Manager of Annual Giving

Kenneth Young Center; Schaumburg (IL); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Kenneth Young Center is seeking a full-time Manager of Annual Giving to lead fundraising campaigns and donor stewardship. This role is crucial for securing philanthropic support and engaging individual and corporate donors.

The ideal candidate will have 3-5 years of fundraising experience, exceptional communication skills, and expertise in donor management and campaign execution. The position involves collaboration with various departments to align fundraising strategies with organizational goals.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3-5 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience.
• Demonstrated success in annual giving and fundraising campaigns.
• Strong storytelling skills focused on donor engagement.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute annual giving strategies to achieve revenue goals.
• Manage and analyze donor and fundraising data.
• Research and author grant applications and reports.

Skills

Fundraising experience

Donor stewardship

Written communication

Project management

Knowledge of nonprofit practices

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Donor database/CRM

Job description

DIVISION: DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Job Scope: The Manager of Annual Giving (MAG) is responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating annual fundraising strategies that generate sustainable philanthropic support for Kenneth Young Center. The position leads annual giving campaigns, donor stewardship, fundraising events, sponsorship development, donor communications, and moves management activities designed to acquire, retain, upgrade, and engage individual and corporate donors.

The Manager of Annual Giving plays a key role in building and managing the organization's donor pipeline, identifying prospective major donors, and creating meaningful donor experiences that strengthen long-term relationships and increase philanthropic investment. The position is responsible for executing revenue-generating activities including annual fund appeals, peer-to-peer fundraising, event fundraising, sponsorship solicitation, donor stewardship, and donor engagement communications.

Working closely with the Director of Development and Communications, Finance, program leadership, and the Manager of Media and Communications, the Manager of Annual Giving ensures fundraising strategies align with organizational priorities, mission impact, and stakeholder engagement goals.

The Manager of Annual Giving serves as an ambassador for Kenneth Young Center and actively cultivates relationships with donors, sponsors, volunteers, community leaders, and prospective supporters.

Annual Giving Responsibilities

• Develop and execute annual giving strategies to achieve revenue goals.
• Manage direct mail, email, digital, and year-end fundraising appeals.
• Develop donor segmentation strategies and targeted solicitation plans.
• Monitor campaign performance and recommend adjustments to maximize donor participation and revenue.
• Manage recurring giving and monthly donor programs.
• Track donor retention, acquisition, reactivation, and upgrade metrics.
• Identify, qualify, and research prospective major donors.
• Maintain donor moves-management plans and cultivation strategies.
• Coordinate donor meetings, site visits, and stewardship opportunities for leadership and board members.
• Prepare donor profiles, briefing materials, and gift proposals.

Corporate & Foundation Grants

• Research, author, and support the creation, editing, submission, and tracking of grant applications and reports.
• Coordinate with programs, finance, and media and communications staff to ensure reporting and funder recognition.

Donor Database

• Maintain donor database, pulling donor records, reports and mailing lists for fundraising, stewardship, and operational activities.
• Manage and analyze donor and fundraising data to improve efficiency, donor experience and event participation.

Development Communications (15-20%)

• Develop donor-centered fundraising and stewardship communications.
• Create campaign messaging, donor impact reports, appeal letters, and stewardship material.
• Collaborate with the Manager of Media and Communications to ensure brand consistency and effective donor engagement.
• Support storytelling efforts that demonstrate mission impact and donor outcomes.
• Donor & Stakeholder-Focused Newsletters (External)
• Determine messaging priorities and produce external stakeholder-facing newsletter content including organizational and programmatic updates, fundraising updates, campaign appeals, event invitations and recaps, and donor impact stories.
• Coordinate with the MoMC to ensure consistent tone, branding, and formatting.

Performance Expectations

• Measurable outcomes in:
• Donor Retention Rate
• Donor Acquisition
• Recurring Donor Growth
• Event Revenue
• Sponsorship Revenue
• Number of Major Gift Prospects Identified
• Donor Stewardship Touchpoints CompletedCampaign ROI
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee regularly works in an office setting.
• Travel between offices, meeting outside of Illinois and to other locations in the community will happen on a regular basis
• At times it will be necessary to attend meetings and events in the evening and on weekends

Physical Demands

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands and fingers to handle, feel or operate objects, tools or controls, and to reach with hands and arms. The employee is frequently required to stand, talk and hear.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 3 -5 years of progressively responsible fundraising experience.
• Demonstrated success in annual giving, donor stewardship, fundraising campaigns, sponsorship development, and event fundraising.
• Experience using donor database/CRMs and fundraising analytics.
• Strong written communication and donor-centered storytelling skills.
• Experience managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
• Knowledge of nonprofit fundraising best practices and donor lifecycle management.

Chain of Authority

• Reports to the Director of Development and Communications

Schedule

• Full-time, Salary, Exempt, 37.5 hours per week.
• May include - Ability to work beyond traditional working hours and schedules (travel, evening and weekend events and/or meetings).
• Time Keeping – Accurately record hours worked in the electronic timekeeping system (daily when possible) in accordance with the timekeeping policy and practice.

Kenneth Young Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer