Are you a data-driven fundraising professional who excels at cultivating meaningful donor relationships?

Do you have a passion for advancing medical research and the ability to translate complex scientific discoveries into compelling stories?

We are currently in search of a Donor Engagement Manager for a nationally recognized Health Research Foundation. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, strategic fundraiser to strengthen individual giving, deepen donor engagement, and help build a sustainable pipeline of philanthropic support.

ORGANIZATION TYPE: Medical Research / Healthcare Nonprofit Foundation

LOCATION: Upper East Side (Manhattan), New York, NY

POSITION TITLE: Donor Engagement Manager

SCHEDULE: Full-Time, Monday–Friday, 40 Hours/Week

DURATION: Permanent – Direct Hire

ANNUAL SALARY: $125,000–$155,000

WORK ARRANGEMENT: Fully On-Site, 5 Days/Week

Is This Your Dream Job?

For over 30 years, this Health Research Foundation has been a leader in funding groundbreaking scientific discoveries and increasing public awareness. The Foundation supports innovative research at renowned institutions across the globe, and has earned Charity Navigator's highest rating for 15 consecutive years.

As the Donor Engagement Manager, you'll join a growing, comprehensive fundraising team at an exciting time of organizational development. This newly created position offers the opportunity to take ownership of a substantial portfolio of mid-level donors, strengthen long-term relationships, and develop thoughtful strategies to cultivate, retain, and upgrade supporters into major-gift prospects.

This is an ideal opportunity for a seasoned fundraiser who combines strong relationship-building skills with a strategic, data-informed approach to individual giving. Reporting to the Fundraising Managing Director, you'll work within a collaborative fundraising team with a target annual goal of $12M.

Our Ideal Candidate

• Fundraising Experience: Brings 7–12 years of progressive fundraising experience, with demonstrated success managing individual donor portfolios, cultivating relationships, and securing five-figure gifts. Experience with six-figure gifts is preferred.
• Individual Giving Expertise: Strong understanding of donor cultivation, stewardship, moves management, and strategies for transitioning mid-level supporters into major-gift prospects.
• Scientific & Healthcare Knowledge: Experience fundraising within medical research, neuroscience, neurodegenerative diseases, healthcare, or medical research organizations is strongly preferred. Ability to understand scientific concepts and communicate their significance to nontechnical audiences is especially valuable.
• Strategic & Analytical Mindset: Comfortable using donor data, segmentation strategies, and giving trends to identify opportunities, strengthen donor retention, and inform fundraising decisions.
• CRM Proficiency: Experience with Salesforce or a comparable fundraising CRM, including donor tracking, portfolio management, and performance reporting. Ability to collaborate effectively with database and analytics professionals.
• Exceptional Communication Skills: A persuasive, thoughtful communicator with strong writing skills and the ability to create compelling donor appeals, personalized stewardship communications, and meaningful impact stories.
• Relationship-Building Strengths: High emotional intelligence, professionalism, discretion, and a genuine ability to build trust with donors, researchers, colleagues, and organizational leadership.
• Independent & Collaborative Approach: A proactive, results-oriented professional who thrives in a lean fundraising environment and can balance strategic planning with hands-on execution.
• Education: Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred.

How You Will Spend Your Day

• Cultivate & Steward Donor Relationships: Manage a substantial portfolio of mid-level donors contributing $1,000–$9,999 annually, developing personalized engagement strategies that strengthen loyalty, retention, and long-term philanthropic investment.
• Build a Major-Gift Pipeline: Implement strategic moves management practices to identify donors with increased giving potential, cultivate deeper relationships, and transition qualified supporters into major-gift prospects.
• Connect Donors to Scientific Discovery: Collaborate with researchers and program staff to translate complex Alzheimer's research into accessible, compelling communications that demonstrate the impact of philanthropic support.
• Drive Data-Informed Fundraising: Partner with the Fundraising Managing Director and database team to analyze donor behavior, refine segmentation strategies, identify upgrade opportunities, and track portfolio performance using Salesforce.
• Create Meaningful Donor Experiences: Lead personalized stewardship efforts through donor updates, virtual laboratory tours, mission-focused communications, and engagement opportunities that bring supporters closer to the Foundation's work.
• Strengthen Campaigns & Appeals: Contribute donor insights and messaging strategies to fundraising campaigns, develop compelling donor communications, and help optimize outreach based on engagement and giving trends.
• Support Grant Development: Draft and submit approximately 12 grant proposals annually, assist with grant reporting, and coordinate the Foundation's annual Combined Federal Campaign application and related communications.
• Collaborate Across Teams: Work closely with the Fundraising Managing Director, Fundraising Coordinator, researchers, and operations staff to ensure seamless donor engagement, accurate reporting, and coordinated fundraising initiatives.

We'd Love to Hear From You!

If this sounds like the job for you, we would love to help make that happen. Please apply using the link below.

For more information about Careers In Nonprofits and our other available opportunities and workshops, please visit our website at www.careersinnonprofits.com.

Careers In Nonprofits is an equal opportunity employer. Empowered by the #ILoveMyJob mission, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment within the nonprofit sector.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we regretfully can only respond to those candidates who best meet the requirements of a specific position or whose backgrounds are generally applicable to our client base. Please rest assured that we retain all candidate information for possible future matches, even if you do not hear from us in regard to your application in response to this ad.