Position Opening: Director of Donor Engagement, Hope Ignites New York

Hope Ignites New York is seeking a relationship-driven and highly organized Director of Donor Engagement to provide strategic support to the Executive Director through the execution of the organization’s fundraising strategy. This role is responsible for strengthening the organization’s development operations by ensuring excellence in donor stewardship, data management, fundraising execution, grants administration, and event coordination.

Working closely with the Executive Director and other team members, the Director of Donor Engagement helps advance individual giving, major gifts, grants, and signature fundraising events by maintaining strong development systems, ensuring donor data fidelity, coordinating stewardship efforts, and supporting donor cultivation activities. This role plays a critical part in translating fundraising strategy into consistent, measurable results while supporting the Executive Director’s close working relationship with the Board of Directors.

Job Classification: Exempt, Full Time
Reports To: Executive Director
Supervisory Responsibility: TBD
Salary: $125,000 – $145,000

• Personally identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward a portfolio of donors and prospects in addition to supporting the Executive Director’s portfolio. 
• Develop and execute individualized stewardship and solicitation plans that deepen engagement and increase giving.
• Represent Hope Ignites New York externally through community engagement, networking, and donor meetings as needed. 

• Lead the administration in collaboration with the Data and Entry Coordinator, and continuous improvement of the organization’s development operations, including Salesforce, donor data integrity, gift processing, reporting, and fundraising systems.
• Manage donor portfolios, moves management, prospect tracking, fundraising metrics, and performance reporting to support strategic fundraising decisions and organizational goals.
• Coordinate the execution of fundraising campaigns, annual giving initiatives, stewardship activities, and development processes, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and an exceptional donor experience.
• Collaborate with Finance, Marketing & Communications, and Program staff to support donor communications, reporting, gift reconciliation, impact storytelling, and fundraising initiatives.
• Conduct prospect research, wealth screening, and portfolio analysis while identifying opportunities to strengthen fundraising performance, operational efficiency, and donor engagement.
• Participate in Hope Ignites network-wide development and marketing affinity groups, trainings, and collaborative initiatives to strengthen fundraising capacity and share best practices.

• Manage the organization’s grants calendar, proposal timelines, reporting deadlines, and supporting documentation to ensure all grant activities remain on schedule.
• Coordinate with the Executive Director and contracted grant agency to prepare materials necessary for proposal development and grant reporting.
• Track grant deliverables, reporting requirements, and stewardship commitments to ensure timely compliance with funder expectations.
• Maintain accurate grant records and reporting systems within Salesforce and other development platforms.

• Support the Executive Director in planning and executing signature fundraising events, donor cultivation opportunities, and community engagement activities.
• Manage event work plans, project timelines, sponsorship tracking, guest management, vendor coordination, logistics, and post-event stewardship to ensure seamless execution.
• Coordinate sponsorship fulfillment, donor recognition, and follow-up activities that strengthen long-term relationships with supporters.
• Prepare prospect lists, sponsorship reports, donor briefings, event materials, and presentation documents that support the Executive Director’s fundraising efforts.
• Monitor event performance, revenue tracking, sponsorship fulfillment, donor participation, and return on investment while preparing recommendations for continuous improvement.

• Serve as the primary strategic and operational support to the Executive Director, ensuring seamless execution of donor engagement strategies, cultivation activities, and fundraising priorities.
• Manage the systems, planning, and coordination necessary to advance the Executive Director’s portfolio of donors, prospects, and strategic philanthropic relationships.
• Prepare high-quality donor intelligence, cultivation strategies, briefing materials, and follow-up communications that support successful donor engagement and solicitation efforts.
• Oversee moves management processes by tracking donor activity, cultivation plans, next steps, and stewardship commitments to ensure consistent progress throughout the donor lifecycle.
• Coordinate the planning and execution of the Executive Director’s fundraising engagements, ensuring opportunities are strategically prioritized, thoroughly prepared for, and effectively followed through.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field required.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit development, development operations, donor engagement, fundraising administration, or advancement services. Demonstrated experience managing CRM systems, donor stewardship, fundraising reporting, grants administration, and development operations required. Experience supporting major gift fundraising and donor cultivation preferred.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships and communicate effectively, with consistent follow-through.
• Experience supervising staff or working in a collaborative environment.
• Willingness to be actively engaged in the New York Community; knowledge of the local philanthropic landscape preferred.
• Proficiency with CRM software, preferably Salesforce.
• Passion for the mission and impact of Hope Ignites.

This position is in a residential and/or academy environment and includes serving the program’s scholars and advancing its mission. The position requires annual participation in continuing education, satisfied through in-house programs offered by Hope Ignites or third-party providers. The position will have at least an annual performance evaluation.

While performing this job, the individual is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, talk, hear, see, reach with hands/arms, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, push, pull, grasp, and use repetitive motions. Individuals may also frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds of materials. Climb five flights of stairs daily. Specific vision abilities include close vision such as reading handwritten or typed material, or computer/device screens, and distance vision such as reading a projector screen, and the ability to adjust focus.

This job description is designed for compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is not an exhaustive list of the duties performed for this job. Additional duties are performed by the individual holding this job and additional duties may be assigned. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.