WHAT DOES A DEVELOPMENT OFFICER DO?
Published: Oct 23, 2024 – The Development Officer researches and collects data to develop profiles of prospects and donors, focusing on their affiliations. This role includes designing and implementing fundraising strategies across channels while collaborating with various departments to improve donor retention and acquisition. The officer also manages donor engagement activities, produces collateral materials, and analyzes donor metrics to enhance fundraising outcomes.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Development Officer
1. Development Officer Role Purpose
- Collaboration: Collaborate with Development and Operations staff to identify and qualify major potential donors.
- Strategic Engagement: Identify potential donor affinity with the institution and develop customized strategies for prospect and donor engagement.
- Portfolio Management: Manage a portfolio of donor prospects toward the securement of major gifts and planned gifts that advance University priorities.
- Documentation: Accurately and consistently document communication and interaction with university stakeholders in the University data management system.
- Creativity and Discipline: Be disciplined and creative in identifying, cultivating, and stewarding major gifts/donors.
- Project Leadership: Lead fundraising projects, including coordination of campaign volunteers and their fundraising efforts.
- Goal Setting: Collaborate with the Vice President for External Affairs to establish goals and measurable performance metrics.
- Networking: Create internal and external networks that assist with the identification of new potential donors and prospects.
- Relationship Building: Create and foster relationships that support University initiatives to promote student internship and career development opportunities and corporate partnerships.
- Professional Development: Maintain an awareness of professional best practices and trends and utilize them to strengthen personal and team performance.
- Teamwork: Be a valued, conscientious, and cooperative team member in pursuit of attaining institutional goals.
- Integrity: Commit to the highest standards of personal and professional integrity.
- Reporting: Provide weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual budget, expense, and status reports on fundraising activities as determined by the Director of Development.
2. Development Officer Essential Functions
- Client Interaction: Be the first point of call with Registered Provider clients.
- Technical Communication: Communicate affordable housing technical and legal requirements for a new development to other departments.
- Compliance Checking: Check plans/specifications to ensure compliance with required standards.
- Coverage Arrangement: Arrange NHBC Buildmark choice cover.
- Negotiation: Negotiate specifications and contract extras.
- Progress Liaison: Liaise with sites and Housing Association clients over building progress.
- Meeting Management: Attend site meetings and manage the handover process.
- Information Preparation: Collate and prepare information for handover packs.
- Issue Resolution: Liaise with Customer Care and Housing Association over any defects/problems.
- Documentation Compilation: Compile Homecare Guide and Health and Safety files for the Housing Association.
- Client Interaction: Be the first point of call with RP clients.
- Portfolio Management: Manage and direct a portfolio of donors and donor prospects for the solicitation of major gifts, sponsorships, or planned gifts.
- Relationship Development: Develop new relationships through networking opportunities.
3. Development Officer Additional Details
- Program Oversight: Oversee the creation, implementation, and management of the Foundation’s comprehensive Grateful Patient fundraising program.
- Pipeline Development: Build a pipeline of grateful patient prospects and revenue, engaging with clinicians, administrators, volunteers, and others in the grateful patient process.
- Cultural Promotion: Foster a culture of gratitude throughout Salem Health.
- Project Management: Serve as the project manager on the implementation and coordination of the daily operations of the Grateful Patient fundraising program.
- Collaboration: Work with the Director of Development on the design, development, implementation, and measurement of the infrastructure components of the Grateful Patient fundraising program.
- Employee Engagement: Responsible for the development and implementation of a Salem Health comprehensive employee giving program.
- Point of Contact: Acts as a primary point of contact for Foundation Projects and Internal Grants.
- Event Planning: Plan and execute special events that serve to cultivate and recognize current giving support of the Salem Health Foundation.
- Sponsorship Solicitation: Solicit cash and in-kind sponsorships for support of these events.
- Ambassadorship: Serve as an ambassador for the Salem Health Foundation.
- Leadership Support: Collaborate with and support the Director of Development in meeting organizational and leadership development priorities.
- Infrastructure Development: Assist in the development of the venue infrastructure planning and the delivery of different areas of the NT Facilities Strategy.
- Funding Support: Support clubs to attract government funding for the maintenance and upgrading of tennis assets.
- Relationship Building: Develop positive relationships with club and center stakeholders within the NT to influence, adopt, and drive change.
4. Development Officer General Responsibilities
- Portfolio Management: Build, cultivate, manage, and steward a portfolio of donors with a focus on annual gifts of less than $10,000.
- Research and Data Collection: Perform research and collect data to develop detailed information on prospects and donors with an understanding of the linkage between individual, family foundation, employment, and other affiliations.
- Strategy Development: Determine and implement prospect and donor strategies for campaigns, sponsorships, gifts, online and in-person events, and other emerging activities.
- Project Management: Use project management techniques that define criteria, tasks, goals, timelines, and budgets to design and implement fundraising strategies.
- Channel Strategy: Create and implement effective strategies across channels, in collaboration with other departments, for a well-rounded fundraising program that retains current donors and acquires new donors.
- Briefing Preparation: Prepare briefings, gift agreements, and other correspondence for prospects and donors in collaboration with other departments.
- Gift Management: Manage acknowledgment and fulfillment of gifts, pledges, and donor reports (financial and narrative).
- Database Management: Manage prospect and donor activity using the fundraising database and associated reporting tools, ensuring that data is entered in a timely and accurate fashion.
- Collateral Production: Write and produce written and electronic collateral materials, emails, and donor updates.
- Metrics Analysis: Analyze donor-giving metrics to maximize understanding of donor intent, ROI, and value-added to enhance and improve prospect and donor engagement.
- Donor Engagement: Lead donor engagement activities in key cities and regions across the country, including events hosted by board members and volunteers.
- Website Coordination: Provide and coordinate updates to the website for development.
- Meeting Participation: Participate in weekly meetings.
5. Development Officer Key Accountabilities
- Collaboration: Work collaboratively with collegiate development offices as a resource for donors considering estate and other planned gifts.
- Strategy Development: Partner to develop strategies to achieve goals for fundraising priorities.
- Engagement Planning: Plan and complete prospect engagement opportunities and present gift proposals.
- Portfolio Management: Build and manage a portfolio of 100 to 125 assigned prospects.
- Relationship Development: Develop new prospect relationships while engaging with previous and current donors.
- Prospect Identification: Work with campus and foundation teams, partner with the research team, and identify prospects capable of making major gifts of $50,000 or greater.
- Travel and Relationship Building: Travel extensively to establish and nurture long-lasting, strong donor relationships with the end goal of proposing and closing major gift donations.
- Independent and Collaborative Work: Work independently and collaboratively with all levels of university and college administration, faculty, staff, donors, and foundation development teams on a variety of donor-centered tasks and activities.
- Communication: Communicate in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes.
- Writing: Write donor correspondence, contact reports, and proposals, and provide briefings on program status.
- Role Communication: Communicate the foundation's role and donor's wishes to key campus and foundation staff.
- Vision Promotion: Encourage the acceptance and execution of the organization’s vision.
- Influence: Influence others to commit to actions that support the organizational vision.