WHAT DOES A DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST DO?
Published: Oct 25, 2024 – The Development Specialist conducts outbound calls to qualify potential clients as partner leads for the Wholesale Development Team Directors. This role involves collaborating with the Wholesale Development and Business Development teams to ensure accurate sales leads while documenting interactions in Salesforce. Demonstrating strong sales skills, the specialist effectively communicates with clients, schedules follow-up meetings, and maintains a positive client service attitude.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Development Specialist
1. Development Specialist Accountabilities
- Grant Research: Research public and private grant and contract opportunities that align with the organization's mission, vision, service needs, and strategic goals.
- Proposal Development: Prepare and submit letters of inquiry, proposals, and full grant/contract applications.
- Reporting: Prepare and submit funder and stakeholder reports.
- Relationship Management: Cultivate and maintain relationships with program officers and contract liaisons.
- Program Knowledge: Develop and sustain an understanding of the organization's programs and the behavioral services industry.
- Donation Processing: Process cash and in-kind gifts, which include timely acknowledgment of contributions and ongoing donor communications.
- Database Management: Manage donor database, displaying a commitment to accuracy in entering and retrieving data, including identifying and merging duplicate files.
- Donor Engagement: Assist with donor identification, cultivation, and stewardship activities.
- Research Support: Conduct research at the request of the senior leadership team.
- Community Involvement: Attend relevant community meetings.
- Corporate Engagement: Support corporate engagement activities.
- Event Planning: Help plan fundraising and cultivation events and activities.
2. Development Specialist Job Description
- Research: Identify and research candidate search rings within a specific geographical area that meets client specifications and standards.
- Site Identification: Provide site identification, qualification, and lease negotiation services.
- Data Preparation: Work directly with and assist project managers by preparing client data for presentation.
- Feasibility Analysis: Plan feasibility analysis including existing structure, collocation, and publicly-owned land.
- Zoning Analysis: Perform zoning analysis, permitting, zoning codes, and regulations for each candidate of assigned search rings.
- Advisory: Act as an advisor in technical, zoning, and site plan matters.
- Compliance Review: Review zoning drawings and other materials, maintaining city and county governmental compliance.
- Permit Tracking: Track all permit timeframes and compile regulatory filings.
- Relationship Building: Build a working relationship with jurisdictions, landowners, city and/or state municipalities, prepare and present proposals, and gauge their motivation for the project.
- Coordination: Coordinate work and communications with RF engineering, construction, clients, and vendors.
- Representation: Represent clients at public agency and community meetings and public hearings.
- Oversight: Oversee the work of subcontractors, vendors, and team project members, and conduct site walks.
3. Development Specialist Overview
- Leadership: Provide leadership in building a development program for HHM, with a balanced focus on individual, foundation, corporate, and government sources.
- Data Management: Operate the membership program through data management, goal setting, and implementation of strategies that create year-over-year increases in HHM members.
- Gift Management: Manage the gift recording, gift acknowledgment, and stewardship activities necessary for a successful Development Program.
- Program Development: Help build HHM's high-end-giving Hiawatha Circle Program.
- Engagement Strategy: Advise and implement engagement strategies with current members and identify prospects for new members to the Hiawatha Circle.
- Program Coordination: Work with program staff to develop three or four programs annually, designed to engage members and prospects more fully in the mission of HHM.
- Fundraising Support: Assist the executive director in all aspects of fundraising, with a focus on creating opportunities to engage with donors and prospects in meaningful ways.
- Volunteer Coordination: Coordinate the work of volunteers in fundraising activities.
- Reporting: Prepare thorough and timely reports for staff and board members.
- Committee Participation: Participate in Development Committee meetings to further the goals of the program.
4. Development Specialist Essential Functions
- Expansion Planning: Active involvement in retail store expansion planning to achieve the expected market share in respective areas and identification of potential new locations for the Branded Stores.
- Location Sourcing: Source the right locations for the new Branded Stores in the identified areas.
- Assessment and Insights: Conduct assessments and provide the necessary insights and input to facilitate evaluation and approval.
- Dealer Development: Identify the right fit dealers in the respective area territory and develop them as potential candidates to enter into the postpaid business as a Branded Store.
- Candidate Readiness: Ensure the readiness of the identified candidates for the appointment process by reviewing business proposals, performance, commitment, investment, etc.
- Appointment Facilitation: Actively facilitate the appointment process until successful completion.
- Onboarding Training: Onboard the new dealers by providing necessary sales and service training for all products carried out by the new branded stores.
- Dealer Leadership: Be the leader of dealers through intensive business strategy-led engagements and formulation of action plans to achieve agreed short and mid-term goals and ensure business success.
- Market Contribution: Contribute to market growth plans and sales activities/programs in the targeted markets in terms of gaining active participation by the respective Branded Stores in the area and delivering the desired business outcome.
5. Wholesale Development Specialist Role Purpose
- Lead Qualification: Performs outbound calls to potential clients to qualify them as partner leads for the Wholesale Development Team Directors.
- Sales Coordination: Work closely with the Wholesale Development Team and the Business Development Team to ensure the accurate and effective quality of sales leads.
- Lead Scheduling: Make outgoing calls to potential clients to schedule high-quality leads for Directors on the Wholesale Development Team (WDT).
- Client Representation: Serve as WDT’s Director representative when dealing with clients via phone, email, etc.
- Sales Presentation: Deliver prepared sales talks, read from scripts that describe products and processes to persuade the potential client for a follow-up call that the WDT Sales Agent will schedule with the Directors.
- Call Documentation: Document each call as per company and WDT procedures in Salesforce.
- Client Follow-Up: Following up with potential clients promptly if necessary.
- Sales Aptitude: Demonstrating an aptitude for sales, being able to ask for the next meeting with a Director.
- Client Service: Applying a positive client service attitude in interactions with all clients.
- Effective Communication: Communicating effectively and professionally in all forms of communication with internal and external clients.
- Lead Sourcing: Obtaining names and telephone numbers of potential clients from outside sources.
- Attendance: Maintaining regular attendance and arriving at work on time.