Development Specialist

Friends of the Children•Eugene, OR

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Friends of the Children – Lane County is seeking a Development Specialist who thrives on building long-term relationships and partnerships. The successful candidate will be a stellar communicator with a sharp head for business, a splash of creative style, and spark thrown in. They will also be self-motivated, proactive, results driven, and deeply passionate about the mission of Friends – Lane County. The Development Specialist is responsible for partnering with the Executive Director to champion external communications, cultivate stakeholders and meet annual revenue goals. They also are responsible for ensuring that marketing products and stakeholders events are successful in supporting and sustaining the mission of Friends of the Children. As the Development Specialist you will be instrumental in creating and fostering the long-term funding relationships that sustain the organization. Your contributions will be key to maintaining and growing services to families we partner with, helping them navigate obstacles and change their trajectory.

Requirements

Passion for Friends – Lane County’s mission and a deep commitment to equity.
Excellent organization, time management, delegation, and follow-up skills.
Be willing and able to attend and actively participate in team meetings, staff functions, and development events.
Possess commitment to extreme attention to detail, including but not limited to ability to implement self-checking procedures for data entry, produce accurate correspondence and reports, and produce and edit written materials accurately and consistently.
Have excellent project management and organizational skills to routinely manage and prioritize daily work and meet multiple deadlines simultaneously, especially during high-volume times of the year.
Demonstrate ability to work independently as well as in a team setting.
Be a self-starter with high level of initiative and willingness to learn.
Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to design and create stunning graphic communications.
Associate degree required; bachelor’s degree preferred.
3+ years of fundraising experience in a non-profit setting or 2-3 years professional experience in sales, marketing and/or comparable experience.
Maintain current driver’s license, good driving record, and vehicle insurance.
Maintain First Aid/CPR certification.

Nice To Haves

Professionals who have served as Development Directors or have 5+ years of professional communications and/or development experience may be considered for salary range of up to $85K.

Responsibilities

Create and implement a comprehensive Communications Strategy that guides engagements with donors/stakeholders.
Develop and implement strategies to maintain and develop corporate donors to strengthen connections to the organization.
Collaborate with the Board of Directors and Executive Director on fundraising activities and campaigns and providing support and resources for Board members development efforts.
Develop all external communications to effectively build awareness and promote financial support for the organization.
Plan and implement donor engagement events, annual giving campaign and major gifts programs.
In partnership with the Executive Director (ED) and the Board of Directors (BOD), ensure that all external communications, including, but not limited to, newsletters, social media and direct communications are consistent with the Organizational values and standard of excellence, and effectively build awareness of the organization and promote financial support of the organization.
Ensure sufficient stakeholder engagement strategies, including events and individual donor strategies are being deployed to sustain financial support of the organization.
Ensure visual, written and audio assets are created that enable compelling storytelling without putting on undue burden on Friends core activities and staff.
Exude a passion for serving youth facing the most challenging situations.
Actively participate in aspects of planning, budgeting, and managing the growth and development of the organization through philanthropy.
Develop and maintain knowledge of local and national issues related to the organization’s mission in order to serve as an effective, compelling spokesperson for the organization.
Make, and in some cases attend, appointments with/for ED with foundation officers and other donor prospects, arrange for onsite tours for supporters (foundation officers, foundation trustees).
Prepare timely, specific, and relevant materials for development meetings and conversations, including providing strategic input and knowledge about potential return on investment for different outreach strategies.
Identify and utilize creative methods for gathering stories from Friends and the Family Engagement Specialist and design materials to be shared as appropriate.
Strive to ensure that organization’s commitment to equity is reflected in all decisions, communications, and processes.
Serve as a member of the Crisis Response Team, working with other team members to oversee the secondary response activity in response to an emergency.
Create a comprehensive Communications Strategy that guides annual engagement with donors/stakeholders including strategies and timelines associated with newsletters, emails, social media posts, event communications, direct outreach (phone/text/mail) and potentially advertising.
Coordinate implementation of the communications strategy with other members of the organization as necessary.
Develop, maintain stakeholder contacts and lists to enable effective segmentation of interests and build stakeholder engagement in communications.
Segment stakeholder lists into categories based upon strategic outreach desires.
Cull donor lists quarterly, such that only people that have engaged in communications in the last <90 days remain on the list.
Demonstrate and create processes for showing gratitude in timely, appropriate, and delightful ways.
Create and implement strategies to have direct communications with existing, potential and corporate donors to strengthen connections to the organization.
Oversee strategy, production and implementation of newsletters and reports to generate brand awareness and inspire financial support.
Oversee all direct mail campaigns and development of mailing lists.
Provide leadership for key messaging in alignment with other organizational messaging.
Participate as a key member of the BOD’s Development Committee, including helping support the BOD’s Committee lead.
Identify, evaluate, and provide research on individuals to use in advancing prospective major gift donor relationships.
Work with Executive Director and Board of Directors to develop strategy for engaging identified prospective donors.
Update and maintain the Organization’s Donor Development Tool and Donor Database.
In collaboration with other members of the team: plan and implement at least 5 successful donor engagement events each year, including at least one larger scale event aimed at cultivating new donors.
Implement an Annual Giving Campaign in conjunction with the end of the calendar year.
Develop, implement, and sustain the organization’s major gifts programs, including the development and execution of strategies to ensure the effective and timely cultivation and solicitation of major donors and prospects.
Create and implement board stewardship program; create systems to ensure board members follow up with prospects and engage new supporters for Friends of the Children.
Coordinate with ED and board on revenue targets and achievements.
Identify corporate funding sources; develop and implement a robust corporate cultivation and solicitation program that sustains current donors and expands to reach new ones, including senior business leaders.
Prepare timely, specific, and relevant materials for development meetings and conversations.