Development Associate

Human Resources 13

Development Associate

January 2024

Position Title: Development Associate

Reports To: Director, Donor Operations & Events

Department: External Affairs - Development

Location: New York, NY

Work Arrangement: Hybrid work arrangement, 4 days in office a week, with flexibility to work 1 day per week from home

Salary Range: $60,000-$65,000

FLSA Status: Exempt

The Open Space Institute (OSI) is a national leader in land protection and creating connections to nature and the outdoors for all people. Over the past five decades, OSI has protected more than 2.3 million at-risk, irreplaceable acres of forests, wetlands, and shorelines across the North American Eastern Seaboard. Expanding in both scope and size, OSI employs entrepreneurial spirit, determination, and expertise to protect the land that matters most – to preserve clean drinking water; improve the public’s access to parks, public trails, and greenways; save at-risk wildlife habitat; strengthen communities; and to combat climate change and mitigate its effects. OSI has an operating budget of $45 million, of which $32 million is derived through philanthropy, and is engaged in several multi-year campaigns and initiatives to support its mission.

Position Overview

The Open Space Institute seeks a Development Associate to support our essential day-to-day fundraising processes. Reporting to the Director of Donor Operations and Events and collaborating with the Director of Institutional Giving and the Senior Director of Individual Giving, the Development Associate will be responsible for all gift entry, acknowledgment, and inter-department coordination. The Associate will also be responsible for maintaining the donor database, tracking all prospect and donor stewardship and donations, producing and tailoring gift acknowledgements, generating database reports, and creating dashboards.

Primary/ Essential Responsibilities & Duties

• Process incoming funds and reconcile/coordinate gifts with Finance Department:
• Manage Raiser’s Edge (RE) gift entry process, conforming to and maintaining OSI’s procedures and tracking systems
• Pull reports from online donation platform and enter into Raiser’s Edge
• Produce fundraising reports, donor lists and mailing lists from donor database
• Craft gift acknowledgement letters and generate and track tax-receipts in a timely manner
• Track and follow-up on questions about funds received, ensuring every donation issue is resolved, accurately recorded and acknowledged in a timely manner
• Process credit card donations
• Update and maintain the Raiser’s Edge database of donors and prospects, ensuring timely execution and entry of activities, including reconciliation with other platforms
• Ensure consistency in data tracking, coding, reporting and data modeling in Raiser’s Edge and online donation platform.
• Update and maintain donor notes, actions, solicitations, and proposals on behalf of the development team, OSI leadership and program staff.
• Send reminders to donors when pledge payments are due
• Coordinate between online gift processing system and Raiser’s Edge (utilizing system bridge)
• Build analytical donor and prospect reports from Raiser’s Edge. Create dashboards in the database to track progress, and manage action reports.
• Organize appeal processes (spring and year end) with list management, segmentation, preparing in house appeal letter packages, and track to completion of process
• Track donor attribution through Raiser’s Edge and produce annual donor acknowledgement lists for publications, ensuring inclusion of all supporters
• Interact with donors in response to inquiries and manage general level portfolio of donors
• Update and maintain OSI’s Raiser’s Edge use guidelines
• Manage miscellaneous procedures and registrations, such as matching gifts, and donor-advised fund portals
• Produce and maintain letter and document templates

Other Responsibilities

• Support the Development team by performing administrative duties as needed including organization of digital and hard copy records, filing, copying, sorting, mailing, processing invoices etc.
• Support and assist with fundraising events, as needed.
• Support and assist with special communications, including mailings, appeals, event invitations, and email correspondence with portfolio prospects
• Assist with prospect research and meeting briefings for individuals and institutions
• Special projects as assigned
• Assist with internal meetings including supporting schedules, confirmation with all attendees, and preparing agendas, materials or taking notes and following up on action items as needed.
• Provide support and training for other staff members on the systems.

Required Skills

• Experience and understanding of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge (NXT and Database view) strongly preferred
• Ability to think and act strategically. Must be able to take initiative but willing to ask questions.
• Exceptional organizational skills with a strong attention to detail
• Demonstrated writing skills, specifically for donor correspondence
• Excellent formatting skills and thorough familiarity with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Ability to work to reasonable deadlines and plan accordingly
• Strong time management skills with the ability to prioritize numerous ongoing projects
• Be able to maintain the confidentiality of privileged information

Qualifications

• Commitment to OSI’s mission, vision, and values. Knowledge of conservation issues or experience fundraising in support of environmental issues is preferred
• Minimum two years’ experience in fundraising/development role in non-profit sector, preferably in a development office with a stewardship or major gifts program 
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• Experience in and successful track record in writing donor correspondence
• Knowledge of Raiser’s Edge or equivalent CRM/donor database

Location & Physical Requirements

• The position is based in OSI’s New York City office.
• Some evening and weekend hours may be required occasionally for donor events
• Frequently sits for long periods of time
• Frequently speaks, reads, writes and uses a computer keyboard
• May require occasional standing, walking, lifting, stooping, and bending

Please note: If you do not wholly meet the above qualifications but believe you are otherwise well-suited to meet the needs of this position, we encourage you to apply.

Apply at https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/careers

Attach a cover letter that includes where you learned of the job posting along with your resume. Applications without a cover letter are not likely to be considered. This job requires working onsite in NY, NY up to 4 days per week.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis through March 15, 2024. You will receive an acknowledgement once your application has been submitted.

 

OSI is committed to providing a competitive compensation package. The starting salary for this role ranges from $60,000 to $65,000 commensurate with candidate skill level and experience. The recruiting team is committed to sharing details regarding compensation based on the candidate's qualifications during the interview process. OSI offers a generous benefits package including: comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance, paid time off, life and disability insurances, retirement plan, professional development assistance, and other resources designed to support the passion, commitment and energy that is vital to our team members.

OSI is an equal opportunity employer and is actively recruiting a diverse workforce. Land conservation benefits all people. Our mission is best advanced by the contributions and leadership of people across varying identities, including racial, gender, spiritual, and cultural. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment that fosters belonging and we look for future team members who share that same value. We encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. 

We do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, height, weight, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  We will consider qualified applicants with arrest/conviction records for employment.  

Apply Here

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