Senior Manager of Annual Giving & Donor Engagement

The Organization

The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) is more than just a performing arts organization—it's a cornerstone of creativity, culture, and community in Central Ohio. At CAPA, we are committed to inspiring and transforming lives through the power of the performing arts. With a rich history and a dynamic vision for the future, we manage iconic theaters, host world-class performances, and foster a love of the arts in audiences of all ages.

The Opportunity

• Are you excellent at tying mission to value from a charitable donor’s perspective?
• Are you excited about a role that enables everyone in the Development department to be even more effective at their jobs?
• Are you excellent at planning, organizing, and managing fundraising campaigns including ones where you have accountability for the donor portfolio? Do you find ways to make data usable and available at the right moments to inform donor strategies and measure success? Can you inspire others to do their very best?
• Do you have a passion for the performing arts?

Primary Function

The Senior Manager of Annual Giving & Donor Engagement is responsible for developing and implementing annual giving strategies, donor engagement programs, donor recognition initiatives, prospect development efforts, and donor analytics functions for CAPA and assigned shared-service organizations. Maintains a portfolio of approximately 50–100 mid-level donors and prospects and supervises annual giving and donor operations staff. Serves as lead fundraiser and staff liaison for Festival Latino sponsorship fundraising and sponsor engagement activities.

Duties, Responsibilities, and Key Performance Objectives

First Month:

• Coordinate with Development and Marketing department team members to gain an understanding of CAPA and Shared Services and how donor stewardship and campaigns serve CAPA’s’ mission.
• Learn the details of what is contained in CAPA’s donor database and how it is used. Become reasonably proficient at querying the database.
• Meet the Shared Services clients you support.
• Become familiar with the donor profile for which you will be responsible and compile observations, questions, and suggestions.
• Success Indicators
  • Demonstrates working knowledge of CAPA, Shared Services, and development operations.
  • Completes onboarding meetings with key internal and external stakeholders.
  • Demonstrates basic proficiency utilizing donor database information.
  • Reviews assigned donor portfolio and identifies initial observations and opportunities.

First 90 days:

• Manages a portfolio of approximately 50–100 mid-level donors and prospects through qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities.
• Conducts donor meetings, phone calls, and engagement activities designed to deepen donor relationships and increase philanthropic support.
• Identifies and qualifies prospective donors through research, engagement activities, and data analysis.
• Maintains accurate donor records, contact reports, and moves management activities within the donor database.
• Supervises the Annual Fund Manager, Data & Analytics Coordinator, and Data Entry Associate.
• Establishes goals, priorities, and performance expectations for assigned staff.
• Works closely with the Data & Analytics Coordinator to ensure data integrity and effective use of Tessitura.
• Supports prospect identification, qualification, and portfolio assignment processes.
• Success Indicators
  • Portfolio management activities are underway and documented.
  • Donor outreach, meetings, and qualification activities have commenced.
  • Staff goals and expectations have been established.
  • Data integrity and reporting processes have been reviewed.
  • Demonstrates effective management of direct reports and workflow priorities.

First 6 Months

• Develops and oversees annual giving strategies for CAPA and assigned organizations, including donor renewal, acquisition, retention, and reactivation efforts.
• In conjunction with the Directors of Development, create annual fundraising plans, campaign calendars, and revenue projections in collaboration with fundraising leadership.
• Oversees multi-channel annual fund campaigns including direct mail, email, digital fundraising, recurring giving, and donor engagement initiatives.
• Monitors campaign performance and recommends strategy adjustments to improve donor participation and revenue growth.
• Collaborates with marketing and communications staff to ensure effective donor-focused messaging and campaign execution.
• Develops and implements annual giving initiatives designed to increase donor retention, upgrade rates, and lifetime donor value.
• Supports portfolio development and prospect movement strategies for the Vice President of Development and Development Directors.
• Develops and maintains fundraising dashboards, pipeline reports, and donor engagement metrics.
• Oversees donor segmentation strategies and annual fund performance analysis.
• Supervises donor analytics, prospect development, and annual fund reporting functions.
• Provides coaching, professional development, and ongoing performance feedback.
• Collaborates with fundraising leadership to establish departmental priorities and workflows.
• Serves as a liaison between fundraising staff and donor database operations.
• Success Indicators
  • Annual giving campaigns are actively managed and evaluated.
  • Annual fundraising plans and campaign calendars have been developed.
  • Reporting tools and dashboards are in active use.
  • Donor segmentation and analytics processes are established.
  • Staff performance management processes are underway.

First Year

• Develops and manages donor recognition programs, giving societies, and donor engagement initiatives across assigned organizations.
• Creates strategies that encourage donor upgrades and progression through annual giving levels.
• Evaluates participation trends and recommends enhancements to donor recognition and stewardship programs.
• Partners with fundraising leadership to establish donor benefits, recognition opportunities, and engagement experiences.
• Creates and implements stewardship plans designed to enhance donor engagement and long-term support.
• Leads sponsorship fundraising efforts for Festival Latino.
• Cultivates, solicits, and stewards corporate sponsors and individual supporters.
• Serves as staff liaison to the Festival Latino Steering Committee.
• Coordinates sponsor engagement, recognition, and stewardship activities.
• Supports revenue growth and sponsor retention strategies.
• Success Indicators
  • Donor recognition and giving society strategies are established or enhanced.
  • Donor stewardship and engagement plans are actively implemented.
  • Festival Latino sponsorship goals and retention strategies are in place.
  • Donor upgrade and retention strategies are producing measurable results.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain an exhaustive listing of duties, responsibilities, and activities that are required of the employee. Further, job-related duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned, from time to time.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strategic Thinking
• Annual Giving Strategy
• Donor-Centered Communication
• Staff Leadership and Team Development
• Collaboration and Influence
• Prospect Development and Qualification
• Data-Informed Decision Making
• Project Management
• Creativity and Innovation
• Accountability and Results Orientation

Credentials and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Typically, 3+ years of experience working in fundraising, annual giving, or donor engagement are needed to have sufficient experience and judgement to perform a role of this size and complexity.
• Demonstrated success in developing and executing fundraising strategies.
• Strong writing, communication, and project management skills.
• Experience working across multiple organizations or departments is a plus.
• Proficiency with donor databases (e.g., Raiser’s Edge, Tessitura, Salesforce) and data analysis tools.
• Annual Base pay for this role is $60,000 - $70,000.

Special Requirements

• Requires flexibility of schedule to accommodate needs of the organizations that often?include?evening or weekend events. Must?be comfortable meeting donors and representing CAPA and partnering organizations in our community.