Individual Giving Manager

Breathe Project; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

Unlimited PTO

13 holidays

Simple IRA 3% match

Job summary

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) is seeking an Individual Giving Manager to build and lead the organization's donor program. You will develop fundraising appeals, manage donor stewardship, and maintain the donor database, driving growth in individual giving.

This foundational role works with the CEO and Board to establish strategies, leverage technology, and scale engagement across donor segments and campaigns.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred or equivalent experience.
• 2–4+ years fundraising experience, with donor relations focus.
• Experience using a donor database/CRM for data entry, segmentation, and gifts.
• Ability to plan and execute donor communications and appeals.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to build processes from scratch.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret fundraising data.
• Excellent written communication and adaptable messaging.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement an annual giving strategy and campaigns.
• Manage donor stewardship and portfolio relationships across levels.
• Lead donor data maintenance, segmentation, and reporting in the CRM.
• Collaborate with CEO and Board on donor engagement and major gifts.
• Coordinate multi-channel solicitation plans (mail, email, online).
• Evaluate appeals, track progress, and adjust strategies accordingly.
• Partner with communications to craft donor-centered messaging.

Skills

Fundraising

Donor relations

Donor communications

Campaign management

Data analysis

Project coordination

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred

Tools

CRM software

Bloomerang

Job description

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Location: Hybrid

Salary: 55,000–65,000, commensurate with experience

Position Summary

The Individual Giving Manager is a new position created to build and lead the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council’s (GPAC) individual giving program. GPAC has set ambitious fundraising goals, and this role is central to achieving them. The Individual Giving Manager will develop and execute annual fundraising appeals, manage donor stewardship, maintain the donor database, and build the systems and donor relationships needed to sustain and grow individual support over time.

This is a foundational role, offering a real opportunity to build GPAC's individual giving program from the ground up — developing strategy, implementing creative and innovative tactics, shaping donor data practices, and leveraging technology for efficiency and effectiveness.

The Individual Giving Manager will work collaboratively with the CEO and the organization’s board of directors to build donor relationships and gain momentum in GPAC's individual giving efforts.

Primary Responsibilities

Individual Giving Strategy & Execution

• Implement and conduct ongoing evaluation of GPAC’s multi-year plan for individual giving, including identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies.
• Develop work plans for each solicitation strategy with timelines and assigned responsibility to ensure effective implementation. Solicitations will include, but are not limited to, direct mail, online giving, giving days, recurring gifts, and peer-to-peer fundraising, and will grow to incorporate board giving, mid-level, major, and planned gifts.
• Apply GPAC's case for support consistently across appeals, the online donation page, acknowledgment letters, talking points and all communication channels.
• Analyze and report appeal and campaign performance and donor giving trends to inform strategy decisions.
• Track and report progress toward GPAC's individual giving goals and flag course corrections as needed.
• Leverage the CEO, Board and Development Committee members to extend fundraising efforts, identify prospective supporters, and build relationships with prospects and donors.
• Work with the Board President and Development Committee to plan and implement solicitation of annual board gifts.
• Establish and manage a portfolio of major gift prospects. Assign prospects and strategy steps to the CEO and board members as appropriate. Conduct regular portfolio review meetings and ensure reports of all contacts and gifts are entered into the donor database in a timely manner.
• Support Board Members in their individual fundraising commitments, providing, as needed, prospect review, strategy development, training, tools, and support.
• Develop and implement cultivation and solicitation strategies to generate individual support through smart giving avenues - non-cash charitable donations such as, but not limited to, appreciated stocks, donor-advised funds, or IRA distributions, including Qualified Charitable Distributions/QCDs - designed to maximize philanthropic impact while significantly reducing tax liabilities. Partner with the communications team to develop the necessary outreach and marketing tools.
• Support the membership-to-donor pipeline, help identify members with individual giving potential, and plan appropriate cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.
• Develop and implement strategies to grow the number of individual donors supporting GPAC. Build and execute multichannel acquisition campaigns across digital, mail, and events.
• Plan and build the infrastructure needed to support a planned giving program focused on bequests and beneficiary designations. Partner with the communications team to develop the outreach and marketing tools needed.
• Stay informed on emerging trends and best practices in individual giving and donor engagement and apply relevant approaches.

Donor Database (CRM) Management

• Manage GPAC's donor database by establishing data-entry procedures and maintaining ongoing data hygiene. Handle all gift processing, report generation, segmentation, and data preparation for mailings.
• Oversee a timely, personalized, donor-centered acknowledgment process across all giving levels.
• Build and maintain donor segmentation by giving level, donor type, and lapse status to support targeted cultivation, solicitation and stewardship efforts.
• Use data to drive outreach and community engagement.
• Maintain accurate, up-to-date donor records to support moves management and reporting for major gifts.
• Develop simple dashboards or reports to track fundraising progress and donor engagement over time. Provide reports for the Development Committee and Board of Directors meetings.

Donor Cultivation & Stewardship

• Lead day-to-day stewardship and continued development of GPAC's donor recognition program.
• Utilize technology to build and implement a new donor welcome series for first-time donors.
• Partner with the CEO and communications team to develop donor-centered messaging across all communication channels, allowing supporters to clearly understand the impact of their gifts.
• Work collaboratively with the communications team to develop and implement a communications/marketing plan focused on donor acquisition, solicitation, cultivation, and stewardship, including donor recognition opportunities.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 2–4+ years of professional fundraising experience, with direct experience in individual giving, annual fund, or donor relations.
• Experience using a donor database/CRM, including data entry, segmentation, and gift processing.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and execute donor communications and appeals (direct mail, email, and/or digital).
• Strong organizational skills and comfort building processes and systems from scratch.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret fundraising data and donor trends to inform strategy.
• Excellent written communication skills, including comfort adapting messaging for different donor audiences and channels.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with the CEO and, where relevant, the board.

Preferred

• Experience working in or with a small nonprofit development shop, ideally in the arts or a service/membership-based organization.
• Familiarity with donor moves management and portfolio-based fundraising.
• Experience with donor segmentation and file cleanup/de-duplication projects.
• Interest in or exposure to smart and planned giving fundamentals (bequests, QCDs, DAF grants).
• Familiarity with AI tools and their practical applications in fundraising, such as donor research, donor segmentation, communications drafting, or data analysis.
• Familiarity with Bloomerang or similar donor database/CRM platforms.

Defining Success

The successful candidate is:

• Detail-oriented and highly organized, with strong follow-through.
• Comfortable building new systems and processes from the ground up.
• A clear, warm communicator, able to adapt messaging for different donor audiences.
• Genuinely motivated by relationship-building and donor stewardship.
• A resourceful problem-solver who works well independently and collaboratively.
• Curious and proactive about learning new tools and fundraising best practices.

Within the first year, the Individual Giving Manager will:

• Establish a clean, well-organized donor database with clear segmentation and documented data procedures.
• Build strong working relationships with the CEO and, where relevant, the board.
• Begin actively managing a defined portfolio of individual donors.
• Execute at least one full appeal cycle using GPAC's case for support.
• Establish a regular cadence of progress reporting on individual giving performance.

Working at the Arts Council

Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt salaried position. Occasional weekend and evening work may be necessary. Salary is posted at 55,000–65,000, commensurate with experience. Benefits include health, vision, and dental insurance. Unlimited paid time off and thirteen (13) holidays. The Arts Council offers a Simple IRA with a 3% company match.

Primarily Remote Workplace

Work for this position primarily occurs remotely, with required in-person staff meetings once a week. It is important for employees to have access to reliable transportation, whether that be a personal vehicle or consistent access to public transportation. Employees are provided an organization-issued laptop for the duration of employment. When working remotely, you are expected to maintain a high-speed Internet connection supporting collaborative work, such as Zoom meetings. All full‑time staff members receive a monthly stipend to support remote work.

Our Culture

We pride ourselves on creating a fun, flexible, and creative work environment at the Arts Council. We encourage our staff to come as they are – whether in your new favorite band t‑shirt, being accompanied by your pets in our Zoom meetings, or sharing your passions outside of work. The Arts Council is dedicated to uplifting all voices, and decisions are often made as a full team. Our employees are open, supportive, and inclusive. A passion for the arts is a must.