Development Officer

Reports to - Senior Director of Development and Marketing
Supervises - None (may work with contract or administrative support)

Position Overview

The Development Officer at Next Door is a frontline fundraiser, primarily responsible for building relationships with prospective leadership level donors, cultivating existing donors toward their highest capacity, and developing new major gift support. Roughly 90% of this role is spent meeting, communicating, and following up with donors. The remaining 10% involves planning, coordinating, and executing high touch cultivation and stewardship events, in collaboration with the development and marketing team. This role will play a critical part in growing and sustaining Next Door’s philanthropic support and deepening donor engagement with our mission. A passion for the mission is a must!

Key Responsibilities

Donor Cultivation & Fundraising (90%)

• Manage a portfolio of prospective and active leadership-level donors (approximately 150 individuals and family foundations).
• Conduct regular in person (or virtual) meetings, donor visits, follow up calls / emails, and relationship building activities.
• Develop and execute personalized moves management strategies (cultivation, solicitation, stewardship) to upgrade donor support.
• Research, qualify, and qualify new major gift prospects aligned with Next Door’s mission and priorities.
• Collaborate with the President, Senior Director, board members, and other senior staff in donor engagements when appropriate.
• Prepare briefing materials, gift proposals, case statements, tailored impact reports, and follow-up stewardship communications.
• Maintain accurate, timely records and activity tracking in the donor database (e.g. Raiser's Edge NXT).
• Analyze donor data (giving history, capacity, engagement) to inform solicitation strategies.
• Work cross-functionally with program, marketing, and finance staff to align development asks with compelling program narratives and budget needs.
   

Cultivation & Stewardship Events (10%)

• Plan, coordinate, or help implement donor cultivation, recognition, and stewardship events (e.g. donor dinners, small salons, behind-the-scenes donor tours).
• Ensure events are donor centric, mission driven, and aligned with Next Door’s brand and messaging.
• Collaborate with marketing, volunteer, and other staff (or contractors) to manage logistics, materials, guest lists, budgets, and follow up.
• Track event outcomes, donor feedback, and next-step actions for attendees.
   

Supporting Organizational Strategy

• Contribute insights to the annual development planning and forecasting process.
• Serve as a key thought partner to the Senior Director of Development and Marketing on major gift strategy and growth initiatives.
• Participate in development team meetings, share best practices and lessons learned.
• Stay informed of philanthropic trends, best practices in major gifts, and mission-relevant external developments.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Typically, 3-6 years of experience in individual major gift fundraising, donor relations, or comparable experience in a nonprofit environment. Those with a sales background in the private sector will be considered
• Proven track record of securing leadership-level individual gifts (or evidence of capacity to do so).
• Experience in moves management, pipeline cultivation, and relationship-based solicitation and engagement.

Skills & Abilities

• Exceptional interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills. Able to articulate compelling mission narratives and case for support.
• Comfort and effectiveness in meeting with high-net-worth individuals and senior level stakeholders.
• Strong project management, follow up, and organizational skills, able to manage multiple donor relationships simultaneously.
• Proficiency with donor databases (e.g. Raiser's Edge, Salesforce, or similar CRM) and ability to analyze donor metrics.
• Collaborative mindset; ability to work across teams (program staff, marketing, finance) to craft compelling asks and stewardship.
• High integrity, discretion, and respect for donor confidentiality.
• Self-motivated, entrepreneurial, and able to work with minimal supervision in a results-driven culture.
• Flexibility to travel locally for donor visits and attend evening/weekend donor events as needed.
• Must have personal vehicle, valid driver’s license, and liability insurance of $100,000/$300,000 on first day of employment.
• Must be willing to have a physical exam and a tuberculosis skin test at the time of hire.
   

Key Performance Metrics

We believe in setting our team members up for success with clear, measurable goals. This role is ideal for someone who is energized by achieving targets and motivated by the opportunity to see tangible results from their relationship-building efforts. Metrics for success will be transparent, tracked regularly, and used as tools for learning, accountability, and celebration. Examples of metrics include:

• Number of donor meetings or visits conducted.
• Number of new leadership level donor prospects added to the pipeline.
• Dollar amount of new gifts secured from portfolio.
• Upgrade/renewal rate among existing donors.
• Accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of donor database entries.

Working Conditions & Environment

• Hybrid work environment: combination of in office, remote, and out of office donor visits.
• Local travel required to meet donors or host cultivation events.
• Occasional evening or weekend work for donor events and meetings.