Donor Stewardship Coordinator

Dorchester Paws, formerly known as Frances R. Willis SPCA, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to enhancing the lives of animals in Dorchester County, South Carolina. As the only open-admission private shelter in the county, we welcome all lost, abandoned, and abused animals, providing them with food, shelter, and medical care until they find their forever homes. In 2021, we provided care for over 3,800 cats and dogs and achieved a 93% live release rate.

Despite challenges such as limited resources and facility capacity, we proudly uphold a No Kill Community policy, ensuring no animals are euthanized due to space, time, or financial constraints.

This is a full-time, on-site role for a Donor Stewardship Coordinator, located in Summerville, SC. The Donor Stewardship Coordinator serves as a key member of the Development & Marketing Team at Dorchester Paws, reporting directly to the Director of Development & Marketing. This position plays a vital role in strengthening and sustaining the organization’s fundraising efforts through intentional donor stewardship, relationship management, and corporate engagement.

The primary focus of this role is to steward existing donors, deepen relationships, ensure meaningful engagement, and increase donor retention and giving over time. This position will also cultivate and manage relationships with corporate partners to grow sponsorship and philanthropic support. Event coordination and partnership prospecting will remain part of the role but will support broader stewardship and revenue goals.

• Serve as a primary point of contact for existing donors, ensuring timely, professional, and personalized communication.
• Develop and implement stewardship strategies to increase donor retention, upgrade giving, and deepen engagement.
• Manage donor acknowledgments, thank-you calls, handwritten notes, and impact follow-ups.
• Track donor interactions and giving history to ensure consistent, meaningful relationship management.
• Assist in building donor recognition opportunities and reporting impact stories back to supporters.
• Respond to donor phone calls, emails, and inquiries in a timely and relationship-focused manner.
• Support cultivation strategies for mid-level and corporate donors.
• Maintain accurate donor records and assist in reporting related to revenue and engagement goals.

• Cultivate and manage relationships with existing corporate partners.
• Identify opportunities to grow corporate sponsor ships and philanthropic support.
• Work alongside the Director of Development & Marketing to align corporate engagement with organizational funding priorities.
• Assist in developing customized partnership proposals and stewardship plans for corporate sponsors.

• Assist with planning and execution of signature fundraising events.
• Support event sponsorship fulfillment and donor engagement at events.
• Attend select off-site events to steward existing supporters and represent Dorchester Paws.
• Help evaluate event effectiveness in relation to donor retention and revenue goals.

• Must be able to work both indoors and outdoors.
• Must be able to work at a computer for extended periods of time.
• Must be able to stand, walk, and move for extended periods of time.
• Must have reliable transportation to conduct work in and out of the shelter in Summerville.
• This role requires flexibility, including occasional evenings and weekends for donor or event-related activities.
• Frequent lifting or moving of objects up to 50 lbs may apply.
• Must establish and maintain effective professional relationships with coworkers, donors, corporate partners, and the community.
• Must be comfortable working around cats and dogs.

• Experience in donor relations, account management, fundraising, or sponsorship sales.
• Demonstrated success in relationship building and long-term account stewardship.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple donor relationships simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High level of professionalism and emotional intelligence.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating within a team environment.
• Experience in the nonprofit sector is a plus but not required.
• Flexible with irregular work hours when needed.
• Dependable, stress-tolerant, and motivated to contribute to a mission-driven organization.
• Someone ready to make a meaningful impact in the lives of animals and the community.