FLOW Development Specialist
POSITION SUMMARY: FLOW’s Development Specialist position offers an opportunity to sustain a dynamic water policy nonprofit in the Great Lakes. The Specialist is part of a team that creates and implements FLOW’s fund development plan to support programs and operations. The Specialist reports to the Development Director, and also works closely with the Executive Director and other colleagues to support or lead activities to increase revenue. Primary responsibilities are to plan and execute annual giving campaigns, coordinate gatherings and revenue-generating events, increase business engagement, and enhance grant-seeking success. The Specialist position is 40 hours/week, with some regional travel anticipated; salary range is mid-$40K, commensurate with experience.
To Apply: Please submit resume and cover letter by email to: info@flowforwater.org. No phone calls, please. Position open until filled.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Annual Giving: In collaboration with the Development Director, develop and implement a strategic plan of action with objectives, timelines, and evaluation measures for the annual giving program that includes identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of constituents. Development Specialist will:
- Prepare mailing lists and segments — direct mail and digital formats.
- Coordinate with vendors to ensure timely delivery of direct mail according to solicitation schedule.
- Prepare internal and external reports using NEON CRM database and work with the Development Director to measure progress against stated goals and objectives.
- Collaborate with the Communications Coordinator to analyze social media analytics and evaluate targeted marketing and messaging campaigns.
- Cultivate and steward recurring gifts.
Events and Engagement Activities: In collaboration with staff and the fund development committee, identify, organize, and execute key annual events designed to cultivate new, and sustain long-term, donor relationships. Duties include:
- Identify, organize, and execute key annual events; establish revenue/expense projections and report on budget actuals.
- Coordinate logistics for events, including concept, planning, promotion, implementation, and post-event follow-up.
- Collaborate with artists to develop Art Meets Water events, presentations, and performances.
- Design print and digital marketing materials, or work with external contacts to execute.
Community and Business Engagement: In collaboration with the Development Director,
- Cultivate and steward relationships and partnership opportunities with other organizations doing complementary work and with businesses that align with FLOW’s values and ethos.
- Contribute to bi-monthly e-news and social media content with a focus on business partnerships.
- Assist in the organization and management of FLOW volunteers.
- Secure business sponsorships for key annual events.
- Establish and report progress on revenue goals for this sector.
Grants: In collaboration with the Development Director, identify new foundations aligned with FLOW’s mission, assist in cultivating past, current, and new foundation relationships.
- Perform grant research to identify new funding opportunities.
- Manage the grant application process from beginning to end in collaboration with the Development Director and program staff.
- Write and edit grant proposals, letters of inquiry, and interim and final grant reports.
- Maintain internal grants calendar and monitor team progress against deadlines.
Communications: In collaboration with the fund development and communication teams, design and implement communications campaigns to highlight FLOW’s programmatic work and create meaningful connections with current and prospective donors.
- Establish growth targets and report on progress.
- Create donor stewardship and solicitation emails. Develop content and design emails in Mailchimp.
- Create fund development content for biweekly e-blast to supporters related to business partners, annual appeals, and FLOW events and volunteer opportunities.
- Develop content for print donor communications.
Administrative: In collaboration with the Development Director,
- Work with the Board of Directors, interns, and volunteers as needed.
- Prepare reports for dissemination to staff and Board.
- Maintain Fund Development calendars, checklists, and procedural documents.
- Serve as lead staff for internal Fund Development weekly team meetings.
- Support the Board’s Resource Development Committee.
- Maintain and enhance data integrity in CRM.
- Other duties as needed.
QUALIFICATIONS AND DESIRED SKILLS
You are a creative, smart, thoughtful, and innovative person who loves both personal interaction and data analysis. You enjoy carrying out a project with a great deal of autonomy and responsibility, from inception to reporting on results. You also thrive in a team setting alongside accomplished professionals committed to a vital mission.
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Business Management, Public Relations, Nonprofit Management, or related field preferred.
- From 2-4 years’ experience in a nonprofit fundraising role.
- Familiarity with conservation, environmental, and Great Lakes issues a plus.
- Confidentiality and discretion.
- Ability to keep multiple projects moving forward with minimal direction.
- Flexibility and team-oriented approach; ability to motivate and manage volunteers.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Customer-service orientation; ability to relate to a wide variety of constituents.
- Detail-oriented, organized. Facility with Google Office suite, Microsoft Office suite, CRM, and productivity platforms required; facility with Adobe Creative suite, MailChimp, and NEON preferred.
- Experience with event planning is highly preferred.
ABOUT FLOW
Everything we do is reflected in our name: For Love of Water or simply “FLOW.” Our mission is to safeguard the Great Lakes, the planet’s largest freshwater lake system and the very lifeblood of the Midwest, by advancing public trust solutions and cutting-edge policy work. Through our targeted policy initiatives, FLOW has built key partnerships with state and regional Great Lakes groups, leveraged our expertise to influence agencies and impact state and federal legislation, and grown to be a trusted source of current information on issues affecting our freshwater seas. For more information about FLOW’s history, programs, staff, or Board visit: www.ForLoveOfWater.org. FLOW is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate in employment, promotions, or compensation on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, handicap, or veteran status.
If you are interested in getting involved as a volunteer, please visit our Volunteer Page.
