Job Title: Donor Relations and Communications Manager 

Position Type: Full-Time, Hybrid (in-office with one optional remote work day) 

Position Overview:  
The Donor Relations and Communications Manager at Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation plays a crucial role in developing and managing communications and ensuring successful and meaningful stewardship engagement with donors in support of the mission of Pennington Biomedical. This pivotal role will ensure current donors are being stewarded and cultivated in an appropriate manner through cohesive and consistent communications, acknowledgements, stewardship events, engagement, and reporting. Additionally, this individual will be instrumental in all facets of fundraising communication and marketing efforts with donors and prospective donors. This includes creating stewardship reports, individualized funding proposals, newsletters, solicitations, email templates, briefing documents, and other strategic communications. The role involves collaboration with internal partners to ensure consistency in content standards and support fundraising efforts. This position will report directly to the Chief Development Officer and will play a vital and integrated role in the development operations of Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation.  

Responsibilities and Duties: 

• Manage the development of stewardship reports for high-level donors, conducting research, interviews, drafting, editing, designing, coordinating approval processes, and tracking reporting deadlines. 
• Collaborate with fundraisers, leadership, staff, administrators, board members, and faculty to create individualized reports on progress and impact resulting from donor support. 
• Work closely with the fundraising team to create strategic communication pieces for annual giving, gift planning, and major giving. 
• Draft, edit, format, and design proposals to high-level prospects covering various fundraising initiatives. 
• Coordinate with Pennington Biomedical communications team to align development communications with branding standards. 
• Independently conduct research on funding priorities, programs, donor backgrounds, and past communications. 
• Draft, research, format, proofread, and edit fundraising materials, including but not limited to brochures, newsletters, new donor packets, impact reports, websites, proposals, and presentations. 
• Assists the development team, as needed, in donor outreach through email, phone, and direct mail communications. 
• Prepares briefing and strategy documents for leadership to ensure they are properly informed, prepared, and supported in successful donor engagement. 
• Facilitates and organizes customized engagement opportunities with donors through experiences like campus visits or community events. 
• Helps to implement communications and stewardship aspects of fundraising strategy for the Annual Fund for Excellence Campaign. 
• Supports PBRF staff with the execution of successful fundraising and stewardship related events. 
• Ensure standardized copy for acknowledgments and correspondence is current and accurate. 
• Proactively research and suggest publication content to support fundraising goals. 
• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Decision Making: 

• Responsible for researching and editing own work with risk of negative public relations exposure based on inaccurate content. 

Communication:

• Interact internally with team members, faculty, administration, leadership, and communications staff. Interact with external contacts while coordinating communication materials or special projects. 

Scope and Complexity:

• Demonstrate strong aptitude for grammatical correctness, writing style, and effective communication. Works closely with fundraisers for instruction, prioritization, and review.

Qualifications:

• • Bachelor’s degree, preferably in English, Journalism, or Communications.
  • Minimum 3 years of professional writing and editing experience.
  • Strong editing and proofreading skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to write clearly and concisely for various audiences.
  • Organizational and research abilities with attention to detail.
  • Familiarity with fundraising and donor management systems.
  • Ability to prioritize, manage multiple projects, and meet deadlines.
  • Excellent verbal and interpersonal skills.
  • Proficient with Microsoft Office.
  • Interest in the mission and work of Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
  • Some evenings and weekends may be required for special events and donor visits.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Background in science or scientific writing and editing for 5+ years.
• Experience in a fundraising environment.
• Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite.