Development Coordinator

What You'll Do

Annual Giving Campaign Support

• Coordinate and support the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the organization’s annual giving campaign in partnership with the Executive Director and Board Development Committee.
• Assist with the development and execution of donor acquisition, retention, and stewardship strategies to increase annual fundraising results.
• Coordinate fundraising communications, appeals, donor mailings, and campaign-related outreach activities.
• Extract, analyze, and maintain donor data to support campaign segmentation, targeting, and reporting.
• Track campaign performance and provide regular progress reports to leadership and the Board Development Committee.
• Support special fundraising initiatives and community giving campaigns, including events such as Give Local 757 and other development-related activities.

Donor Relations – Cultivation, Prospecting, and Data Collection

• Identify, research, and cultivate relationships with corporate and individual sponsors.
• Maintain accurate and comprehensive records of current, prospective, and past donors within the development database.
• Conduct prospect research to identify and qualify new donor opportunities.
• Assist in developing sponsorship proposals, partnership opportunities, and donor presentations
• Support donor cultivation and stewardship activities by coordinating communications, meetings, and engagement opportunities.
• Develop donor profiles and collect relevant information to support relationship-building and solicitation strategies.
• Coordinate donor acknowledgement activities, including thank-you letters, scripts, and stewardship calls.
• Assist leadership and Board members with donor engagement efforts by providing donor information, giving histories, and cultivation recommendations.

Foundation Prospecting

• Research and identify foundation funding opportunities aligned with the organization’s mission and strategic priorities.
• Maintain a pipeline of prospective foundation funders and grant opportunities.
• Assist in preparing, writing, and coordinating grant proposals, letters of inquiry, and supporting documentation.
• Track grant application submissions, reporting requirements, award statuses, and deliverables.
• Collaborate with leadership to gather programmatic and financial information required for grant applications and reports.
• Monitor foundation funding trends and recommend opportunities to diversify and expand foundation support.

Managing Key Reporting Deadlines

• Maintain a comprehensive development calendar to monitor fundraising, grant, stewardship, and reporting deadlines.
• Track and coordinate grant reporting requirements and ensure timely submission of all required deliverables.
• Generate and distribute fundraising reports, donor activity summaries, and campaign status updates for leadership and Board meetings.
• Maintain the organization’s development database, ensuring data integrity, accuracy, and timely entry of donor information.
• Prepare reports and analyses to support fundraising decision-making and strategic planning.
• Coordinate Development Committee meetings, including scheduling, agenda preparation, minute- taking, and follow-up on action items.

Creation of an Annual Development Plan for the Organization

• Partner with the Executive Director and Board Development Committee to develop and implement the organization’s annual development plan.
• Establish annual fundraising goals, objectives, timelines, and performance measures.
• Develop strategies for donor acquisition, retention, stewardship, and engagement across individual, corporate, and foundation funding sources.
• Monitor progress toward annual fundraising goals and recommend adjustments to strategies as needed.
• Analyze fundraising trends, donor data, and development outcomes to inform future planning.
• Support the integration of development priorities into the organization’s overall strategic objectives and growth plans.

Additional Cross-Functional Responsibilities

• Provide administrative and operational support to the Board Development Committee.
• Collaborate with staff, volunteers, and Board members to advance fundraising initiatives and donor engagement activities.
• Serve as a key resource for development-related information, reporting, and donor stewardship activities.
• Perform other development and fundraising duties as assigned to support the organization’s mission and resource development objectives.

OTHER DUTIES

• Other related job duties, responsibilities and activities may be needed to help drive our vision, fulfill our mission, and abide by our organization’s values.

Requirements

• Minimum of three years’ experience, directly or combined, in a fundraising leadership position, preferably with a non-profit organization
• Experience in the creation and implementation of fundraising plans, with proven success in meeting annual fundraising goals
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with an ability to prioritize, negotiate, and work with a variety of donors
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and dedication to the mission of FirstSpark
• Successful track record in donor cultivation, prospecting and management while curating strong relationships with donors
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to create compelling, concise written communications
• Corporate donor cultivation, prospecting and management experience preferred
• Foundation cultivation, prospecting and management experience preferred
• Experience with maintaining nonprofit development databases
• Fully proficient in Microsoft 365
• A successful track record in setting priorities; keen analytic, organization and problem-solving skills
• Ability to preserve confidentiality of information and exercise discretion

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with the FirstSpark service area

Benefits