Stewardship Advisor, Leadership Giving
THE OPPORTUNITY
This role is centered on relationships, strategy, and long-term impact.
You will work directly with business leaders, families, philanthropists, and community members across Fairfield County who are investing in the future of Catholic education. Your responsibility is to build trust, understand what matters to them, and help connect their generosity to meaningful outcomes for students and Catholic schools.
This is a portfolio-based major gifts role, responsible for growing and managing a portfolio of 125 to 150 leadership-level relationships. Gifts in this portfolio will have a target of $10,000, with a focus on six-figure to seven-figure commitments cultivated over time. Within two years, a strong performer in this role will raise $1 to $2 million annually, funding scholarships and school initiatives that directly change the lives of hundreds of students across Fairfield County.
Foundations in Education is growing. We are expanding fundraising capacity, strengthening operations, and building a more scalable and execution-oriented development organization. This role is ideal for someone who wants meaningful responsibility, enjoys building relationships, and thrives in a mission-driven but high-performance environment.
WHAT YOU WILL OWN
- Manage and grow a portfolio of leadership-level donor relationships
- Lead donor conversations, meetings, follow-up, stewardship, and long-term cultivation strategies
- Build thoughtful engagement plans aligned to donor interests and organizational priorities
- Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward major gifts
- Maintain strong pipeline discipline, including CRM management, meeting preparation, and next-step execution
- Collaborate with leadership, communications, and operations teams to advance fundraising goals
- Help supporters understand the measurable impact of their philanthropy on students, families, and schools
WHO SUCCEEDS HERE
This role is a strong fit for someone who has a genuine personal connection to the mission of the Catholic Church, builds trust naturally with high-capacity individuals, and takes ownership of outcomes rather than assigned tasks. You follow through consistently without needing heavy oversight, enjoy long-term relationship-driven work, and thrive in lean, collaborative, fast-moving environments.
You do not need traditional nonprofit experience to succeed here. Strong candidates may come from wealth management or private banking, relationship or account management, consulting or client services, business development, or fundraising and philanthropy.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- A bachelor’s degree in business, communications, marketing, political science, theology, liberal arts, nonprofit management, or a related field
- Experience managing relationships, accounts, clients, or portfolios with measurable goals
- Strong organizational and communication skills
- Comfort using CRM systems or similar tracking tools
- Familiarity with Catholic education, philanthropy, or mission-driven work is helpful, but not required
- A personal appreciation for the mission and values of Catholic education
WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS
Foundations in Education exists to ensure Catholic education across Fairfield County is both exceptional and accessible. Thousands of students depend on scholarship support to attend schools that would otherwise be out of reach. The gap between demand and available funding is real, and it is growing. The work of this role directly determines how many families can access a transformative Catholic education in the Diocese of Bridgeport.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Competitive base salary, commensurate with experience, with performance incentives tied to clear professional KPIs
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
- 403(b) retirement plan, with employer contributions of 3% to 5% after the eligibility period
To apply for this job email your details to Steven.Velardo@diobpt.org
Director of Donor Growth and Engagement
THE OPPORTUNITY
As Director of Donor Growth and Engagement, you will own how Foundations in Education attracts, converts, and retains donors at scale. That means building awareness among prospective supporters, moving them toward first-time giving, and developing the communications and stewardship infrastructure that turns one-time donors into long-term partners in the mission.
You will lead donor engagement across broad-based and mid-level audiences through email, direct mail, digital campaigns, and social channels, with a focus on measurable outcomes: donor acquisition, retention rates, recurring giving growth, and campaign performance.
Foundations in Education is actively growing. We are expanding fundraising capacity, strengthening operations, and building a more scalable and execution-oriented development organization. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys ownership, moves quickly, communicates clearly, and takes pride in producing work that is both thoughtful and effective.
WHAT YOU WILL OWN
- Stewardship communications and donor engagement across multiple channels
- Execution of donor-facing campaigns including email, direct mail, social, and digital fundraising efforts
- Donor acknowledgment and ongoing stewardship touchpoints
- Campaign writing, editing, scheduling, deployment, and performance tracking
- Website and donation page updates related to fundraising initiatives
- Maintaining consistent messaging, branding, and donor experience across channels
- Supporting donor retention, recurring giving, and long-term engagement strategies
- Coordinating with leadership, development, and operations teams to support organizational fundraising goals
WHO SUCCEEDS HERE
This role is a strong fit for someone who has a genuine personal connection to the mission of the Catholic Church, understands how communication influences trust and donor behavior, and takes initiative without waiting to be directed step-by-step. You balance creativity with operational discipline, write clearly across multiple formats and audiences, and are comfortable receiving direct feedback and iterating quickly.
You do not need traditional nonprofit experience to succeed in this role. Strong candidates may come from marketing or communications, lifecycle or email marketing, agency or client services, digital fundraising, brand or content strategy, or growth marketing.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- A bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, business, journalism, liberal arts, nonprofit management, or related field
- Experience managing campaigns, communications calendars, or donor/customer engagement initiatives
- Strong writing and editing ability across email, web, social, and print
- Familiarity with marketing platforms, CRM systems, or email marketing tools
- Comfort tracking campaign performance and engagement metrics
- Strong project management and organizational skills
- Experience coordinating events or donor-facing experiences is helpful
- Familiarity with Catholic education, philanthropy, or mission-driven work is beneficial, but not required
- A personal appreciation for the mission and values of Catholic education
WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS
Foundations in Education exists to ensure Catholic education across Fairfield County is both exceptional and accessible. Most donors who give once never give again, not because they stopped caring, but because no one brought them closer to the work. This role exists to change that. The communications, campaigns, and relationships you build directly determine whether supporters stay connected, give again, and grow in their commitment to students and schools across the Diocese of Bridgeport.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Competitive base salary, commensurate with experience, with performance incentives tied to clear professional KPIs
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
- 403(b) retirement plan, with employer contributions of 3% to 5% after the eligibility period
- Access to an on-site chapel and gym
To apply for this job email your details to Steven.Velardo@diobpt.org