The Senior Donor Relations Specialist plays a key role in advancing the Zoo’s philanthropic pipeline by managing and growing Support-Level Membership, mid-level giving ($500–$1,500), and the Monthly Giving program. This role builds meaningful relationships with donors and high-engagement members, strengthens retention, and creates pathways that move individuals from guest to member to donor to legacy giving.
- Working collaboratively with Donor Relations and Membership, the Senior Donor Relations Specialist drives annual giving revenue goals, oversees a focused mid-level portfolio, activates the Monthly Giving program as a core acquisition and retention tool, and executes strategic communication, stewardship, and engagement plans that support the Zoo’s long-term philanthropic growth.
Essential Duties:
- Provide quality guest service to both internal and external guests by maintaining a WILD (friendly, helpful, positive and professional) working attitude and appearance.
- Manage an 800+ mid-level portfolio, including a prioritized top tier of 300, using moves management to drive upgrades and retention.
- Qualify, segment, and cultivate prospects based on giving history, engagement, and membership behavior.
- Advance donor relationships by securing meetings, upgrades, monthly commitments, or project gifts.
- Lead stewardship and cultivation practices to maintain 65% retention and advance 15% toward next steps.
- Grow Support-Level Membership and donations and monitor year-over-year tier health.
- Identify high-engagement members and donors to proactively move through the guest to member to donor to legacy commitment.
- Relaunch and expand the Monthly Giving program, ensuring enrollment growth across events and member touchpoints.
- Design and deliver personalized cultivation touchpoints that reinforce impact, deepen donor connection, and build readiness for meaningful conversations.
- Lead donor engagement experiences—tours, meetings, and curated moments—that activate interest and advance donors toward strategic giving opportunities.
- Collaborate with Membership and Marketing on shared communication calendars, messaging, and conversion strategies.
- Maintain accurate donor records, produce dashboards, and participate in quarterly portfolio reviews.
- Train frontline staff on donor capture, monthly giving enrollment, and philanthropic pathways.
- Understand and adhere to the ACNC’s mission, policies, company culture, values, history, programs, and finances.
- Demonstrate a commitment to the ACNC’s safety policies by adhering to all environmental, safety, and health regulations and procedures.
- This is by no means an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts, or working conditions associated with the job.
- Management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed when circumstances change (e.g. emergencies, changes in personnel, workload, rush jobs, or technological developments).
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in non-profit management, business development or related field preferred.
- Minimum 3 years of experience in donor relations, annual giving, membership management, or related fundraising work.
- Demonstrated success in cultivating donors, managing portfolios, or driving membership upgrades.
- Experience with Salesforce or comparable CRM required.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including comfort with donor-facing engagement.
- Highly organized, proactive, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
- Ability to analyze donor data, develop strategy, and understand donor movement through a pipeline.
- Ability to work evenings or weekends for donor programs and events as needed.
- Positive personality and respect for confidentiality a must.
- Ability to work outdoors in extreme weather conditions when schedule requires.
- Possession of a valid driver license.
- Ability to pass pre-employment background and DMV check, drug test, and annual TB test.
Perks
- The Arizona Center for Nature Conservation is committed to maintaining the health and well-being of its employees.
- We offer a wide range of benefits for qualified employees designed to address the diverse needs of our employees and their families, such as:
- Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription Drug Coverage (Domestic Partnership Benefits Available) Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, and Long Term Disability Insurance
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Voluntary Life Insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Paid Sick Leave (PSL)
- 401(k) Plan with Match
- Phoenix Zoo Membership
- Employee WILD Rewards Program
- Service Awards
- Employee Cultural Exchange Program
- Tuition Reimbursement Program (for qualified courses)
- Outside Vendor Discounts
Salary
- $69371.00 / Year
