Manager, Annual Fund

The Annual Fund Manager’s primary role is to cultivate, solicit, and steward individual donors to generate $1MM in revenue and hone their skills in individual giving, donor and Alumni relations, and communications to grow their donor portfolio. Reporting to the Director of Development, the successful candidate will have a strong comfort level to make these asks, and strong persuasive written and verbal communication skills to engage individuals, build trust, and secure donations. They will be highly mission aligned, proficient in tracking progress toward goals with the ability to produce and generate a variety of reports and have a strategic mindset for meeting fundraising goals.

Who We Are:

For over 60 years, A Better Chance has been a driving force in the effort to increase educational attainment among underrepresented youth. A Better Chance believes diversity in independent schools has the power to transform individuals, families, schools, and communities. A Better Chance has worked with high-performing students from historically underserved communities, their families, and over 200 Member Schools to ensure these communities have access to the transformational educational opportunities provided by independent schools across the United States.

Scholar and Alumni performance metrics demonstrate the program’s success:

• 96% of A Better Chance graduates enroll directly in college, compared with 24 percent of students of color nationwide.
• Over the last eight years, 85% of A Better Chance Alumni earned undergraduate degrees, compared to just 57% percent of all students.
• Half of A Better Chance Alumni have gone on to complete a graduate or professional degree.
• 75% of A Better Chance Scholars attend the most selective colleges (institutions that admit fewer than 25% of its applicants).
• Over 20,000 Alumni who are trailblazers and leaders in a variety of sectors, from business, finance, education, healthcare, the arts, and beyond.

Our Core Competencies:

Teamwork: You love to work together as a team to support each other and leverage the talent and experience of those you work with.

Collaboration: You actively seek input and ideas from others. To affect change, it means we all need to be rowing together.

Adaptability and Problem Solving: You love a challenge, solving problems and leading from the front.

Ownership & Passion: You don’t just do your work, but are always looking to make things better – for the team, for our scholars and for society.

Relational Mindset: Our work is about building relationships and that should be your jam.

Qualifications:

The incumbent will enjoy an exciting and substantive opportunity to learn much about the field of development through experienced and talented professionals at a national nonprofit. The right candidate will possess:

• A Baccalaureate degree
• A strong work ethic and a commitment to the mission and growth of A Better Chance
• 2+ years of frontline fundraising and relationship management experience at a non-profit or in a related field
• Ability and desire to engage in conversations with donors via phone/email/face-to-face
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment as well as part of a team
• Exemplary communication, writing, and interpersonal skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Strong project management skills and ability to work independently and prioritize tasks as needed in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent computer skills and proficiency with Microsoft Office programs
• An ability to exercise discretion and professionalism in all settings
• The ability to travel to meet donors is required
• Raiser’s Edge NXT or similar CRM database proficiency highly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a hybrid office-centered work environment
• Some work outside of traditional office hours (evenings and weekends) is required

Primary Responsibilities:

Fundraising:

• Meet annual goals and key performance indicators to increase donors and the amount raised
  • Focus on soliciting new gifts, reacquiring lapsed donors, and renewing annual support from individual donors and increase giving from existing donors through direct mail & email appeals, social media, out-the-door fundraising efforts, and telephone campaigns
• Manage a portfolio of major prospects and donors who generally give up to $10,000
• Develop, maintain, and promote giving circles and society programs, including a parent giving program and continuous giving societies
• Develop and maintain a strategic effort to increase matching gift donations from individual donors
• Cultivate, steward, and promote engagement with Alumni through leveraging existing platforms and direct outreach
• Develop and oversee the annual calendar of fundraising activities for alumni gifts with a focus on engaging young professional alumni
• Produce mailings and other communications to donors throughout the fiscal year, including mailed appeals, e-appeals, the Annual Report, and an annual holiday card
• Oversee and execute the organization’s direct mail program for donors below the major gifts level (defined as $10,000)
• Oversee Annual fund donor recognition to ensure proper acknowledgement and stewardship

Data Entry and Data Management:

• Document all donor-related activity in Raiser’s Edge for portfolio management in a timely, accurate and thorough manner
• Update, and where possible automate, strategic plans and opportunities, interactions, outcomes and next steps
• Create, maintain, and continually improve the gift appeal tracking system to ensure useful data for the future around individual donors.

Communications:

• Work with the Development team and leadership to implement a comprehensive marketing and communications plan to enhance annual giving efforts
• Create and maintain a comprehensive outreach calendar to track and monitor annual giving activity and results
• Create a robust and comprehensive online giving program to secure individual monthly recurring gifts, differentiated giving (estate plan gifts, third party fundraising.)
• Implement and manage digital campaigns to build and augment A Better Chance community online.
• Manage a quarterly newsletter and three “investors reports” produced annually
• Create proposals and complete assigned solicitations to secure financial gifts

Annual Fundraising Events:

• Work with the entire development team to organize and execute the Annual Benefit Dinner and all other donor engagement and donor cultivation (inclusive of volunteerism) events. Besides the day-to-day efforts required of an annual fundraising event, specific responsibilities will include:
  • Directly solicit qualified donors for annual fundraising events
• Collaborate with the Development Manager and Director of Development, who will have primary responsibility for development and production of event-related collateral and marketing materials (print and electronic)

EEOC Statement

A Better Chance, Inc. is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law.