Development Specialist (Chicago / Hybrid)

Feeding America•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Development Specialist serves as a valuable member of the Strategic Gifts team, systematically managing an audience of annual Feeding America donors. This position drives engagement to meet annual and long-term fundraising targets. In service of neighbors facing hunger, this position promotes collaboration with network members and internal colleagues engendering trust in our national, individual relationship management process. Feeding America is the nation’s largest charity and the leading domestic hunger-relief charity in the United States. Our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger. At Feeding America, we believe in offering a flexible work environment. Employees can be in the office an average of 2 days a week (when not travelling for work) and work from home on other days. Employees also have access to a 30-day “work anywhere” program during the course of each calendar year that can be combined with PTO and/or holidays.

Requirements

3-5 years of experience leading annual giving strategies in a nonprofit organization.
Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office suite.
Experience with or interest in learning fundraising software and SharePoint.
Superior verbal/written communication skills and an eye for detail when proofreading.
Knowledge of fundraising best practices, especially annual giving programs.
Experience developing donor strategies, prospect lists and research, briefing and gift request materials and donor stewardship for major donors and prospects.
Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively with all levels of staff, volunteers, donors and prospective donors.
Ability to manage up and across different staff levels to bring projects to completion.
Strong organizational skills.
Analytical skills and strong attention to details.

Responsibilities

Cultivates, stewards and solicits a portfolio of “low-touch” major gift and mid-major donors with consistent, timely and multi-dimensional communications.
Creates and implements annual calendar of strategic programming that increases donor familiarity of and loyalty to our mission and 2030 Strategic Plan.
Identifies opportunities to engage new potential donors in fundraising efforts.
Strategically monitors trends in donor behavior and charitable sector and adapts engagement plans using data-driven decision making.
Writes fundraising and stewardship materials, letters and proposals in alignment with organizational best practices and in collaboration with colleagues in MarCom.
Effectively communicates with donors in-person, by phone and email building strong, personal relationships.
Documents activity in CRM and develops plans for analyzing and reporting key performance indicators and return on investment.
Collaborates with Relationship Managers and provides operational support for engagement plans that complement Leadership Annual Gift strategies.
Assists with planning and execution of group stewardship activities, including donor and network-facing events in partnership with the Donor Engagement Team.