The Peddie School seeks an experienced development and communications professional for the position of Director of Donor Relations. The successful candidate will actively shape and elevate the culture of philanthropy by ensuring all donors understand the impact of their giving and feel appreciated.

This is an exciting time at Peddie as we complete the public phase of the One Peddie Campaign, an $80+ million comprehensive campaign rooted in the school’s four strategic priorities and currently in the public phase. One of the most important stewardship efforts in the school’s history, the One Peddie Campaign is focused on doubling the annual fund and raising endowed funds for scholarship, faculty and programs, as well as capital funds for arts and athletics.

Reporting to the Assistant Head for Development, the Director of Donor Relations conceives and implements strategies that strengthen all donor relationships with Peddie. This position is responsible for helping to attract and retain an increased number of donors each year. Additionally, the Director of Donor relations creates volunteer stewardship opportunities for current students, alumni, parents and trustees in order to strengthen peer-to-peer stewardship efforts while increasing the frequency with which the impact of donor support is demonstrated.

The ideal candidate will possess warmth and a natural inclination to connect with others as well as an innate curiosity to continuously explore and evaluate new ways of putting the donor at the center of our communication and event planning. Demonstrated project management expertise, relational skills in both written and interpersonal interaction, and an ability to build donor bases by demonstrating impact, student-focused gratitude and donor cultivation are a must. Experience working collaboratively with talented, hard-working colleagues in a team setting, familiarity with relational databases and digital communication platforms is required.

Primary Duties

Strategy and Execution (75%) 

• Design, manage and collaboratively execute school-wide donor relations program that appropriately and consistently demonstrates impact of giving, recognizes donors at all levels and actively serves to elevate our culture of philanthropy.
• Design and oversee relational donor recognition efforts such as scholarship recipient dinners, endowed position installations, prizes and engagement with scholarship recipients and donors.
• Manage all the processes required to execute a first-rate donor relations program including gift acknowledgments, head of school letters, named endowed fund efforts, scholarship fund-specific efforts and maintenance of stewardship actions on Raiser’s Edge database.
• Serve as editor and manage production of the school’s annual report of giving.
• Manage and write timely, engaging, student-focused and personalized reports to capital and endowed fund donors through Ovrture, Thankview, MailChimp and print.
• Maintain all endowed fund files and coordinate with the business office, the assistant head for finance, the director of development and the associate head of school to ensure appropriate distribution and use of endowed funds in accordance with fund agreements.
• Manage and update gift acceptance policies and naming/recognition policies.

Focused Strategic Engagement Initiatives (25%) 

• Manage content for, delivery of and return on investment from Peddie’s Ovrture and Thankview platforms.
• Work collaboratively with other team members to manage special annual stewardship programs with a targeted focus, including Family Weekend, Blair Week and Peddie Loyalty Day.
• Manage student, parent, alumni and trustee volunteer stewardship methodically and periodically throughout the year, i.e. Blair Week, Peddie Fund Week, Peddie Loyalty Day and Teacher Appreciation Week in digital platforms and print.
• Partner with Director of Development and Director of Special Events for all donor relations events, including analysis of donor acquisition and donor retention as a result of events.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Two to five years of relevant communications, fundraising and/or donor relations experience
• Demonstrated initiative to work independently and savviness to work across diverse teams
• Demonstrated understanding of and appreciation for culturally responsive professional practices including the ability to value, work with, respect, and incorporate diverse perspectives with professionalism
• Intrinsic curiosity about and skill to remain current on innovative communication and donor relation strategies
• Outstanding interpersonal, writing and communications skills, characterized by the ability to listen skillfully and act with a strong customer-centered mindset
• Ability to attend evening and weekend functions when necessary
• Proficiency in analyzing data and communicating implications, trends and specific data-driven decisions
• Proficiency in Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Zoom, Microsoft Excel, social media platforms, digital engagement platforms and Raiser’s Edge

Interested candidates please send cover letter and resume to Karyn Vella, Assistant Head for Development at [email protected].