Development Operations and Donor Engagement Manager

Position: Development Operations and Donor Engagement Manager

Department: Strategic Advancement

Reports to: Director of Development Operations and Donor Engagement

Categorization: New York, NY | Hybrid In-Person

Status: Full-time, Exempt

Start Date: ASAP

The Organization

Since 2003, The Opportunity Network (OppNet) has been committed to providing students, regardless of background, with the resources and connections necessary to achieve their college and career goals.

Our founding Fellows program supports 1,000 New York City students each year, from the summer after tenth grade to college graduation, boasting a 98% graduation rate within six years. About 93% of Fellows are first-generation college students, and 91% secure meaningful employment or graduate school admission within six months of graduating.

Our Career Fluency® Partnerships program enhances workforce and college readiness for 100,000 students across 20 cities. Our Opportunity Ignited program helps employers with intern matching and training, improving talent pipelines and workplace environments, training over 350 staff in 22 partner firms in its first five years.

The Job

The Development Operations and Donor Engagement Manager plays a key role in strengthening and executing OppNet’s fundraising and engagement efforts. Reporting to the Director of Development Operations and Donor Engagement, the Manager leads the day-to-day execution of core Development operations, annual giving and donor engagement, and volunteer engagement.

The Manager works across the Development team and in close partnership with Programs, Communications, Finance, and Executive Leadership to ensure strong fundraising practices are consistently executed, donor and volunteer relationships are thoughtfully stewarded, and the team has the processes and information needed to advance OppNet’s goals.

About You

You are a curious, driven fundraiser who thrives at the intersection of people and data management. You build strong relationships, ask good questions, spot patterns others may miss, and turn insights into impact. You bring a community-centered approach to fundraising and understand that strong systems, thoughtful engagement, and good data all serve the same goal: advancing OppNet’s mission.

You take ownership and drive your work forward, build structure where it’s needed, and hold yourself and others accountable. You know when to act, when to ask, and when to escalate, and you see problems as opportunities for improvement. You communicate with warmth and confidence, challenge assumptions when warranted, and recover quickly when something doesn’t go as planned.

What You Will Be Doing

Revenue Management and Development Operations (30%)

• Manage day-to-day revenue administration across OppNet’s fundraising streams, ensuring gifts, pledges, payments, and donor records are accurately and consistently maintained and supporting strong revenue management across the Development team.
• Own pledge administration and follow-up, proactively tracking outstanding pledges and upcoming payments and communicating directly with donors and donor contacts to facilitate timely payment.
• Own OppNet’s donor acknowledgment process, ensuring timely and accurate acknowledgment letters, tax receipts, and other gift-related donor communications that support a strong donor experience.
• Develop, maintain, and drive adoption of Development Operations documentation and standard processes, creating clear workflows, expectations, and accountability across the team; proactively follow up with colleagues to reinforce established practices, resolve gaps, and ensure shared processes are completed accurately and on time.
• Drive fundraising analytics and reporting, leveraging Salesforce and other data sources to identify trends, surface actionable insights, and inform fundraising and donor engagement decisions; strengthen data literacy across the Development team by helping colleagues effectively understand, interpret, and use data in their work.
• Support pipeline and moves management for the Director of Development Operations and Donor Engagement and Executive Leadership, maintaining actionable prospect and donor information, surfacing follow-up needs and opportunities, and helping ensure fundraising relationships continue to move forward.

Donor Communications and Engagement (30%)

• Partner with the Director of Development Operations and Donor Engagement to grow and strengthen OppNet’s individual donor base, with a particular focus on new donor acquisition, donor retention, and deepening the engagement of existing supporters.
• Drive proactive donor engagement strategies across the Development team, identifying opportunities to recognize, engage, and deepen relationships with supporters and partnering with relationship managers to translate those opportunities into meaningful touchpoints.
• Analyze individual giving and donor engagement performance, surfacing trends, opportunities, and recommendations that strengthen donor acquisition, retention, stewardship, and long-term value.
• Partner with the Director of Development Operations and Donor Engagement and Communications Manager to develop strategic donor communications, and manage the donor communications calendar to ensure coordinated, timely outreach across the donor lifecycle.

Volunteer Management and Engagement (25%)

• Lead the day-to-day management of OppNet’s volunteer engagement program, partnering closely with Program teams to plan and execute a dynamic calendar of volunteer opportunities that advances OppNet’s goals for student impact, donor engagement, and fundraising.
• Own the planning and execution of volunteer opportunities, coordinating across teams to ensure effective recruitment, communication, preparation, execution, and follow-up and a consistent, engaging volunteer experience.
• Manage relationships with key volunteer partners and individual volunteers, developing and executing year-round engagement approaches that strengthen volunteer participation, retention, and connection to OppNet.
• Own volunteer data management and reporting in Salesforce, ensuring volunteer opportunities, participation, engagement history, interests, and partner relationships are consistently and accurately captured and leveraging data to assess engagement, identify trends and opportunities, and inform volunteer recruitment and stewardship.
• Proactively identify and develop opportunities to expand and deepen volunteer engagement, leveraging volunteer interests, donor and partner relationships, engagement data, and organizational priorities to create new pathways for participation.

Organizational Learning, Development, and Program Reflection (15%):

• Participate in organization-wide learning sessions, working groups, and optional affinity groups
• Attend weekly team meetings, All Hands meetings, All Staff meetings, team retreats, and annual institution-wide retreat

Who We Are Looking For

• At least 4 years of nonprofit fundraising/Development experience, with demonstrated experience engaging and stewarding donors across the donor lifecycle.
• Experience contributing to fundraising campaigns and donor communications, including solicitation, stewardship, and renewal efforts.
• Experience using a CRM to manage donor information, track engagement, and support fundraising operations. Salesforce experience strongly preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience developing clear, compelling external communications for a range of audiences.

Requirements to Work for OppNet

OppNet requires that all employees, including new hires, be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless an exemption has been approved.

Salary and Benefits

We take a thoughtful and deliberate approach to generating salary offers that take into account previous work experience, the role you’re entering into, and fairness within OppNet. Fairness is important to us and it is critical that our compensation approach ensures fairness across the organization. Hence, we make every effort to make our first offer our best offer because we want to demonstrate that we value you and your work from day one.

The hiring salary range for this role is $70,433–$77,250 and will be commensurate with experience.

At OppNet, eligible employees can enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical coverage (health, dental, and vision), an HRA, Flexible Spending Account, family leave (up to 100% coverage for twelve weeks), life insurance, and retirement benefits. Full-time employees can participate in our 403(b) retirement benefit program. Additionally, we offer generous time off from work (through a combination of vacation, sick, and holidays).

Application Instructions

To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter with your application. A significant part of this role involves communicating impact through compelling writing and human storytelling. Candidates who demonstrate this ability in their cover letters will be given priority consideration. If you use AI to help write your letter, the final product should feel indistinguishable from your own voice and writing style.

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Do you meet some but not all of our qualifications? OppNet is an equal-opportunity employer. Even if you may not meet every qualification listed, we strongly encourage you to apply without hesitation. If you believe in our organization’s mission and feel confident in your potential to excel at OppNet, we warmly welcome your application. Our commitment lies in considering a wide range of candidates, and valuing various workplace experiences and backgrounds.

Whether you are new to the non-profit sector, returning to work after a break, considering a career change, or taking the next step in your professional journey, we are excited to hear from you! We recognize that multifarious teams make the strongest teams, and we encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

At OppNet, eligible employees can enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical coverage (health, dental, and vision), an HRA, Flexible Spending Account, family leave (up to 100% coverage for twelve weeks), life insurance, and retirement benefits. Full-time employees can participate in our 403(b) retirement benefit program. Additionally, we offer generous time off from work (through a combination of vacation, sick, and holidays).