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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Development Officer

💰 $50,000 - $75,000

NonprofitFundraisingDevelopmentDonor Relations

🎯 Role Definition

The Development Officer is a fundraising professional responsible for driving revenue growth and deepening donor relationships for nonprofit organizations. This role leads donor cultivation, solicits gifts (annual, major, and planned), manages prospect research and pipelines using CRM systems, writes and supports grant proposals, coordinates stewardship and events, and works cross-functionally to implement fundraising strategies that align with organizational priorities. Ideal candidates combine relationship-building, strategic thinking, and measurable fundraising performance to meet and exceed revenue goals.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Development Coordinator / Fundraising Assistant
  • Donor Relations Associate
  • Program Coordinator with donor-facing responsibilities

Advancement To:

  • Senior Development Officer / Major Gifts Officer
  • Development Manager / Grants Manager
  • Director of Development / Chief Development Officer

Lateral Moves:

  • Philanthropy Officer / Corporate Partnerships Manager
  • Annual Giving Manager / Stewardship Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design and execute a comprehensive donor cultivation and solicitation plan focused on annual giving, major gifts, and seasonal campaigns to meet or exceed assigned revenue targets and KPIs.
  • Identify, qualify and steward new major gift prospects through targeted research, relationship mapping, personalized outreach and tailored solicitation strategies that reflect donor capacity and interests.
  • Manage a portfolio of individual, corporate and foundation prospects: create and maintain detailed cultivation and solicitation plans, schedule moves management activities, and document contact reports and next steps in the CRM.
  • Prepare persuasive, donor-centered proposals and solicitation materials, including case statements, impact briefs, tailored asks, giving plans and stewardship reports that translate program outcomes into donor opportunities.
  • Lead or support grant development efforts by researching funding opportunities, drafting grant narratives, compiling budgets and supporting documentation, and coordinating internal partners to meet grant submission deadlines.
  • Conduct regular prospect research and wealth screening using tools such as Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, DonorSearch, iWave or WealthEngine to inform solicitation strategies and move-making.
  • Build and maintain accurate CRM records and pipeline data, run fundraising reports and dashboards, and use data-driven insights to prioritize outreach and measure campaign performance.
  • Cultivate long-term relationships with donors through personalized stewardship, timely acknowledgement, site visits, cultivation events and regular impact reporting to increase retention and upgrade rates.
  • Coordinate and execute donor engagement events (receptions, site tours, virtual briefings, cultivation dinners) from strategy and guest list curation through logistics and post-event follow-up to convert interest into commitments.
  • Collaborate with communications and marketing teams to produce donor-focused content, case studies, email appeals, acquisition campaigns and social content that support fundraising goals.
  • Develop customized solicitation strategies for corporate and foundation partners, including sponsorship packages, employee giving programs, and collaborative philanthropic initiatives that align with organizational priorities.
  • Negotiate and secure gift agreements, memoranda of understanding (MOUs) or sponsorship contracts; ensure donor restrictions and reporting obligations are accurately recorded and fulfilled.
  • Monitor and report on progress toward fundraising goals; prepare weekly and monthly development reports, revenue forecasts and pipeline analyses for senior leadership and boards.
  • Coach and support program staff, executive leadership and volunteer fundraisers (including board members) on best practices for donor engagement, solicitation asks and stewardship responsibilities.
  • Oversee gift processing and reconciliation activities, coordinate with finance for accurate receipting, acknowledgement letters and gift coding to ensure compliance with accounting and audit requirements.
  • Implement and refine fundraising processes, policies and systems (CRM workflows, gift acceptance policies, donor recognition levels) to improve efficiency and donor experience.
  • Create segmentation and targeted outreach strategies to improve donor acquisition, retention and lifetime value, leveraging analytics and A/B testing for appeals and communications.
  • Serve as a primary point of contact for assigned donors, responding to inquiries, facilitating program connections, and ensuring timely delivery of impact updates and recognition.
  • Lead assigned fundraising campaigns (capital, annual, planned giving) or components of comprehensive campaigns by developing timelines, solicitation asks, volunteer assignments and follow-up plans.
  • Support planned giving initiatives by identifying prospects, facilitating conversations about legacy giving options, and coordinating with legal/financial advisors as needed.
  • Ensure compliance with fundraising laws, donor privacy standards and ethical fundraising guidelines; maintain accurate gift records, donor opt-in preferences and secure data handling practices.
  • Conduct post-solicitation analysis to capture lessons learned, update portfolio strategies, and optimize future solicitation approaches for improved conversion and ROI.

Secondary Functions

  • Maintain and continually improve CRM data hygiene: deduplicate records, update contact information and ensure accurate gift allocation and coding.
  • Support ad-hoc fundraising data requests and exploratory data analysis (segmentation, retention cohorts, donor lifecycle metrics) to inform strategic decisions.
  • Contribute to the organization's fundraising strategy and roadmap by proposing new revenue streams, donor engagement experiments and capacity-building initiatives.
  • Collaborate with program teams to translate impact metrics and program outcomes into compelling donor-facing materials and integrated campaign messaging.
  • Participate in cross-functional planning, sprint planning or agile ceremonies when implementing new fundraising tools, CRM enhancements or integrated campaigns.
  • Provide training and onboarding for staff and volunteers on CRM best practices, moves management and donor stewardship expectations.
  • Assist with special project work including feasibility studies, campaign planning, executive briefings and board package preparation as requested by Development leadership.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proven experience with fundraising CRMs such as Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Bloomerang or Blackbaud; skilled at pipeline management, reporting and data exports.
  • Strong grant writing and grant management capabilities: proposal narrative development, budget creation, deliverable tracking and funder reporting.
  • Expertise in prospect research and wealth screening tools (DonorSearch, WealthEngine, iWave) and ability to translate findings into actionable solicitation strategies.
  • Demonstrated record of successfully soliciting major gifts and closing six- and seven-figure commitments, with documented prospect move-planning.
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, data cleaning) and experience producing dashboards and fundraising analytics.
  • Experience with donor stewardship platforms, email marketing tools (e.g., Mailchimp, Constant Contact), and digital fundraising channels.
  • Knowledge of fundraising compliance, gift acceptance policies, donor privacy laws and documentation best practices.
  • Familiarity with budgeting, basic financial reporting, and reconciling gifts in partnership with finance teams.
  • Project management experience, including creating timelines, managing multiple projects simultaneously and coordinating cross-functional stakeholders.
  • Ability to produce polished donor-facing materials: proposals, impact reports, case statements and tailored solicitation letters.
  • Experience managing events and donor engagement activities, including logistics, guest curation, run-of-show and post-event follow-up.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills; ability to cultivate trust with donors at all levels.
  • Persuasive communicator with strong oral and written presentation skills tailored to diverse audiences.
  • Strategic thinker with the ability to translate organizational priorities into donor-centric asks and measurable plans.
  • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, with the capacity to manage multiple donor portfolios concurrently.
  • Resilient and persistent in pursuit of fundraising goals while maintaining a diplomatic and empathetic approach.
  • Collaborative team player who partners effectively across programs, communications, finance and executive leadership.
  • Strong customer-service orientation and commitment to superior donor stewardship and experience.
  • High ethical standards and discretion when handling confidential donor information.
  • Adaptable and creative problem-solver who can iterate on fundraising tactics based on data and feedback.
  • Coaching and influencing skills to mobilize board members, volunteers and senior leaders for fundraising activity.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, communications, business, public administration, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in nonprofit leadership, public administration, business administration (MBA), or related advanced certificate (e.g., CFRE).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Nonprofit Management
  • Fundraising / Philanthropy
  • Communications or Marketing
  • Business Administration
  • Public Administration
  • Finance / Accounting (helpful for donor agreements and budgets)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–5 years of progressive fundraising experience (including individual giving, major gifts, grants and events).

Preferred:

  • 3–7 years of direct development experience with demonstrated success meeting or exceeding fundraising targets, experience managing a portfolio of major gift prospects, and familiarity with CRM systems and donor analytics.
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