Development & Communications Manager

To apply please email your resume and cover letter to search@northhelpline.org. with “Development & Communications Manager” in the subject.

Position Summary:

The primary responsibility of the Development & Communications Manager is to engage and mobilize community support that will raise funds to support our mission. This role will be accountable for building our donor program and facilitating donation initiatives. The Development & Communications Manager will also ensure the organization’s mission is adequately communicated with the community. The Development & Communications Manager will supervise a team of two to help carry out job duties.

To ensure the highest level of services are provided, additional duties and responsibilities may be assigned as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

Fundraising Strategy & Planning

• Develop and implement an annual fundraising plan in partnership with the Executive Director (ED) and Board of Directors.
• Track progress toward fundraising goals and adjust strategies as needed.

Grants and Foundations

• Work with grant consultant to identify, research, cultivate, and steward relationships with foundation funders.
• Write, submit, and manage grant proposals and reports to secure and sustain foundation funding with support from the Community Engagement Coordinator.
• Monitor and report grant outcomes to ensure compliance and maintain funder relationships.

Individual Giving

• Design and execute a major donor program.
• Develop strategies to upgrade existing donors to higher giving levels or recurring donation tiers.
• Steward individual donors with timely acknowledgment, updates, and tailored engagement.
• Coordinate end-of-year and seasonal giving campaigns.
• Collaborate with the Community Engagement Coordinator on external donor campaigns and messaging.

Corporate Sponsorships

• Collaborate with the Community Partnerships Coordinator to build and maintain relationships with corporate partners to secure sponsorships and in-kind support.
• Collaborate with corporate sponsors to align giving opportunities with organizational priorities.

Fundraising Events

• Plan, organize, and execute annual fundraising events, including one large-scale signature event with the support of the Development Team.
• Promote events and maximize engagement.
• Support Community Partnership Coordinator in securing event sponsorships, partnerships, and in-kind donations.
• Lead internal team coordination for event planning and day-of support.

Data and Donor Management

• Oversee donor data management using Salesforce CRM, ensuring accurate and up-to-date records.
• Ensure donations are processed, acknowledgment letters are generated, and meticulous records for stewardship and audits are maintained.
• Track donor trends, metrics, and outcomes to refine development strategies.
• Complete and submit all funder reports with support from the Development team.

Communications

• Tell North Helpline’s story of our work and the people we serve.
• Supervise and create content for website, social media, and mass emails.
• With team develop compelling content for all communications, including emails, social media, letter templates, appeals, surveys, newsletters, invitations, etc.
• Develop and implement marketing, outreach, and communication plans and strategies for public relations, media relations, social media presence, online giving, digital communications, messaging, storytelling, and branding.
• Ensure North Helpline is represented at appropriate community meetings and other events.

Leadership and Collaboration

• Supervise Community Engagement Coordinator and Community Partnership Coordinator, including setting work plans, conducting weekly check-ins, and assigning tasks.
• Integrate North Helpline staff members into fundraising efforts when appropriate.
• Attend quarterly Executive Board meetings to provide updates on fundraising initiatives and outcomes.
• Staff monthly Development Committee meetings with the Board Members, and Executive Director
• Participate in weekly leadership team meetings to align fundraising efforts with organizational goals.

Position Requirements:

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Skills and Abilities

• Passion for the North Helpline mission.
• Commitment to anti-racism.
• Highly organized.
• Ability to prioritize projects and take initiative towards their completion, including delegating tasks
• High attention to detail, ability to prioritize projects, efficiency, and the ability to work effectively with little instruction.
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced work environment while moving the team towards accomplishing goals.Willingness to communicate and ask questions of peers and supervisor to ensure the completion of tasks and a common understanding of objectives.
• Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality and uphold our financial control policies.
• Ablility to professionally interact with volunteers, clients (including those who are experiencing homelessness), donors, government employees, elected officials, and other public agency personnel in a culturally diverse environment.
• Ability to effectively utilize volunteer support.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are essential.
• Communicating empathy and a sense of humor is a must.

Education & Experience

3 to 5 years of relevant experience with the majority of the following between a combination of education and professional roles:

• Familiarity leading a team in a professional setting.
• Familiarity with the principles of Community Centric Fundraising, and willingness to aspire to an increasingly community-centric model of fundraising at North Helpline.
• Familiarity with the best practices of nonprofit fundraising, inculding.
• Familiarity with event planning and audience growth.
• Familiarity with the Google ecosystem (Google Sheets, Docs, Drive, etc) and Microsoft ecosystem (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc).
• Familiarity with moderate computer functions within the Windows OS ecosystem.
• Familiarity with the SalesForce CRM (or similar), specifically the Nonprofit Starter Pack (NPSP), preferred.
• Familiarity with generating reports from SalesForce CRM (or similar), preferred.
• Familiarity with data analysis and making recommendations from your findings
• Familiarity with serving populations who may be food and/or housing insecure, preferred.
• Familiarity with budgeting and / or reading financial reports such as a Form 990, preferred.
• Familiarity with organizing volunteers, preferred.

Other Requirements:

• Valid Washington Driver’s License with no outstanding violations.
• Able to drive a full-size van (automatic transmission).
• Able to work flexible hours, including overtime if required.

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 job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Able to remain in a stationary position about 50% of the time
• Able to occasionally move about inside the office to access necessary office equipment and resources
• Constantly operate a computer and other office equipment, such as a scanner, copy machine, and printer.
• Constantly accesses, handles, and uses non-electronic resources
• Occasionally moves equipment and other office resources up to 50 pounds
• Occasionally move about the studio to include occasional positioning of self to maintain equipment, office supplies, tasks, etc.
• Ability to inspect, recognize, observe, assess, compare, detect, discern, and distinguish office resources, employee performance, necessary documents and reporting, and other organizational resources as needed.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to outdoor weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment varies.

Hiring Process / Timeline

North Helpline understands that hunger and poverty disproportionately affect the most marginalized people in society – including people of color, low-income people, women, and LGBTQAI+ people. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

To apply please email your resume and cover letter to search@northhelpline.org. with “Development & Communications Manager” in the subject. We will read your cover letter first; it’s important for us to understand if this is the right fit for you. In your cover letter, please be sure to tell us why you are interested in this job and working at North Helpline.

We will review applications starting January 7th.