Vice President, Campaign Engagement & Stewardship

National Geographic; United States; On-site; USD 209,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Wellness programs

Job summary

National Geographic is looking for a Vice President of Campaign Engagement & Stewardship to oversee donor engagement strategies and stewardship initiatives. This role requires 15+ years of experience in nonprofit advancement and strong project management skills. The successful applicant will lead a team of approximately 10 staff, ensuring alignment of resources and workflows to enhance donor experiences. With a salary range of $209,000 - $220,000, the position offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of work experience in nonprofit advancement.
• 7+ years of management experience.
• Skilled at collaborating across multiple departments.

Responsibilities

• Spearhead strategic integration of donor recognition frameworks.
• Manage the Campaign Engagement & Stewardship budget.
• Drive departmental ROI by aligning strategies and resources.

Skills

Collaboration

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Donor lifecycle marketing

Strategic vision communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Job description

****How You’ll Contribute****The Advancement team cultivates, solicits, and stewards individuals, as well as foundation, government and corporate partners who invest in the Society to drive impact through science, technology, education, exploration, and storytelling. The team collaborates with Society teams – and often works closely with NGP/Disney – to build transformative and impact-driven strategic partnerships. The team also produces global events that deepen connections and leverage the Society’s power to convene, and directs robust annual, major and planned giving programs empowering the Society with a broad base of public support. Reporting to the Chief Advancement Officer, the Vice President, Campaign Engagement & Stewardship provides enterprise leadership for donor engagement, volunteer leadership strategy, and stewardship excellence across the Advancement division. As the Society prepares for and executes a major multi‐year comprehensive campaign, this role is responsible for integrating volunteer leadership engagement and donor recognition frameworks, ensuring the seamless delivery of high‐touch stewardship, cultivation, and recognition experiences that advance campaign and fundraising priorities. The Vice President will serve as a senior integrator and culture‐setter, cultivating a service‐oriented, partnership‐first approach across Advancement that aligns programmatic storytelling, resource allocation, and engagement strategies with donor needs and institutional priorities. Responsibilities include close collaboration with executive leadership and peer Vice Presidents to ensure unified brand alignment, effective cross‐functional workflows, and measurable return on investment across high‐stakes donor initiatives.**Your Impact******Responsibilities Include:********Enterprise Campaign Engagement & Stewardship Strategy (40%)***** Spearhead the strategic integration of volunteer leadership engagement and donor recognition frameworks, ensuring a seamless, high‐touch experience across campaign phases, giving societies, and donor segments.* Provide executive oversight for stewardship and engagement strategies supporting the Board of Trustees, Advancement Committee, and principal donors.* Manage the Campaign Engagement & Stewardship budget, ensuring investments in recognition, engagement, and stewardship deliver measurable value and align with campaign priorities.* Ensure the development and delivery of sophisticated stewardship and cultivation materials that reinforce donor confidence, gratitude, and long‐term commitment.****Collaboration and Brand Alignment (35%)***** Cultivate a service‐oriented culture across Advancement, reinforcing a partnership‐first approach to programmatic storytelling, donor engagement, and internal collaboration.* Partner with peer Advancement Vice Presidents to prioritize high‐impact fundraising activities, align messaging, and bridge silos to maximize effectiveness.* Collaborate closely with executive leadership, the Vice President of Partnership Marketing and the Vice President of Integrated Brand Marketing to ensure a seamless transition and unified brand alignment across all high‐stakes donor collateral, engagement experiences, and recognition materials.* Serve as a senior advisor to the Chief Advancement Officer on donor engagement strategy, stewardship investments, and organizational alignment.****Operational Effectiveness & Project Management Oversight (25%)***** Drive departmental ROI by aligning engagement strategies, resources, and workflows with Advancement priorities and campaign outcomes.* Provide leadership oversight of the Project Management (PM) function, ensuring predictable execution, clear prioritization, leadership visibility, and disciplined delivery across Advancement initiatives.* Partner with PM leadership and senior directors to optimize workflows, manage capacity, reduce operational risk, and scale effective practices.* Ensure Advancement leaders and teams are focused on donors and strategy (not logistics) through strong systems, accountability, and execution discipline.****What You’ll Bring********Educational Background****Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.****Minimum Years and Type of Experience****15+ years’ work experience in nonprofit advancement. 7+ years of management experience.****Necessary Knowledge and Skills***** Demonstrated success in leading within a collaborative, service-oriented Advancement environment, aligning stewardship, engagement, storytelling and operations of a non-profit organization.* Understanding of donor lifecycle marketing and the ability to develop tailored strategies for diverse audience segments.* Strong understanding of how stewardship, engagement, messaging and operational discipline intersect to support fundraising outcomes with proven experience leading the end-to-end development and execution of compelling, multi-channel campaign creative that aligns to overall brand voice and strategic goals.* Excellent project management and organizational skills, and the ability to prioritize, delegate, and foster accountability work in a fast-paced, evolving environment.* The ideal candidate can translate a strategic vision into compelling content that acts as the vital link between a brand platform and concrete fundraising objectives.* Commitment to the mission of NGS – must adhere to the highest ethical standards, demonstrate an empathetic disposition and perseverance, and convey sensitivity to the needs of donors, staff and volunteers.* Skilled at collaborating across multiple departments in a complex organization.* Excellent attention to details and follow through as demonstrated through effective project management experience.* Strong executive-level communication skills, with the ability to influence, align and advise senior stakeholders.* Presents a high degree of sophistication, self-confidence and self-motivation – ability to keep calm under pressure.* Comfort multi-tasking multiple deadlines and projects and follow through.****Desired Qualifications***** Exceptional ability to synthesize complex information and guide decision-making across multiple stakeholders exercising a high degree of initiative, judgment, discretion, and decision-making to achieve organizational objectives.* Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a goal-oriented team environment.* Ability to exercise sound judgment independently when responding to inquiries and interacting with high-net-worth donors, volunteers and staff.* Strong personal and professional integrity.* Experience managing and developing senior leaders and a varying range of other NGS staff.* Experience partnering with project management functions to drive predictable execution and leadership visibility* Background in large‐scale campaigns or transformational fundraising initiatives strongly preferred.****Supervision****3 direct reports, supervising a team of approximately 10 staff**Salary Information**The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry-specific market data for similar-sized nonprofit organizations.The salary range for this position accounts for a wide range of factors including but not limited to organizational need; specific skill sets; experience and training; certifications; and more. At the National Geographic Society, individuals are typically hired at or near the starting point of the salary range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.The salary range for this position is $209,000.00 - $220,000.00.In addition, the National Geographic Society offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, medical, dental, and vision insurance; engaging and comprehensive wellness