Development Operations Manager

About Cradles to Crayons:

Cradles to Crayons (C2C), founded in 2002, provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive—at home, at school, and at play. We supply clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies, and more, free of charge. Our vision is that one day all children will have the essentials they need to thrive. 

Two in 5 kids in the United States are currently facing Clothing Insecurity, going without basic essentials like pants, shoes, diapers, and school supplies during their critical development years. Three of the top 10 reasons kids miss school are rooted in Clothing Insecurity—just one example of the significant short- and long-term social and economic costs when these needs go unmet. Cradles to Crayons keeps Clothing Insecurity at the core of our mission and is the only large-scale nonprofit organization to focus on this resource gap. Since its founding, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than three million customized packages of essentials to children in Massachusetts, Greater Philadelphia, Chicagoland, and nationally, through Giving Factory Direct—a first-in-kind online product donation platform launched in 2021. 

Cradles to Crayons takes a three-pronged approach to mitigating Clothing Insecurity: 

1. In-person Engagement—through tens of thousands of children and adults volunteering at our Giving Factory warehouses to sort and package high volumes of new and like-new donations from our communities for our Service Partners to distribute to the children they serve. 
2. Online Product Donations—Giving Factory Direct matches product donors directly to children who need the items they have to donate. GFD is currently available in a growing number of communities as we expand our reach nationally. 
3. Advocacy and Awareness—Cradles to Crayons is uniquely positioned to raise Clothing Insecurity as a national issue through awareness campaigns, data/evaluation, and legislative outreach.  

Cradles to Crayons has earned the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator since 2009. Only 2% of charities nationwide have received this distinction. C2C has a budget of $20M for FY25. 

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Reporting to the VP of National Philanthropy, the Development Operations Manager serves as a member of the National Philanthropy team and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of donor operations and administrative functions for the department. They will be a Salesforce Super User and lead the department by reporting on all database activities. The Development Operations Manager will take the lead implementing all aspects of the major gifts, planned giving and annual fund fundraising effort.

A successful candidate will have excellent technical administrative skills including data management, customer service, relationship building, communication, and project management skills. The candidate must be attentive to detail and have the ability to work in a team-based and goal-oriented environment.

In addition, the Development Operations Manager must demonstrate good judgment, high energy, and a positive attitude as well as the ability to take initiative and work independently.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Model and lead a positive “One Cradles” culture, underpinned by Cradles’ Cultural Values and related behaviors.
• Serve as a member of the National Philanthropy Team and effectively support efforts to reach annual revenue and growth campaign goals.
• Act as a Secondary Moves Manager, they will facilitate, organize, and execute fundraising activities primarily for VP of National Philanthropy and CEO, when appropriate.
• Manage all CRM database metrics and analytics for the National Philanthropy Department and accurately track revenue to goal, all revenue streams, donor activity, donor segmentation lists, and campaign impact.
• Represent the National Philanthropy? Department as a member of the Salesforce Super Users’ group to ensure that best practices and processes are utilized.
• Coordinates logistics and prepares strategic interactions to qualify, solicit, and steward Major and Principal Gift prospects.
• Take the lead in soliciting gifts of less than $500 annually through the annual fund effort, including copywriting the content for the quarterly campaigns and scheduling.
• Facilitates internal meetings and fundraiser visits with current and prospective donors to advance prospect strategy.
• Work in conjunction with the Finance Department, reconcile and be responsible for collecting outstanding pledges and tracking gift designations.
• Process donations from the mail and lockbox for National
• Acts as a project manager for proposals and other written documents, and coordinates with the Marketing and Communications team.
• Manage acknowledgment letter process, which includes copywriting annual acknowledgement letters and ensuring that thank you letters/emails are sent in a timely manner.
• Create fundraising pages on Click & Pledge and WordPress for campaigns and seasonal initiatives. Manage updates needed for thank you letters, emails, and fundraising campaigns for each season and initiative.
• Performs basic prospect research that informs briefings, strategy, proposals, and solicitations.
• Support in the maintenance of positive donor relationships through positive interaction, timely follow-up, and excellent customer service skills.
• Coordinate other initiatives and special projects, as requested by the VP of National Philanthropy.

Required Experience/Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Passion about the mission and vison of the organization.
• 3-5 years of professional work experience.
• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in Business, Organizational Development, Communications, or any other relevant field.
• Extensive proficiency in one or more fundraising database software systems required; knowledge of Salesforce strongly preferred.
• Familiar and comfortable with Microsoft Office suite (including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel).
• Ability to work independently, work under supervision, and work in a team-based and goal-oriented environment.
• Self-motivated, resourceful, and the ability to multi-task and be highly attentive to detail.
• Ability to absorb and apply new information rapidly.
• Excellent customer service skills including the ability to communicate with donors.
• Strong commitment to Cradles to Crayons’ mission and a passion for non-profit work.

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH:

Diversity and Inclusiveness are core values at Cradles to Crayons, and we continuously strive to be a team where everyone feels welcome and supported. It is the policy of Cradles to Crayons to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Working Conditions:

This is an office / work from home remote virtual environment with occasional visits to C2C Giving Factories. There are no hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions.

Accommodation:

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made by Cradles to Crayons which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others, or which impose undue hardships on the organization.