Manager of Individual Giving

Manager of Individual Giving – Job Description

Organization Summary

The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company’s (USTC) mission is to mentor, educate, and enrich youth

in under-resourced communities through the creation of collaborative original theatre. Our mission

powers our vision of a world where all youth are given the opportunities and support they need to

succeed.

The Unusual Suspects meets talent with opportunity. Founded in the wake of the 1992 Los

Angeles uprising, USTC has grown from a small, volunteer-led youth intervention program into an

award-winning leader in arts education, youth development, mentorship, and community building.

Our participants collaboratively create and perform original stories on stage. Committed to

ensuring that all young people have access to the benefits of arts education, we bring our free

theatre programs to public Title 1 schools, juvenile detention facilities, and community-based sites

throughout Los Angeles County, providing personalized mentorship and safe spaces for self-expression

and community celebration.

Job Summary

The Unusual Suspects’ Advancement Department seeks a Full-Time professional Manager of

Individual Giving to join our team. The Manager of Individual Giving is a frontline fundraising role

critical to our organization’s ability to sustain and expand our proven theatre-arts education

programs.

Under the direction of—and in close collaboration with—the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO), the

Manager of Individual Giving will design and execute fundraising strategies to cultivate, solicit, and

steward annual and major donors. This role is responsible for developing and managing portfolios

of new and existing individual donors; overseeing annual fund and major gift program campaigns;

helping to plan and coordinate cultivation, fundraising, and stewardship events; developing and

managing reports to inform fundraising goals and strategies, and to monitor progress; and

connecting community philanthropy directly to USTC’s youth participants and theatre-arts

education programs.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage Annual Fund and Major Gifts Campaign fundraising activities to support a $500,000 revenue target for Individual Contributions in 2026-27.
• Facilitate the execution of a 3-year, $2.5 million Major Gifts Campaign to support the expansion of USTC’s Youth Theatre Conservatory, via:
• 14 Leadership Giving Phase gifts of $75K and above, pledged across 1-3 years (69% of campaign)
• 28 Major Giving Phase gifts of $15K and above, pledged across 1-3 years (28% of campaign)
• 25 Community Engagement Phase gifts of $5K (3% of campaign)
• 130-150 total major donor prospects
• Develop and manage a portfolio of donors at various capacities through proactive, personalized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies.
• Identify, qualify, and prioritize donors through research, screening, and discovery calls/meetings, and actively support pipeline development.
• Develop individualized goals and engagement plans based on donor interests, capacity, and readiness to give.
• Manage donor segmentation, mailed and emailed appeals, and targeted campaigns.
• Execute renewal, upgrade, and retention strategies designed to grow philanthropic investment and long-term donor loyalty.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for assigned donors, ensuring consistent, thoughtful, and donor-centered engagement.
• Design and execute stewardship strategies, including personalized acknowledgements, updates, impact reporting, and ongoing engagement opportunities.
• Track donor engagement, solicitation activity, and progression within the CRM.
• Maintain accurate, timely donor records and contact reports.
• Monitor performance metrics related to retention, upgrades, and pipeline movement.
• Develop and oversee regular reporting and analysis that accurately reflects and informs activities and performance.
• Communicate performance metrics and key findings from donor meetings, activations, etc., to other team members, as necessary.
• Partner with the CEO and Board members on major donor cultivation and solicitation strategies.
• Partner cross-departmentally to align volunteer engagement with fundraising and pipeline priorities.
• Foster strong relationships with volunteers to ensure a positive and mission-aligned experience.
• Collaborate with CEO, CAO, and Director of Communications on messaging strategy for appeals and campaigns.
• Collaborate with the CEO, CAO, Director of Communications, and the Programs department on identifying and pursuing cross-departmental engagement and activation initiatives, including site visits, workshops, performances, and special events.

Education and Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in donor relations, stewardship, advancement services, and development operations.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Individual Giving best-practices, barriers, and motivators.
• Demonstrated ability to deploy stewardship and solicitation strategies, including setting fundraising targets and monitoring progress.
• Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining relationships with individual donors and partners.
• Nonprofit fundraising experience in arts-education preferred.

Desirable Skills & Qualifications:

• Effective interpersonal skills, with an ability to build cohesive, one-on-one relationships with donors and motivate them to support arts-education.
• Ability to serve as an external voice for USTC's programs strategy and case for support, presenting organizational priorities accurately to donors and stakeholders.
• Excellent project management skills, with ability to supervise complex, multifaceted projects.
• Self-motivated, goal-oriented, independent, flexible, and proficient at multitasking.
• Proficient in CRM data management and reporting. Experience with our donor management software, Little Green Light, is a plus.
• Experience using Google Suite, Microsoft Office and content/project management software is a plus.
• Detail-oriented with excellent communication, organizational, interpersonal, and writing skills.
• Critical and strategic thinker.
• Ability to identify, evaluate, investigate, and offer alternative solutions to problems.
• Some knowledge of the educational and cultural landscape of Los Angeles City/County.
• Commitment to social empowerment through the arts.
• Personal ethics align with the vision and values of The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company.

Work Environment & Expectations:

• Must be flexible to work in a fast-paced, non-profit environment.
• USTC currently operates out of a virtual/remote office environment, with this position expected to work a hybrid schedule of both remote and in-person activities, with a portion of their time spent in the field attending in-person meetings, events, programmatic workshops and performances, and staff retreats.
• USTC has a people-over-product culture that trusts employees to perform at high levels and attend to their personal responsibilities. All team members are expected to participate in a meaningful, critical, and collaborative way.
• Position is expected to work a standard 40 hours per week. Candidates must be open to working a flexible schedule, including occasional evenings and weekends.
• Must have access to reliable transportation.

Applicants for Employment:

• All applicants offered employment with The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company will be subject to a Live Scan background check and undergo mandatory training.

Salary, Benefits & Schedule:

• Full-time exempt position.
• $78,750 (USTC salaries are competitive, transparent, and equitable across the organization).
• Over 6 weeks of annual Paid Time Off (PTO), including:
  • 3 weeks (15 days) of accrued personal PTO
  • 2 additional weeks of collective PTO, 5 days in summer and 5 days in winter (dates TBD)
  • 2 personal days of PTO
  • 11 national holidays of PTO
  • Accrued sick PTO as designated by the State of California
• Health benefits offered; medical, dental, vision.
• CalSavers, a Roth IRA Program.
• Cell phone, internet, and mileage reimbursement.
• Annual stipend for professional development.
• Flexible, supportive culture with a strong commitment to people over product.

How to Apply

Job applications for this position should include the following materials:

• Resume
• Cover letter

Email your application materials to jobs@theunusualsuspects.org. Please include in the subject line

of your email the position title and your name (e.g., “Manager of Individual Giving – Penny Yen”).

No calls, please.

Additional Information

The information presented indicates the general nature and level of work expected of employees in

this classification. It is not designed to contain, or to be interpreted as, a comprehensive inventory

of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and objectives required of employees assigned to this

job.

The Unusual Suspects provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants

regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. This policy

applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement,

promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

● Over 6 weeks of Paid Time Off (PTO), including:

○ 3 weeks (15 days) of accrued personal PTO.

○ 2 additional weeks (5 days in summer and 5 days in winter) of collective PTO.

○ 2 personal days of PTO.

○ 4 weeks of collective remote work (2 weeks in summer and 2 weeks in winter).

○ 11 national holidays of PTO.

○ Accrued sick PTO as designated by the State of California.

● Health benefits offered; medical, dental, vision

● $750 annual stipend for professional development.

● $60 monthly reimbursement for personal cell/internet service.

● Mileage reimbursement.

Bi-lingual - English/Spanish is a plus.