Donor Relationship Specialist

Life.Church; Edmond (OK); On-site; USD 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

Casual dress and work environment

Job summary

Life.Church is seeking a Donor Relationship Specialist to nurture and expand mid-level donor engagement for YouVersion. You will maintain personalized contact, craft timely acknowledgments, and guide donors toward deeper involvement, while collaborating with the Donor Relations team to optimize stewardship activities.

The role emphasizes donor care, data accuracy in CRM, and strategic outreach to sustain loyalty and growth within a high-potential donor portfolio.

Qualifications

• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong relational skills to build authentic, long-term partnerships.
• Ability to self-motivate, make independent decisions, and solve problems with innovation.
• Extremely effective at multi-tasking and time management to meet strict deadlines while remaining flexible and open to change.
• Ability to cultivate and maintain meaningful donor relationships through personalized communication, consistent engagement, and thoughtful stewardship.

Responsibilities

• Maintain personalized contact with an assigned portfolio of mid-level donors.
• Send timely, warm gift acknowledgments, gratitude, and impact communications.
• Respond promptly and personally to donor inquiries and requests (manage generosity inbox).
• Recognize donor milestones such as giving anniversaries, birthdays, and cumulative giving thresholds.
• Recommend and support the handoff of qualifying donors to the Donor Relationship Manager.
• Develop and execute a stewardship plan for the assigned portfolio, including calls, notes, and event invitations.
• Support giving-tier upgrade campaigns and asks within the mid-level segment.
• Coordinate with the Director of Donor Relations and other team members on shared donor communications, events, and campaigns.
• Maintain donor records to ensure all are current and accurate in the CRM.
• Identify and act on opportunities to deepen donor engagement (event attendance, volunteer involvement, storytelling touch points).
• Monitor giving patterns to flag donors at risk of lapsing and proactively re-engage them.
• Track and report on portfolio-level metrics including retention rate, upgrade rate, and acknowledgment turnaround time.
• Partner with the team to invite mid-level donors into deeper giving, grounded in what they care about and the impact they’ve already made.

Skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Interpersonal skills

Relationship building

Time management

Problem solving

Self-motivation

Independent decision making

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

The Donor Relationship Specialist is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with mid-level YouVersion donors, a high-volume, high-potential donor segment that requires consistent, personal engagement at scale. They make every donor feel known and thanked, show them the real impact of their giving, and notice when someone is ready for a deeper relationship, guiding them toward their best next step.

YouVersion was created by the local church in 2007 and remains a ministry of Life.Church today. At Life.Church, our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Our team is committed to reaching people worldwide through innovative technology. And YouVersion is one of the ways we get to do that. Life.Church is a multi-site Christian church meeting in the United States and globally at Life.Church Online.

We wholeheartedly believe a daily rhythm of seeking intimacy with God has the power to transform lives. That’s why YouVersion creates biblically-based experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God. We hope everyone in our community is on an active journey to become who God made them to be, abiding in Him, and drawing closer every day.

What You'll Do

Maintain Donor Communication, Engagement, Stewardship, and Retention

• Maintain consistent, personalized contact with an assigned portfolio of mid-level donors.
• Send timely, warm gift acknowledgments, gratitude, and impact communciations.
• Respond promptly and personally to donor inquiries and requests (manage generosity inbox).
• Recognize donor milestones such as giving anniversaries, birthdays, and cumulative giving thresholds.
• Recommend and support the handoff of qualifying donors to the Donor Relationship Manager.
• Develop and execute a stewardship plan for the assigned portfolio, including calls, notes, and event invitations.
• Support giving-tier upgrade campaigns and asks within the mid-level segment.

Provide Donor Operations Support and Portfolio Insights

• Coordinate with the Director of Donor Relations and other team members on shared donor communications, events, and campaigns.
• Maintain donor records to ensure all are current and accurate in the CRM.
• Identify and act on opportunities to deepen donor engagement (event attendance, volunteer involvement, storytelling touch points).
• Monitor giving patterns to flag donors at risk of lapsing and proactively re-engage them.
• Track and report on portfolio-level metrics including retention rate, upgrade rate, and acknowledgment turnaround time.
• Partner with the team to invite mid-level donors into deeper giving, grounded in what they care about and the impact they’ve already made.

Skills Needed to Succeed

• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong relational skills with the ability to build authentic, long-term partnerships.
• Ability to self-motivate, make independent decisions, and solve problems with innovation.
• Extremely effective at multi-tasking and time management to meet strict deadlines while remaining flexible and open to change.
• Ability to cultivate and maintain meaningful donor relationships through personalized communication, consistent engagement, and thoughtful stewardship.
• High school diploma or GED.
• 0–3 years of experience in donor relations, relationship management, or a related field.

Benefits We Offer

• Paid parental leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
• Generous employer-paid leave for the use of vacation, sick time, and other qualifying reasons.
• Innovative and comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance that provides team members with useful resources and savings to navigate their holistic health.
• Life insurance policy provided for all staff members at 2x annual salary at no cost. Additional life insurance coverage is available to purchase.
• Short-Term and Long-Term disability is covered at 100% for full-time qualified staff members.
• Comprehensive wellness and mental health benefits allow staff to proactively invest in their physical and emotional health.
• Generous 401(k) retirement plan allowing a team member to have up to 12.5%(includingemployee contribution, employer match, and employer discretionary contribution) contributed into their account in their first year. It doesn’t stop there—the more years on staff, the greater the investment!
• $160 annually in development dollars for team members to invest in their professional growth.
• Casual dress and work environment.

Our Beliefs, Culture, and Commitment to Diversity

At Life.Church, every staff member, and intern is a minister and is expected to engage in the church's ministry fully. We consider ministry readiness and an individual’s capacity to represent Life.Church’s beliefs as a minister during the selection process for all staff and intern positions. An essential function within every position held by a staff member or intern at Life.Church is to uphold and represent the beliefs of Life.Church. Learn more about what we believe at Life.Church.

While we unite around our mission, we know unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Our calling is too great, and our mission is too important not to be intentional about strengthening our team through diversity. We know that diverse perspectives in race, ethnicity, background, age, and gender are essential to reaching the world for Christ. To learn more about how we strengthen our team through diversity, visit our careers page.

All data collected in our application process, from resume collection to application questions, is used for recruitment purposes only.