Senior Manager of Individual Giving and Donor Engagement

SENIOR MANAGER OF INDIVIDUAL GIVING AND DONOR ENGAGEMENT

POSITION DESCRIPTION

June 2025

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Edible Schoolyard NYC (ESYNYC) is on a mission to make edible education accessible for every child in New York City. We believe edible education—where kids experience hands-on

cooking and gardening—helps kids gain the skills to contribute to a healthy and sustainable

food system for us all. We believe in a future where all children are empowered to make healthy choices for themselves, their communities, and their environments. Together with public school communities across the city, we’re building spaces for kids to flourish.

During the 2023-24 school year, we reached nearly 4,000 students and taught 2,145 classes across 23 schools. We also trained over 580 educators to incorporate edible education into their own classrooms.

Established in 2010, Edible Schoolyard NYC is a nonprofit organization committed to bringing Alice Waters’ vision to New York City public schools. As the first official “Founding Edible Schoolyard” in the Northeast, Edible Schoolyard NYC has created a curriculum and a vision to fit the unique needs of New York City public school children and communities. Now in our 15th year, Edible Schoolyard NYC is excited to continue deepening our impact at our Core School Sites as well as supporting schools and communities across New York City through our Mobile Education and Educator Professional Development Programs.

As an organization, the Values we live by include:

Community: We believe the greatest impact can only be realized by centering the community in our work.

Equity: We commit to cultivating and advancing a culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging as we strive for equitable opportunities for all.

Stewardship: We know it is our duty to respect and care for all around us: our environment, our community, and ourselves.

Adaptability: We listen, learn, and act in response to the ever-changing needs of those around us.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Senior Manager of Individual Giving and Donor Engagement works to expand and deepen our base of individual donors, helping to develop a culture of philanthropy and engagement among ESYNYC supporters. Their primary responsibilities are to steward and grow a portfolio of mid-level individual donors, support the Associate Board, manage giving campaigns, implement a robust donor engagement and stewardship program, and manage donor communications.

The Senior Manager of Individual Giving and Donor Engagement will have front-line fundraising opportunities, and act as a representative and liaison with both internal and external stakeholders, including the Associate Board. The ideal candidate will have outstanding relationship-building, communications, and organizational and project management skills. This position reports to the Vice President of Development & External Affairs (VP) and works closely with the Executive Director (ED) and Development & External Affairs (Dev EA) Team.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Individual Giving

• Steward and grow a portfolio of mid-level individual donors with a goal of raising $550,000+ in FY26, with continued annual growth, in collaboration and with guidance from the VP and ED.
• Support moves management of donors and prospects, both in their portfolio and for the VP and ED, to cultivate and deepen relationships with donors.
• Directly solicit mid-level gifts, and work with the VP to support the solicitation and renewal of mid-level and major gifts, including support of correspondence, meeting briefings, solicitation plans, and cases for support.
• Develop and implement peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, such as Giving Tuesday and the year-end giving campaign.
• Draft and prepare written materials for outreach, meetings, proposals and other correspondence.
• Research, identify, and cultivate donor prospects.
• Identify and steward mid-level donors poised for growth.
• Refine and implement a donor engagement plan and stewardship calendar, ensuring consistent and meaningful donor touchpoints.
• Coordinate and sometimes lead site visits, meetings, and calls in collaboration with team members and leadership.
• Engage mid-level donors in fundraising and cultivation events, in partnership with the VP and Senior Manager of Events.
• Support development operations to ensure consistent moves and donor data management, including regularly updating Salesforce, tracking data and documentation, pulling and analyzing donor data reports, and managing giving platforms.

Associate Board Support

• Partner with Associate Board leadership and the VP to set annual and longer-term strategies for the group’s development and growth.
• Coordinate and lead quarterly meetings, including setting agendas in collaboration with leadership, and preparing pre-reading and meeting presentation materials.
• Cultivate members on a one-on-one basis with customized engagement and giving plans.
• Identify members who may be ready for deeper engagement such as Board membership or other committees.
• Engage members in current giving campaigns and events.
• Identify and cultivate prospective members.
• In partnership with the Senior Manager of Events, re-establish an annual Associate Board event, including setting of goals, target audience, event format, and fundraising strategies.
• Refine Associate Board membership guidelines, including charter, member responsibilities and leadership.

Donor Communications

• Manage and implement donor communications and recognition strategies, with guidance from the VP and ED.
• Develop impact reports and other materials to keep donors apprised of the work their giving supports.
• Manage e-newsletter, including content development, list management, and platform management.

Other Responsibilities

• Assist the VP and the Dev EA team with special projects or events as needed
• Work with the Dev EA team to support strong gift management and operations, including donor engagement and revenue tracking in Salesforce.
• Support internal and external communications, including preparation of quarterly reports to the Board, monthly newsletters, and social media content.
• Participate in cross-organizational committees, meetings, and initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate has:

• A deep commitment to ESYNYC’s mission and social impact.
• Experience with and committed allyship to students and communities of color.
• 7-9 years of relevant nonprofit experience in individual giving and development.
• Ability to build strong relationships, internally and externally.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple deadlines, projects, and tasks and be extremely well-organized and reliable.
• Excellent writing, communication and interpersonal skills, resulting in compelling storytelling of ESYNYC’s work and impact.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• A positive, can-do attitude and willingness to try new strategies.
• Strong computer skills, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Experience with donor databases and CRMs (Salesforce or preferred) preferred.
• Experience with giving and communications platforms (like Give Lively, Campaign Monitor) and prospect research tools (such as iWave) preferred.
• Experience with Canva and Adobe Creative Suite experience preferred.
• Exhibit a creative, collegial, and collaborative work style with the ability to work individually and as part of a team with diverse groups of people.
• Ability to problem-solve and be flexible in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial work environment.
• Ability to exercise complete discretion and professionalism when engaging with high-profile or celebrity supporters.

You don’t need to meet every qualification to be considered! If you’re excited about this role and believe you could succeed in it, we encourage you to apply.

Work Environment

• This is a hybrid position with regular in-person events and meetings in New York City. Qualified candidates should be based in the NYC metropolitan area.
• Many of our events require standing and walking around venues for long periods as well as lifting/moving of boxes and equipment.
• Some evening and weekend work is required, and extended hours may be necessary leading up to events. Note: ESYNYC has a comp time policy.

Salary Range: 80,000 - $85,000 with generous benefits. This is a full-time exempt position.

Highly competitive benefits package:

• 100% health and dental insurance coverage; able to purchase vision insurance.
• 403(b) retirement plan with up to 3% employer match.
• Pre-tax Transit Program.
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Plan.
• Life and ad&d insurance.
• 3 weeks paid vacation in the first year that increases annually with tenure.
• 8 sick days and 3 personal days annually.
• ESYNYC is closed between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day and closes for all federal holidays.
• Additional paid time off and early close in the summer on Fridays.

Edible Schoolyard NYC provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established by applicable law. We seek to build a diverse staff representative of the communities we serve. All qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter addressed to Ariel Grace, Vice President of Development and External Affairs, through our careers page at https://www.edibleschoolyardnyc.org/careers. In your cover letter, we’d love to hear why you’re excited about joining the Edible Schoolyard NYC Development team and how your skills make you a great fit for this position.

We will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Please note that we are unable to accept phone calls regarding this position.