Sustaining Gifts Officer in Houston, Texas at Houston Food Bank

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Sustaining Gifts Officer is responsible for advancing the mission of Houston Food Bank by managing and growing a robust monthly giving program that generates more than $4 million in annual revenue from 6,000+ recurring donors. This frontline fundraiser cultivates long-term relationships with a portfolio of sustaining donors, optimizes donor retention and lifetime value, and designs and executes sophisticated multi-channel campaigns that deepen engagement, increase monthly contributions, and advance donors through the giving pipeline.

Adhere to PACT values. (Purpose: Using our strengths passionately to contribute to our mission. Accountability: Choosing to rise above one’s circumstances and showing ownership to achieve results. See It. Own It. Solve It. Do It. Courage: Standing up for what’s right and acting. Transparency: Doing things openly and honestly.)

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

1. Develops, grows, and manages the monthly giving program, including donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, and upgrade strategies.
2. Manages a portfolio of high-value sustaining donors, building individualized engagement strategies to deepen commitment, increase giving levels, and identify prospects for pipeline advancement to mid-level or major gifts.
3. Designs and executes multi-channel stewardship and cultivation campaigns (i.e., digital, direct mail, video, phone, in-person, and emerging channels) to foster donor loyalty and increase donor lifetime value.
4. Participates in all aspects of the donor cycle for sustaining donors:

• Creates personalized stewardship strategies for donors at all giving levels within the sustaining portfolio.
• Initiates and completes donor strategy documents, briefing memos, stewardship/cultivation reports, and other correspondence as necessary.
• Ensures all donor interactions are recorded accurately and timely in the constituent relationship management (CRM) database.
• Moves sustaining donors in an appropriate and timely fashion toward giving upgrades and deeper engagement.
• Makes upgrade solicitations and additional giving asks when strategically appropriate.
• Maintains meaningful and consistent communication with donors.

1. Manages and directs all sustaining donor communications, acknowledgements, and impact reporting, including but not limited to handwritten notes, birthday cards, phone calls, e-cards, monthly stewardship emails, and quarterly newsletters, ensuring consistent and meaningful donor touchpoints.
2. Analyzes and reports on the performance of the recurring giving program and related initiatives, providing insights and recommendations to improve retention, payment recovery, upgrade rates, and donor satisfaction.
3. Collaborates with the Major Gifts teams to build and support a donor pipeline from recurring gifts to mid-level and major giving.
4. Works closely and collaboratively with the Marketing and Communications Team on sustainer program needs, including but not limited to social media posts, donation form optimization, storytelling, and web/digital strategy to effectively enhance sustaining donors’ experience.
5. Works closely with the Donor Services Team to ensure the accuracy of donor records, including, but not limited to, donor information, gift coding, action imports, attributes, solicit codes, and notes.
6. Handles and maintains confidential information with sensitivity, integrity, and accuracy.
7. Supports the Annual Giving Manager with planning, reviewing, and resource gathering for annual giving appeals and stewardship/cultivation pieces, including direct mail and telefundraising campaigns, and provides logistical and administrative support for all annual giving appeals.
8. Documents and maintains standard operating procedures and annual plans in appropriate software, including Asana and SharePoint.
9. Assists with development projects, as needed.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four-year college or university in Communications, Nonprofit Management, Liberal Arts, Business Administration, or related field
• A minimum of 3-5 years of demonstrated successful experiences in fundraising, donor relations, or a related field, with a strong preference for experience in recurring or sustaining giving programs, major gifts, or mid-level donor engagement.
• Experience at a proficient level with CRM databases (e.g., Raiser’s Edge NXT, Luminate Online, Salesforce, or equivalent), including reporting and analysis functions.
• Knowledge of fundraising techniques and recurring donor programs, strongly preferred.
• Experience with multi-channel donor engagement (digital, video, direct mail, phone), strongly preferred.

Certificates, Licenses, and Registrations:

• Must have reliable transportation, a valid driver’s license, and insurance.
• Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) preferred.

Special Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability needed. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. (For best performance, the job holder in this position would be expected to show the right knowledge, skills, and abilities in the listed areas.)

• Ability to work with a diverse population, including the public.
• Strong donor stewardship and relationship-building skills, with the ability to create personalized and meaningful donor experiences.
• Experience with multi-channel donor engagement (i.e., digital, video, mail, photos).
• Effective leadership, project management, and the ability to direct initiatives with measurable outcomes.
• Strong interpersonal, customer service, and communication skills.
• Excellent writing and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate program outcomes into compelling donor impact messages.
• Detail-oriented, organized, self-motivated, and work well independently and collaboratively.
• Capacity to analyze donor data, evaluate program performance, and make recommendations to improve donor retention and giving upgrades.
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and video conferencing platforms.

COMPLIANCE:

Carries out responsibilities in accordance with HFB policies, state, and federal law. Ensure compliance with regulatory, fundraising, and reporting requirements.

REASONING ABILITY:

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability needed. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

(For best performance, the jobholder in this position would be expected to show the right knowledge, skills, and abilities in the listed areas.)

COMPETENCIES:

Action-Oriented / Customer Focus / Drives for Results / Priority Setting / Managerial Courage / Interpersonal Savvy / Creativity / Standing Alone / Time Management / Decision Quality /

Self-development / Patience

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. While performing the duties of the job, the employee is required daily to analyze and interpret data, communicate, and remain in a standing or stationary position for a significant amount of the workday; and frequently access, input, and retrieve information from the computer and other office productivity devices. The employee is regularly required to move about the office and around the facility, use hands, wrists, and fingers to grip, type, and write. The employee will need to have the average ability to hear horns, warnings, and alerts associated with a warehouse. The employee is occasionally required to travel to other sites for business.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. While the job is generally performed in an enclosed office environment, the employee is occasionally exposed to freezers, enclosed and/or tight spaces, wet and/or humid conditions, and areas in which moving mechanical parts, fumes, and toxic or caustic chemicals are present, strong food-related smells, and outside weather conditions. The noise level in the office environment is typically quiet, but the employee will be occasionally exposed to loud noise levels (e.g., horns, fans).

TRAVEL REQUIRED:

Travel is required for this position (up to 5% of the time and on a domestic basis or within our 18-county service area).

This role supports hours of operations at the Houston Food Bank facilities, as necessary, and may require flexibility (e.g., times of disaster, community events, company events).

*Is legally able to work in the United States.