Philanthropy Associate

Mountain Housing Opportunities • Asheville, NC

2d • $51,000 - $56,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO) has delivered affordable housing solutions for income-limited homeowners and renters in and around Buncombe County since 1988. In 2025, MHO's Board of Directors adopted a 4-year Strategic Plan that sets ambitious goals to expand affordable rental and homeownership opportunities, strengthen our home repair and down payment assistance programs, advance service-enriched housing, and deepen our impact in the communities we serve. As Western North Carolina continues long-term recovery from Tropical Storm Helene, our ability to share our story, grow our community of supporters, and inspire transformational investment is more important than ever. To support this critical work, MHO is seeking a Philanthropy Associate to assist in sustaining and strengthening fund development, stewardship, and storytelling efforts. The ideal candidate will be a highly organized, mission-aligned professional who is attuned to detail, adept at balancing multiple priorities, motivated by opportunity, enthusiastic about data, committed to process improvement, and guided by gratitude.

Please note: This is an in-office position. Once established in the role and based on duties and performance, the position may qualify for episodic telecommuting, in accordance with MHO's telecommuting policy.

Requirements

• Strong affinity for MHO's mission and service population; shared commitment to MHO Values (required).
• Associate's degree in related field or equivalent career experience (required); bachelor's degree preferred.
• 1-2 years progressive professional experience in data entry, administrative, or clerical work, including experience using CRM/database applications (donor management software such as Bloomerang preferred); able to produce bulk communications (such as letters or emails) to multiple recipients using mail/data merge processes
• Strong writing and proofreading skills; able to produce clear, accurate fundraising-related communications (gift acknowledgements, solicitations, stewardship updates, etc.), following brand guidelines and established templates and tone.
• High proficiency in business software applications, including Google Workspace and/or Microsoft Office (required); and comfortable with utilizing an array of office hardware, including printers, scanners, phones, filing systems, etc.
• Experience working and/or volunteering in a non-profit organization setting preferred, with an emphasis on fund development and/or customer service.
• Organized, with relentless attention to detail.
• Self-directed; completes work on-time and with a high degree of accuracy.
• Able to discover challenges, identify and implement resolutions, and adjust approach as needed.
• Manages shifting priorities and complex workflows in a dynamic work environment.
• Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across teams and with donors, supporters, and other external stakeholders.
• Clear and confident communicator.
• Navigates interactions with a broad range of MHO staff, volunteers, clients, residents, supporters, and partners with kindness and respect.
• Curious, investigative, and motivated by continuous learning.
• Actively seeks out and participates in ongoing learning and skill-building opportunities related to responsibilities, organizational priorities, industry, and sector.
• Builds trust through accountability, demonstrates compassion, practices patience, cultivates optimism; demonstrates a high level of professionalism in dealing with confidential and sensitive issues.

Nice To Haves

• bachelor's degree preferred
• Experience working and/or volunteering in a non-profit organization setting preferred, with an emphasis on fund development and/or customer service.

Responsibilities

• Serves as staff lead for gift and donor recordkeeping in MHO's fundraising CRM, Bloomerang, including all giving-related data entry, gift processing, and timely production of acknowledgement letters. Applies gift allocation and accounting codes according to standards set jointly with MHO Finance, and keeps entries current so the database is current and aligned to the Finance Department's reconciliation schedule, supporting accurate and on-time monthly, quarterly, and annual close.
• Ensures timely entry and tracking of event-related registrations and revenues with necessary receipting, acknowledgements, and revenue reconciliation.
• Organizes and maintains physical and digital funder and prospect-related files.
• Builds, analyzes, and distributes reports related to fundraising activity, identifying new or increased gifts, lapsed donors, and other key constituent data.
• Tracks and maintains other fundraising-related digital platforms and tools related to philanthropic giving and donor acknowledgement on a gift-by-gift basis.
• Documents, evaluates, and maintains systems, policies, and procedures, including standardized coding, processing, and reporting practices, to ensure the integrity of all constituent and financial data in the fundraising database, in partnership with the Director of Philanthropy.
• Partners with Director of Philanthropy and other staff as necessary to investigate and document information regarding prospective funders' financial capacity, philanthropic interests, propensity to give, and relationship to MHO; prepares and distributes this information ahead of prospect outreach in order to guide strategy and approach.
• Stewards donations, data, and preferences of current and prospective supporters with accuracy and respect.
• Writes and produces fundraising-related communications, including digital and print solicitations, gift acknowledgements, event-specific content, and stewardship updates.
• Leads production of 2 to 3 seasonal fundraising solicitations, including print and digital, including pulling and refining contact lists, setting goals, and tracking progress.
• Leads participation in community or regional giving campaigns, such as the Mountain XPress Give!Local campaign.
• Supports creation and production of other philanthropic-related publications, such as annual and impact reports, sponsorship or other giving guides.
• Collaborates directly with contracted creative agency to design and produce communications and other collateral; project manages department-wide design production in collaboration with colleagues and contracted brand partner.
• Provides administrative and clerical support for Philanthropy and Communications Department, including but not limited to filing, note-taking, assisting with funding application and reporting needs, preparing and managing logistics for meetings and special events, and other tasks as assigned; serves as administrative lead for MHO Philanthropy and Communications Committee, a committee of MHO's Board that supports resource development and engagement activity.
• Participates as an integral member of Philanthropy and Communications Department and MHO staff, attending meetings, supporting events, and executing other departmental or organizational tasks as necessary.
• Deployed interdepartmentally as needed to support time- or project-based work.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision, life, short and long-term disability insurance coverage options
• 3% retirement contribution upon completion of 1-year of service
• 12 paid holidays
• 20 days PTO in year 1, increasing one day per year of service up to 25 days

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree