The Manager of Advancement reports directly to the Vice President of Advancement and is an integral member of the Strategic Advancement team. The Manager supports fundraising efforts through prospect development, research support, report and grant writing, budget tracking, organizational data collection, special projects, and administrative support. The Manager will foster comprehensive philanthropic coordination and alignment across teams within University City District (UCD).
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop, write, edit, and proof clear and effective communications including research, grant reports, and applications.
- Assist with required research pertinent to grant due diligence, ongoing review, and close-out analyses.
- Generate gift receipts and coordinate donor acknowledgements (letters, handwritten cards, videos) in alignment with stewardship plan.
- Conduct prospect research, identify critical information in the media and other sources; review publications, lists for connections to the organization, and prospect specific information; disseminate to the teams engaged in fundraising through department communication tools.
- Contribute to written materials, website updates, social media postings, editing, and proofreading as requested.
- Provide administration support for the grants process throughout all stages including pursuing, receiving, assessing, tracking, documenting all inquiries and/or proposals; assuring that submitted documentation meets all funder and legal requirements; and maintaining accurate and timely records of grants and other programmatic activities.
- Monitor, analyze, and reconcile budgets keeping financials up to date and accurate and informing resource decisions.
- Support the development and maintenance of the funding database ensuring the accuracy and integrity of data as well as relationship history. Perform timely and accurate data entry of constituent data and donor gifts into UCD’s database.
- Coordinate with the finance and communication functions; generate requested information, data and reports from information maintained in the grants management database or other sources.
- Work with the Vice President of Advancement and the Senior Vice President of Strategy to coordinate and maintain grant cycle calendar and project/reporting schedules; assist with the preparation of grant related materials for Senior Leadership and Board Meetings.
- Play a key role collaborating to optimize departmental workflows and information sharing, establish and enhance internal systems, and organize multiple streams of work.
- Use advanced technical tools, including queries, dashboards, and reports, extract and prepare lists and exports of data related to prospect research, prospect management, and prospect data projects and priorities.
- Work with team to overhaul file storage system for ease of access across the organization. Maintain reference materials in library and inventory of department materials; track and maintain renewals; review with staff.
- Conduct ongoing reviews of donor data for consistency and enhancements; update prospect specific information in database, ensuring information is accurate and up to date; coordinate updates of biographical and prospect development related data.
- Keep up to date on current philanthropic trends, data, and other philanthropy-focused information.
- Support the planning of funder site visits and funder engagement events, including those for public officials.
- Assist the departmental leadership in preparing agendas, meeting notes, and other materials and departmental documentation as necessary; keep clear notes on discussions, goals, action items, and next steps.
- Undertake special projects, prepare project documentation and project materials.
- Other duties as assigned.
Job Skills & Qualifications:
Required
- Bachelor's Degree or 5 years of nonprofit administration
- At least 2 years of comprehensive fundraising experience, including grant writing and reporting
- Strong organizational skills, attention to detail and the ability to multi-task
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Experience using donor management and prospecting software
- Skilled relationship manager
- Ability to work occasional evening and/or weekend events
Preferred
- Passion for inclusive growth and economic development
- Ability to create and implement organizational systems
- Creative problem-solving skills
- Self-starter, with an eye towards continuous improvement