Development Officer

Job Title: Development Officer

Department: Development

Reports to: Director of Individual Giving

Status: Full-time, Exempt

Summary:

Reporting to the Director of Individual Giving, the Development Officer secures annual funding for the Houston Symphony by building and managing a portfolio to 150 donors and prospects to obtain their support and increase their giving and involvement year over year. The Development Officer is responsible for building their portfolio of individual major donor prospects with a focus on securing annual gifts of $2,000+ and serves alongside a development team charged with raising more than $20 million annually.

Essential Job Functions:

• Serve as a front-line fundraiser with a consistent positive impact on the development department’s annual contributed revenue goals.
• Execute the Symphony’s acquisition strategy to cultivate and solicit new prospects with the goal of building and managing a portfolio (150 households) of individuals with the capacity to give at the major gifts level.
• Craft a personalized, annual plan to cultivate, solicit, and steward each household in the portfolio.
• Participate in at least two face-to-face donor visits per week, as well as maintaining a high level of personal contact via phone, email, and mail.
• Assist with special fundraising including prospect identification, proposal generation, and solicitation.
• Work with Manager, Research and Development Operations to execute the potential donor screening process.
• Partner with fellow officers to establish meaningful relationships between the households in the portfolio and Symphony leadership, musicians, and fellow staff members.
• Establish a fluent understanding of the Symphony to successfully communicate and represent the organization both internally and externally.
• Be knowledgeable about the Houston Symphony’s history, mission and vision, budget, fundraising goals, strategic priorities, leadership, budget, performances, and performers.
• In addition to cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities, also attend concerts and private donor events on evenings and weekends. All activities share the goal of building relationships between the donor household and the institution.
• Perform additional duties as required by the Houston Symphony Society.

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• An interest in fundraising with focus on individual giving and major gifts.
• Desire to continue fundraising education and achieve CFRE within 5 years.
• Passion for performing arts and music is required.
• Computer literacy, word processing, database, and spreadsheet proficiency.
• Professional demeanor, detail oriented. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work successfully in a busy environment while managing multiple tasks.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends, including some holidays.