General Description

 Reporting directly to the Director of Stewardship, the Donor Stewardship Associate supports all aspects of the Philanthropy Department’s stewardship and cultivation efforts for high-value donors and prospects in order to broaden and deepen the relationship of our donors to The Wilderness Society.  The Donor Stewardship Associate will play a critical role on a four-person team dedicated to developing and providing a comprehensive and robust stewardship and cultivation program.  The Associate will be primarily responsible for managing the in-house acknowledgment process, ensuring that donors are thanked graciously and in a timely manner.  They will be responsible for managing processes around large mailing projects, maintaining updated donor information, and will a vital part of ensuring strong attention to detail is utilized in communicating with donors, including major donors, planned giving donors, corporate and foundation donors, mid-level donors, and other special donor audiences. 

This position plays an important role in supporting an inclusive organizational culture that is grounded in trust and accountability to shared goals and outcomes.  TWS has made diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic priorities for the organization and the Donor Stewardship Associate will integrate these priorities throughout our his/her daily work.  Across our team, we aspire to be campaign oriented, nimble, collaborative, innovative, transparent, and supportive of staff – our greatest asset. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for the daily oversight of the in-house acknowledgement process including, but not limited to major donors, foundations, corporations, mid-level and high dollar members, tribute gifts, matching gifts, and other special gift types. 
  • Reviews and configures all data lists on a weekly basis;
  • Drafts all general acknowledgement templates and refreshes templates on regular basis to ensure content reflects current victories and TWS priorities;
  • Develops personalized acknowledgement content when necessary;
  • Produces and mails all acknowledgement letters accurately and in a timely manner;
  • Provides other ad hoc and replacement acknowledgments as necessary. 
• Serves as project lead on all large-scale stewardship and cultivation efforts, including but not limited to:
  • Developing project timelines for all stages of our in-house efforts and ensuring the project deadlines are met;
  • Working with Strategic Operations and other teams within Philanthropy to manage the development and review of donor mailing and invite lists;
  • Tracking material reviews and approvals for mailing content and invitations;
  • Tracking donor RSVPs for events and supporting day-of event execution;
  • Coordinating across Philanthropy teams to ensure timely donor follow up and accurate record keeping of all donor interactions with TWS.
• Conducts thank you calls and writes thank you notes to high value donors (mid-level, planned giving donors, etc.) as needed, maintaining notes on calls and further helping to develop donor relationships. 
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience, Competencies, and Education

• 2-4 years’ experience working in an office environment.  Experience with both customer service and project management a plus.
• Excellent time management, interpersonal, writing, and organizational skills.
• Adept at working with donor or customer databases.  Experience with Team Approach desirable.  
• Ability to work independently and also as a productive member of a team, in a fast-paced environment. 
• Track record working successfully in teams representing a rich mix of talent, backgrounds, and perspectives—across race and gender. 
• Ability to prioritize and move tasks along but also understand when to bring in additional resources.
• Ability to multi-task and maintain attention to detail and accuracy. 
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly with Excel. 

Desired Characteristics

• Strong customer service mindset.  Ability to work with all levels of internal management and staff as well as outside vendors and donors.

• Adept at anticipating the needs of others.

 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.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell.  The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is not exposed to adverse weather conditions.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of this position and it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of experience, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.

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