Water Street Mission (WSM)Job Description

Donor Development Officer

Job Summary: As a part of the Development team at Water Street, the Donor Development Officer is responsible for advancing the mission of Water Street Mission through our Mid-level and Major Donor program.

She/He will be responsible for personal contact with, and part of the overall communication strategy for, this critical group of individuals with an eye toward increased donor retention, lapsed reactivation and increased annual and project giving.

FSLA: Exempt, Full-time

All WSM Staff must be:

  • Willing to sign the Water Street Mission’sStatement of Faith
  • A current and active member and/or regular attendee of a local church
  • Able to fully support the Water Street Mission’sCore Values and Ministry Philosophy

Expectations:

  1. Donor Development Officer will be expected to spend 55% of his/her time maintaining and growing current donor relationships on behalf of Water Street through phone calls, e-mail, personal acknowledgement letters, customized proposals and occasional in-person visits.
  2. Donor Development Officer will be expected to spend 15% of his/her time maintaining and growing current Business (donor) relationships on behalf of Water Street through phone calls, e-mail, personal acknowledgement letters, customized proposals and occasional in-person visits. This will include gift, GIK, sponsorship and EITC solicitation.
  3. Donor Development Officer will spend 10% of his/her time is supporting fundraising events through developing sponsorships and attendees.
  4. Donor Development Officer will spend 10% of his/her time developing and tracking moves management activities in collaboration with the Director of Stewardship and other Development Officers.
  5. Donor Development Officer will spend 10% of his/her time working with our in-house communications team on the development of specialized mail and e-mail campaigns, designed to target specific segments of our donor base with the goal of increasing donor involvement.

CHARACTERISTIC JOB TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
May include any and/or all of the following:

  • Successfully manage the Rising, Major Donor and Business Portfolio: Set specific, measurable performance goals, establish priorities, ensure tasks align with established targets, monitoring progress toward goals and provide feedback and coaching as needed.
  • Acknowledgement of Supporters: Compose, print, prepare, and mail personalized gift-acknowledgement letters, note cards and receipts
  • Activities Management: Respond to all gift activity in a timely manner, according to agreed-upon workflows
  • Telephone Calls: Contact Donors to thank them for recent gifts and to establish personal contact
  • Moves Management Recommendations: Make recommendations to the Director of Stewardship as to which Donors are candidates for increased engagement
  • Relationship Evaluation: Participate in a monthly review of relationships to recommend future engagement activities
  • Marketing & Direct Mail: Collaborate with the Marketing Department to customize mail pieces and ensure enhanced, segmented communication to the Rising Donor group based on their affinity
  • Elevate Donors up the Donor Pyramid: Make efforts to elevate Donors into the Major Donor and Presidents Groups based upon an assigned caseload
  • In-Person Visits: Occasional in-person visits may be required for the purpose of furthering relationships on behalf of Water Street Mission as well as identifying new Major Donor prospects
  • Identify Donor Prospects: Identify and respond to donors demonstrating a propensity toward becoming an assigned Rising Donor
  • Lapsed Donor Strategy: Devise and implement strategy to inspire and re-activate lapsed Donors
  • Data Entry: Track all activity via the CRM database (Raisers’ Edge)
  • Other Administration: Handle miscellaneous Donor Advancement tasks as assigned by the Director of Stewardship or VP of Advancement.

Supervised by: VP, Advancement

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

  • Demonstrate a passion for connecting with supporters of Water Street Mission via phone and other multi-channels
  • Excellent writing and organizational skills
  • Outstanding verbal communication and interpersonal skills
  • Ability to work collaboratively
  • Experience in working with a CMS and CRM Database Software (Raisers’ Edge would be an advantage)
  • Proficient with Word, PowerPoint and Excel
  • Ability to work independently and manage time effectively
  • Must demonstrate the ability to make good decisions independently

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
The ideal Donor Development Officer will possess:

  • Motivation to see the lives of hurting men, women, and children restored
  • Possess a bachelor's degree and a minimum of 2 to 5 years of related work experience in a sales or fundraising environment
  • Experience maintaining and growing individual relationships
  • Prior management experience helpful
  • Person of integrity who can present strong character and employment references and pass a criminal background search and a credit report

Physical Demands:The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. While performing the essential functions of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, or sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel, and is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 35 pounds. Requires weekend and holiday rotation and on-call hours.

Christian Life: As an employee of Water Street Mission, you are an important member of a Christian missionary organization. All staff members are Christian missionaries and are required from time to time to participate in chapel services, outreach ministries, or counseling sessions. Because of the nature of these types of ministries, it is an absolute necessity that you possess and maintain a testimony or lifestyle that is above reproach. What you do on your own time may seriously affect your ability to perform these types of ministries, which are an important part of your job.