Development Manager

Mission Graduates empowers youth and their families on the path to higher education, equipping them for fulfilling careers that will strengthen future generations. We support under-resourced youth with comprehensive programs from kindergarten through career, fostering academic success and community leadership for over 4,400 students and families each year.

Position Overview:

The Development Manager reports to the Director of Development and works closely with the Chief Development Officer to manage donor relations and cultivation, help implement special events, and oversee the organization's development operations and donor database.

Key Responsibilities & Primary Duties:

Donor Relations and Cultivation:

• Track the cultivation, growth, and giving of individual donors and corporate partners. 

• Assist in the implementation of our organizational plan to identify, recruit, cultivate, and renew individual donors , and to grow our existing donor base.

• Prospect Research: Identify and qualify prospective and current donors in collaboration with the Director of Development and Chief Development Officer. 

• Coordinate multi-channel fundraising campaigns (direct mail, email, and online giving) with the Development Team. Help build and manage campaign timelines, oversee production, set up donation pages and forms in our online fundraising platform and web site, help gather stories from students and families, and track results across channels.

• Support list preparation and lead production for annual mail appeals. Partner with the Director of Development and Director of Marketing and Communications on segmentation and suppression lists, coordinate NCOA/CASS updates and list cleanup, and lead assembly, major donor signature prep, follow-up mailings, and gift entry.

• Anniversary mailing: Own the anniversary mailing and lapsed donor outreach from start to finish. Pull monthly lists of donors approaching their giving anniversary and those who have lapsed, draft and produce mailings, schedule follow-up touchpoints in partnership with the Director of Development and Chief Development Officer, and track renewal rates to measure results.

• Manage donor stewardship and gift acknowledgment, ensuring all gifts are acknowledged within 48 hours. Maintain stewardship systems for current and prospective donors, and prepare monthly giving reports and dashboards for the Development team, organizational leadership, and the Board of Directors.

• Lead monthly gift reconciliation with the Finance and Development Teams to ensure accurate, consistent donation records. Track open invoices and pledges, reconcile gifts from online giving platforms, and retrieve donor-advised fund (DAF) gift information from sponsor portals.

 

Fundraising Events:

• Implement fundraising events, including March to the Future, Mi Pasaje, and Food for Thought, in collaboration with the Director of Development.  

• Research sponsorship prospects and solicit community partners for event sponsorship.

• Help implement events at Mission Graduates’ signature event Food for Thought, with support from the Development Team, MG Teams, and board of directors

• Manage restaurant relationships of Food for Thought partners

• Secure Food for Thought raffle prizes from existing and new contacts

• Provide logistical support for up to four donor cultivation gatherings per year, led by the Chief Development Officer in collaboration with the Director o

Data Management and Development Operations: Manage donor systems, processes, and workflow

• Manage donor database (Salesforce), and coordinate with the Data  Manager from the Impact and Evaluation Team, as needed

• Manage online fundraising and events management platforms

• Build scheduled reports to help facilitate donor cultivation and stewardship efforts for various segments of our giving community

• Collaborate with and advise the Development Team Members on donor database management of contacts, relationships, and opportunities

• Salesforce data health: Maintain data integrity and conduct monthly Salesforce data audits, including merging duplicates, updating contact information, correcting gift coding, and maintaining do-not-contact and deceased flags.

• Train new Development Team members on Salesforce and provide ongoing support, including maintaining user guides and documentation for development processes.

Required Qualifications/Skills:

• Bachelor’s Degree

• Project management, event management experience

• Strong attention to detail, time management, and organizational skills

• Ability to manage multiple priorities at once

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including comfort speaking in public

Preferred Qualifications:

• Nonprofit development experience, especially in data management or special events

• Experience with Salesforce or another donor database

• Bilingual in Spanish and English

• Experience working with low-income communities and communities of color

Working Conditions:

• This is a hybrid position, requiring two to three days in the office

• Some evening and weekend work required

• Fingerprinting and TB testing required before hire

Mission Graduates Is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Mission Graduates provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants in all of our employment practices, including selection, hiring, promotion, transfer, termination, leaves of absence, training, and compensation, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, uniformed service member/veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition or disability, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.