Development Manager

OUR CORE VALUES

At Sharefest, our core values guide our work:

Building Belonging: We create spaces where individuals feel a sense of community and become part of something bigger than themselves.

Great Collaboration: We invite individuals from all communities to share their experiences, use their talents, and work together to build a better future.

Elevating All: We strive to bring out the best in ourselves and others, consistently seeking opportunities to grow and lift our communities.

Demonstrating Humility: We learn from one another, embrace our flaws, and elevate others as we uncover pathways to growth.

JOB SUMMARY

The Development Manager (DM) leads Sharefest’s development team by holding the majority of donor portfolio relationships as well as overseeing essential projects within the department. The DM oversees fundraising efforts for two out of the four selected development strategies: corporate sponsorships and major giving, to maximize effectiveness and donor engagement.

Corporate Sponsorships: Manages a portfolio of corporate donors to increase engagement and retention. Develops the organization’s benefits package per giving level and oversees the creation of key collateral for corporate donors. Manages events that support the Corporate Sponsorship strategy. Strategizes moves management, records donor data, and conducts prospect research for corporate donors.

Major Giving: Manages the majority of the organization’s major gift portfolio, strategizes moves management, records donor data, and conducts prospect research.

The DM oversees strategy, infrastructure, and execution of Sharefest’s major gift and corporate sponsorship strategies. They are responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining a robust major gift program that includes outreach and engagement of planned giving efforts. The DM will execute all aspects of the major gift plan, including research and identification of prospects; cultivation and relationship management of the portfolio; proposal development and solicitation; and ongoing stewardship of donors. Success will be measured by the ability to meet upstream revenue goals and generate sustainable funding for Sharefest’s growing donor base.

JOB RELATIONS

Responsible to: Executive Director

Major Donors & Corporate Sponsorships – 90%

Direct a growing donor-centric major donor program, working closely with the Executive Director and Board of Directors to ensure that these efforts are integrated with all of Sharefest’s existing development and outreach work.

Manage Sharefest’s major gifts and corporate sponsorship portfolios; qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding these individuals by conducting visits or touch-points each month with current and prospective donors.

Cultivate and expand current giving and planned giving donors and integrate planned gift objectives into major individual donor requests in collaboration with the Executive Director.

Monitor weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual data to achieve major and planned gift commitment goals.

Initiate and manage prospect research on individuals through the organization’s files, giving records, online resources, and donor giving databases.

Ensure that all aspects of donor giving are accurately recorded and reported and that all donor/prospect tracking is consistent with protocols.

Build relationships with board members to clarify and direct board-driven fundraising activities.

Lead major gift and corporate sponsorship-centered events, including the annual Gala, site visits, cultivation events, and golf tournaments in collaboration with external consultants:

Manage dashboard goals for events,

Set and manage event budgets alongside the Executive Director.

Owns the revenue goal related to these events.

Determine how to both save money and increase the quality of the events.

Manage board committees related to the Gala and other Corporate Sponsorship events.

Manage the event theme, program, and storytelling components in partnership with an external contractor.

Retain and upgrade existing sponsors.

Contribute to event evaluation outcomes, including reviewing existing measures, streamlining data collection, developing useful reports, and assisting staff in using data to improve events.

Development Operations – 10%

Collaborate with the Communications Manager to gather and craft student impact stories for donor-focused communications.

Set performance measures related to corporate sponsorship fundraising, analyze results, and produce sponsorship fulfillment reports.

Manage the development team’s prospecting goals by scheduling and executing prospecting strategies for all individual and institutional donors.

Maintain major and corporate donor records in Salesforce.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Exemplary service-oriented attitude and posture towards donors.

Proven verbal, phone, and written communication skills; ability to write clear, structured, articulate, and persuasive correspondence without editing support.

Strong organizational and project management skills; ability to organize priorities, problem-solve, multitask, and meet competing deadlines.

Must be able to effectively work with diverse groups, including staff, board members, donors, partnering nonprofit organizations, volunteers, and external stakeholders, to achieve program outcomes.

Knowledge of how to build and maintain meaningful relationships.

Strong contributor in team environments—friendly and courteous. Models a service attitude towards others, takes ownership in solving problems, and takes the initiative to improve situations.

Creative problem solver and self-starter; optimistic attitude, mature judgment, and strong collaboration skills.

QUALIFICATIONS

Direct donor experience with skills in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

Proven organizational and analytical experience.

Must have thorough knowledge of and experience in Microsoft Office Suite: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook.

Preferred skill working in Salesforce, Wordpress, Mailchimp, and social media platforms.

Bachelor’s degree required.

Previous experience working in non-profit and deadline-driven environments.

Ability to work in person 30 hours per week and 10 focused hours actively offsite.

Ability to work flexible hours; working with volunteers requires some evening and weekend hours.

Must be able to complete projects that include extensive standing, walking, bending, and lifting of items 20+ pounds, as well as exposure to the elements.