Development Associate

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Organization: GRIP Training Institute

Location: Hybrid: San Francisco Bay Area/Berkeley, CA / Remote  

Type: Full time, Non-Exempt (40 hours a week)

About: https://grip-traininginstitute.org

DO YOU? 

Do you want to be on a team who works toward the dismantling of the mass incarceration system, and strives to turn violence and suffering into opportunities for healing? Do you want to work with proven leaders in the growing global movement toward Restorative Justice? Do you want to make an impact on the lives of justice impacted people? GRIP Training Institute is seeking a Development Associate to join our growing team. 

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Development Associate reports to and partners with the Development Director in three primary areas:

• Donor Administration, including creation and maintenance of donor records through donors’ lifecycle, including updating donor contact information, history of donations and acknowledgements, any follow ups with donors, etc.
• Donor Engagement and Communication, including creating and updating written materials for donors; and working directly with other domains to develop marketing and communication materials to support fundraising campaigns.
• Donation System Administration & Reporting , including ensuring data integrity of our donation system (reconciliation with our financial system) and accuracy of information.  Generating performance metrics, Board level reports, information to assist Development Director with campaigns, and required reporting to our grants, foundations, etc.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Development Associate is responsible for providing campaign and project coordination management to support GRIP’s development activities, ensuring compliance with restricted funds, data integrity and accuracy of our donor and donation information.  Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Donor Administration

• Capture and maintain donor information, such as contact information, preferred name, preference for mode of communication, subscriptions, etc.
• Route and track major donor acknowledgements with Executive Director and/or GRIP Founder.
• Reconciliation of donations against donor commitments.
• Revenue reconciliation of donations received against monthly revenue.

Donor Engagement & Communication

• Support Development Director and Major Gifts Officer in the planning and execution of donor events and campaign execution.
• Drive grassroots fundraising efforts via social media. Implement digital or small mailing campaigns for grassroots donors (donors under 1k)
• Support the pipeline of donors to qualify, support our grassroots donor goals and spread word about GRIP’s work/restorative justice
• Assist in Mailchimp newsletter development, proofreading and delivery.
• Build and share GRIP success stories with our donor community and stakeholders.
• Organize existing media for development/communications team members to prepare for appeals and donor outreach.
• Coordinate and arrange all details for Prison Visitor Program and be able to host visitors and donors

Donation System Administration & Reporting 

• Timely and accurate gift processing in CRM (Bloomerang) and other tools.
• Perform system maintenance, including disabling access of terminated employees, reports used are generating quality output, data integrations are functioning, etc.
• Generate scheduled and ad-hoc reports as needed to support campaign execution, compliance and leadership reporting.
• Updating GRIP Training Institute web pages to reflect latest campaigns and donor acknowledgements.

Discovery/Research

• Support doing monthly discovery on prospective donors and foundations
• Creation/management of a system of qualification of donors 
• Create profiles/Donor brief for qualified prospects for us to review monthly

KEY PARTNERSHIPS

This role partners with the Director of Development, Communications, Finance, and Program Teams to engage and deliver great experiences for our donors, organizations and partners that enable and support our development campaigns.  This role is expected to work across multiple internal organizations.

WHO YOU ARE AND KEYS TO SUCCESS (the must-haves)

To be successful in this role, you will excel in these areas:

• You are passionate about the work we do and the work of raising money: You will resonate deeply with the work of restorative justice inside prisons.  Our organization is about transforming lives and you will likely have a sense of introspection and practices of self-reflection.  We work hard to live what we teach, and are looking for someone who can engage as a part of our team. You also love raising money and have experience already in a non-profit (or business development) setting.
• You have 3+ years fundraising experience in a non-profit organization.
• You are seriously detail oriented, tech savvy, and experienced with creating and maintaining effective systems, processes and tools. In this role, you will be managing and strengthening our development infrastructure, including the donor database and grants tracking systems for prospects, grant proposals and reports.  Your familiarity with digital platforms (especially Google Workspace), data, modern communication technologies and funder databases will be important.  You have a high commitment to accuracy re: data entry, management and reporting.
• You are an excellent writer with overall strong communication skills, including ability to put together material into clear and compelling stories and make a case for funding our work, using both qualitative and quantitative data.
• You can work independently, take initiative, and collaborate well with colleagues. You enjoy working out of your home as well as in the office.  You know how to manage your time and projects independently as well as ask for help when needed to keep projects on track.  You have the experience and confidence to deliver high quality work.
• You can work with a wide range of different people. You can comfortably collaborate with people from all walks of life, including high net-worth individuals, formerly incarcerated people, government officials, and a staff team with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
• Travel will be required.  Must be able to easily travel to different meetings and offices in the Bay Area.  Valid driver's License and access to a car preferred.  Must be able to be cleared to enter prisons (CDCR runs a complete background check).

BONUS POINTS (nice-to-haves)

• Three years experience, at least 
• Experience with communities impacted by the correctional system and understanding of the impact of systems of oppression on communities of color.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Communications or equivalent job experience is preferred.
• Ability to create high quality marketing materials that highlight GRIP’s achievements, showcase our stories and appeal to potential donors is a plus.
• Comfortable with technology to pull data from multiple sources, compile them and produce nicely formatted reports and/or dashboards.

ABOUT THE GRIP TRAINING INSTITUTE

GRIP’s perspective and the title of our 200-page coursebook is “Leaving Prison Before You Get Out.” ™  Together we learn that being free it’s not just about finding oneself on the other side of the prison gate; it’s not just a geographic fact. At the heart of being free is not where you are, but who you are. We believe that nobody was born armed and dangerous, that violence is learned and that it is a tragic expression of an unmet need. Therefore, it can also be unlearned; GRIP’s methodology facilitates unlearning violent behavior to replace it with an attitude of insight, compassion and service. 

Our flagship program, GRIP (Guiding Rage Into Power), is a one-year, intensive program that guides incarcerated people through a journey of deep transformation and accountability. GRIP is a proven model for incarcerated people’s rehabilitation and healing, developed over 24 years in the California State prisons by founder Jacques Verduin, in collaboration with thousands of life-sentenced (with parole) incarcerated people.

The GRIP Training Institute is committed to building and nurturing an inclusive, equitable, respectful and accountable work environment.  We welcome people from all backgrounds and walks of life.  What we ask of our students inside, we ask of ourselves -- to practice the GRIP tools of emotional intelligence, mindfulness, do-no-harm, and understanding the impact of our actions on others. 

ANTI-BIAS 

We are committed to breaking down systemic structures which contribute to deep inequities in our system.  We continuously question our culture, climate and curriculum to ensure all members of our community are committed to being racially and culturally literate, and ultimately anti-bias change makers.  

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS 

The GRIP Training Institute offers competitive benefits, including health and dental insurance, paid holidays, paid time off, and staff retreats. Salary competitive and commensurate with experience with a range between $29.00 to $35.00/hr.

To apply, please send: 

• UPDATED RESUME 
• TAILORED COVER LETTER
• THREE PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES 

GRIP Training Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage diversity in the workplace regardless of race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status. People of Color are encouraged to apply.