Development Specialist

Organizational Summary

Our Mission is to build bridges of care and communication providing love and support on a health journey. Our Vision is a world where no one goes through a health journey alone. Founded in 1997, CaringBridge is the largest and most widely used social networking site for family and friends to communicate with loved ones during a health journey. Based in Minnesota, we are proud of our global reach and nonprofit status with nearly 90% of our funding coming from the people who have experienced the power of CaringBridge firsthand. Thanks to the compassion and generosity of our donors and volunteers, CaringBridge is able to connect and serve millions of people each year. Since our founding, nearly 800,000 CaringBridge websites have been created and it’s become an indispensable part of many people’s lives. Every 8 minutes, a new CaringBridge website is created for someone experiencing a health crisis

Duties and Responsibilities

•  Develop and lead a comprehensive annual giving program, including strategies to incorporate a multichannel approach, with specific focuses for lapsed and renewed donors.
• Tracks, monitors and reports performance of development programs against budget.
• Maintains accurate and complete records of communications with donors in Salesforce.
• Manages workplace giving campaign, internally, and with external employers and partners.
• Nurtures a culture of philanthropy for reflecting the core values of CaringBridge; for treating donors and volunteers with respect; and for complying with the highest standards for ethical fundraising.
• Stays current on market, competition and trends including tactics, field concepts and practices applying them to strategies when applicable.
• Establishes and sustains interactive relationships with external vendors and contacts to result in favorable networks to support the current and future goals and to benchmark practices/results to maximize organizational effectiveness.
• Keeps Manager/Supervisor informed of important developments, potential problems, and related information necessary for effective management.  Coordinates/communicates plans and activities with others, as appropriate to ensure a coordinated work effort and team approach.
• Performs related work as apparent or assigned.

Qualifications/Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
• 2-5 years of experience in fund development or position of similar responsibilities.
• Proven track record of supporting or managing successful fundraising campaigns.
• Experience coordinating project activities, identifying resources and developing project timelines.
• Self-directed with the ability to adapt to change in a fast-paced environment
• Strong collaboration and teambuilding skills.
• Excellent organizational and planning skills.
• Excellent problem-solving analysis and demonstrated leadership.
• Working knowledge of nonprofit and fundraising industries including best practices and emerging trends.
• Ability to cope with the rapid pace and constant change associated with the digital landscape
• Ability to successfully manage numerous projects simultaneously.
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft applications and experience with fundraising databases preferred
• Preferred knowledge of Salesforce
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing with personnel and outside contacts.