Manager, Donor Services & Stewardship

Job Type


Full-time

Description

General Summary:

The Donor Services and Stewardship Manager delivers high-touch ticketing, seating, and parking services for VIP donors and manages the Symphony's major gifts stewardship program. This role ensures donor benefit integrity, coordinates subscription renewals and special event access, and partners with Ticket Services and Advancement leadership to prioritize donor experiences. Additionally, the manager oversees donor recognition and stewardship initiatives, including personalized acknowledgements from key stakeholders and donor spotlights, while supporting concert and event operations to strengthen relationships with major donors and advance departmental goals.


Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for VIP donors ($5,000+ annual giving) regarding ticketing and parking, providing high-touch customer service and responding to calls and emails.
• Manage VIP donor ticketing and seating, including single tickets, subscriptions, exchanges, house seat allocations, and special event access, ensuring donor benefit integrity and eligibility.
• Coordinate donor subscription renewals and seating assignments in partnership with Ticket Services and gift officers, reserving prime seat locations, monitoring donor placements, and approving final seating in alignment with donor priority and Advancement leadership.
• Collaborate closely with Ticket Services to ensure seamless communication between departments and the timely release of house seats to support overall ticket sales.
• Facilitate ticketing for special events, donor dinners, receptions, and inter-institutional ticket requests on behalf of VIP donors.
• Coordinate stewardship and recognition of major donors on behalf of the VPIA.
• Manage the Donor Stewardship tasks and work with Gift Officers, ensuring that key stewardship activities are executed effectively, including coordinating timely and personalized acknowledgements, facilitating donor engagement opportunities such as musician-partnered lunches and meet-and-greets, and organizing expressions of thanks from musicians, board members, and senior staff.
• Manage donor parking for major donors by leading weekly parking review meetings, coordinating with internal teams, and ensuring parking and valet staff at Jacobs Music Center and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park are fully prepared with accurate lists and relevant notes for upcoming concerts.
• Work collaboratively with the Associate Director of Advancement Operations, Gift Officers, and Marketing to ensure accurate and timely recognition of donors and donor affinity groups by coordinating recognition listings and developing Advancement ads and content for printed and electronic performance programs.
• Coordinate timely, thoughtful donor correspondence for birthdays and significant life events, ensuring each card reflects the Symphony's care for its community of supporters.
• Execute the bi-monthly Donor Spotlight by overseeing donor selection and interviews, drafting spotlight content, and collaborating with Marketing to publish donor stories and photos on the San Diego Symphony blog and newsletters.
• Support advancement operations to ensure that the department meets its monthly and annual operational goals and objectives.
• Assist team members with administrative and technical support as needed for improvement of efficiency and work environment
• In rotation with other Advancement operations staff, support Symphony concerts at Jacobs Music Center and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park by coordinating with VIP parking teams, overseeing the setup and breakdown of the donor lounge, and ensuring appropriate donor access during intermission receptions.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Creative critical-thinking problem-solving skills.
• Effectively communicate information and ideas in written and verbal format.
• Build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Be a team player confident in abilities to work with new people from all walks of life in the arts world and in face-to-face scenarios.
• Willing and able to learn new techniques and technological advancements quickly.
• Must possess high degree of personal integrity and discretion.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree preferred.
• Experience working for a not-for-profit a plus.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office programs, including Word, Excel and Outlook and Power Point required.
• Knowledge of Tessitura database software preferred.
• Basic knowledge of Adobe Acrobat preferred.

General Requirements:

• Available to work nights, weekends, and overtime as required for concert and event coverage.
• Able to sit or stand for long periods of time.
• Able to pick up and move a minimum of 20 lbs.

Working Conditions:

• Regular, predictable attendance required as well as evening and weekend work shifts.
• Normal office working conditions: sitting at a desk and computer terminal for long periods of time, typing and computer work, light to moderate lifting.

Salary

$25-$28 / hour