgments, proposals and mailings.
• Conduct prospect research and maintain donor records in Salesforce.
• Coordinate with marketing, gift planning, and development teams.
• Attend trainings and regional/national meetings as required.
• Support evening and weekend fundraising events.
• Stay updated on best practices in mid-level donor management.

Skills

Donor relations

Communication skills

Relationship building

Data analytics

Team collaboration

Organization

Project management

Public speaking

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Salesforce

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

The Salvation Army is the largest provider of social services and second largest provider of disaster relief in the United States. The Greater New York Division covers New York City, Long Island, Westchester, and the Lower Hudson Valley. Within Greater New York, The Salvation Army operates 38 community centers, dozens of soup kitchens, and food pantries, three homeless shelters, eight homes for developmentally disabled adults, and three drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, among numerous other programs catering to community needs, such as free daycare, after school programming, and seniors’ activities.

Reporting to the Director of Major Gifts, the Donor Relations Specialist is an excellent opportunity for an entry-level fundraiser to join a professional fundraising team. Managing a portfolio of 450 Mid-Level donors ($500 - $4,999 annually), this role has a goal of retaining and upgrading donors, creating a pipeline to major gifts or gift planning. The Donor Relations Specialist will determine meaningful annual fundraising and marketing strategies, utilizing direct mail, personal written outreach, phone calls, virtual and in-person visits, and events to ensure that fundraising goals are met and/or exceeded. The position will collaborate closely with marketing, major gifts, and gift planning teams both at the divisional and territorial level to cultivate and nurture strong bonds and relationships with The Salvation Army.

The candidate must live locally in the New York City metro area and work in-person from the Headquarters office in Manhattan. Occasional travel throughout the region for site visits and training is mandatory. Flexibility to attend occasional fundraising or community events in the evenings and on weekends is required.

Responsibilities:

• Strategically manage a portfolio of up to 450 Mid-Level donors and a pipeline of 150 prospects from identification and research through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship as part of a larger fundraising plan.
• Build relationships with current and lapsed mid-level donors via phone calls, personalized email communications, ongoing written contact, virtual and in-person meetings, site visits, and events.
• Establish strategic engagement plans to retain and increase donors’ annual level of giving and transition to major gift or gift planning portfolios when appropriate.
• Collaborate with the Director of Major Gifts to establish clear and measurable annual fundraising goals and track progress to revenue and engagement goals.
• Administrative duties relating to the role, including writing, printing, and mailing acknowledgement letters, proposals, holiday cards, etc.
• Complete prospect research to identify potential mid-level donors.
• Maintain up-to-date records for all donor interactions in the Salesforce database.
• Collaborate with peers across corporate, foundation, direct mail, major gifts, gift planning, and marketing teams to ensure comprehensive strategies for the entire donor lifecycle.
• Collaborate with all community relations and development staff, officers, and programmatic teams at divisional, territorial, and national levels, participating in meetings and trainings as necessary.
• Communicate effectively with the territorial team and attend required monthly webinars.
• Collaborate on creative design, messaging, and data segmentation for Mid-Level prospect mailings.
• Act as primary contact for incoming phone calls and email requests from Mid-Level donors, soliciting feedback and tracking responses in the Salesforce database.
• Stay abreast of industry best-practices in Mid-Level donor management and implement applicable innovations to the program.
• Participate in professional development opportunities.
• Other duties and activities as requested or assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of two to three years of work experience.
• A high level of comfort with direct donor interaction, including discussions of personal and family finances and asking for money.
• Clear and persuasive written and verbal communication, presentation, and organizational skills.
• Excellent computer skills, with the ability to manage complex Excel spreadsheets for data analytics, create visually appealing PowerPoint decks, and work within several databases including becoming proficient in Salesforce.
• Effective interpersonal skills and proven expertise in building and maintaining positive relationships with diverse individuals.
• Adept at working as a part of team, often sharing pieces of larger projects with colleagues.
• Detail oriented, able to manage multiple projects simultaneously, and driven to achieve success independently and as part of a team.
• Strong initiative to identify and complete tasks independently.
• Flexibility, with the understanding that we need to be creative on our approach to projects and occasionally support our colleagues on projects that benefit the team and the mission as a whole.
• Professional and positive manner.
• Occasional regional and national travel is mandatory.