Development Services & Stewardship Associate

Development Services Associate

Center on Halsted is the Midwest’s largest LQBTQ+ community center, providing a vast array of programs and services designed to advance Chicago’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and allied community. Center on Halsted helps create a thriving community by adhering to our five values.

•    Community 

•    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

•    Authenticity

•    Accountability

•    Mutual Respect

Vision: A thriving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, living powerfully in supportive, inclusive environments.

Mission: Center on Halsted advances community and secures the health and well-being of the LGBTQ people of Chicagoland.

Essential Functions (critical to job function):

The Development Services Associate owns the data infrastructure, gift administration, reporting, and prospect research functions that power Center on Halsted's frontline fundraising. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, this position serves as the administrator and data authority for all Development systems, led by Raiser's Edge NXT, and is responsible for accurate and timely gift processing and acknowledgment, monthly reconciliation with Finance, and the integrity, security, and governance of donor data.

This role is the analytical engine of the Development team. The Development Services Associate produces the department's regular scorecard and pipeline reporting, supports each frontline fundraiser's portfolio through moves management tracking and activity metrics, and drives prospect identification through wealth screening, capacity analysis, and research profiles that feed the major gifts qualification pool. The Development Services Associate also builds and maintains the segmentation, automation, and recognition systems behind Center on Halsted's annual giving, stewardship, and legacy giving programs.

Nonessential Functions: (non-critical to job function):

•    Provide registration and data support for Development events as requested; may occasionally require work outside of daily business hours

•    Represent Center on Halsted at internal and external events as requested

Job Description

Duties/Responsibilities:

Database Administration and Gift Processing

•    Serve as administrator for all software used by Development: Raiser's Edge NXT, DonorSearch, and GoFundMe Pro; maintain user accounts and security, train users, ensure compliance with gift and record coding protocols, and create online giving and event forms as needed.

•    Process all revenue, gift acknowledgments, pledges, fulfillments, and receipts accurately and on time; maintain a 72-hour standard from gift receipt to acknowledgment.

•    Write and maintain donor acknowledgment letter templates and coordinate with the Development team to ensure timely acknowledgment of all gifts.

•    Reconcile monthly revenue reports with the Finance department. 

•    Own database health and governance: perform routine and ad hoc maintenance, deduplication, and address/contact updates; identify and drive improvements in data management; maintain database policies, standard operating procedures, and architecture, including a documented SOP library for all recurring processes.

Reporting, Analytics, and Portfolio Support

•    Create and maintain accurate queries, reports, batches, exports, mailing/email lists, and dashboards to support fundraising.

•    Produce the Development team's recurring scorecard and monthly pipeline reports, including solicitation stages, aging, and revenue projections, for the Chief Development Officer and frontline fundraisers.

•    Provide portfolio reports for each Philanthropy Officer, including moves management tracking against activity metrics (meetings, asks, closes); send timely reminders on cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship next steps and quarterly outstanding pledge reports.

•    Maintain tracking and recognition records for the legacy giving program, including documented planned gift intentions.

Prospect Research and Pipeline Development

•    Proactively create donor and prospect research profiles using wealth screening products, research software, and internet research to support qualification and solicitation strategy.

•    Manage the major gifts qualification pool: run wealth screening and capacity analysis on the database, flag annual giving donors ($1,000-$4,999) who are ready for upgrade, and route qualified prospects to the Philanthropy Officer, Major Gifts and Individual Giving.

•    Update constituent records with current addresses and contact information.

Annual Giving, Stewardship, and Donor Service Systems

•    Execute segmentation, list production, gift tracking, and results reporting for direct mail and digital appeals in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications Manager.

•    Build and maintain workflow automations that maximize fundraising, including welcome messaging, renewal notices, event communications, and donor recognition touchpoints.

•    Maintain donor recognition systems, including donor listings on the web and lobby screens, and coordinate fulfillment of donor stewardship items.

•    Provide accurate data and lists for stewardship communications designed by the Marketing and Communications Manager.

•    Respond to donor requests for gift histories, acknowledgments, refunds, and other needs, providing outstanding responsiveness and service.

•    Maintain knowledge of best practices in donor operations, including a working understanding of charitable gift tax deduction rules and the Donor Bill of Rights.

Perform other duties as assigned or required.

Organizational Core Competencies: Demonstrated by the candidate.

•    Attention to Detail: Scrupulously maintains accurate donor records and communications in a thorough, accurate and professional manner

•    Proactive Mindset: The ideal candidate will possess a forward-thinking approach, take the initiative, anticipate challenges and actively shape their opportunities.

•    Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with all stakeholders, internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening.

•    Critical Thinking: Consistently identifies, gathers, and applies relevant information to their work.

•    Equity Mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity; consistently brings an equity mindset to the job.

•    Collaboration: Helps colleagues as needed, views responsibilities as shared. Able to work on a highly collaborative team to align on progress to fundraising goals.

•    Adaptability: Is able to adjust to new conditions. Being able to change in order to fit or work better in some situations or for some.

•    Continuous Improvement Minded: Identifies strategies to improve organization's impact; weighs diverse inputs to inform strategies, sets course and drives implementation.

Education/Experience and Qualifications:

•    3+ years of professional experience in development operations, database management, or advancement services.

•    Demonstrated experience administering Raiser's Edge NXT or a comparable CRM required, including query and report building, batch gift entry, imports, and user management; Blackbaud certification a plus.

•    Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including formulas, pivot tables, and list management; strong online research skills.

•    Experience with wealth screening and prospect research tools such as DonorSearch.

•    Experience reconciling contributed revenue with a finance team and understanding of gift coding, pledges, and receipting.

•    Outstanding ethics, discretion, and judgment; ability to adhere to professional standards, maintain confidentiality, and follow established procedures.

•    Highly organized and detail oriented, with excellent time management and the ability to prioritize across multiple deadlines.

•    Ability to think independently, anticipate consequences and trends, and incorporate knowledge into your work.

•    Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to work comfortably and effectively with donors, volunteers, staff, and diverse community groups.

•    Experience with LGBTQ+ communities and values; commitment to the mission of Center on Halsted.

•    Bilingual skills (Spanish/English) desirable.

Reporting Relationships

The Development Services Associate reports to the Chief Development Officer. This person works closely with other members of the Development team and with the Finance department.

Physical Demands and Work Environment: This is a list of physical demands that is required to perform the essential functions of the position.

Physical Demands and Work Environment    Level

Sitting for long periods of time    Frequent

Standing occasionally    Occasionally

Lifting 15lbs or more    

Walking    Constant

Walking up/down stairs    Constant

Bending    Occasion

Machine and Equipment Used: This is a list of machinery/equipment that is required to perform the essential duties of the position.

Machine and Equipment Used:

Computer

Telephone

Application Process:

Apply to the following website: https://www.centeronhalsted.org/careers

*CENTER ON HALSTED IS A MANDATED VACCINATION EMPLOYER. THOSE WHO ARE VACCINATED OR WISH TO BE VACCINATED WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR EMPLOYMENT.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Center on Halsted hires the most qualified candidates without regard to any person's race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, religion, disability, neurodiversity, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, marital status, parental status, pregnancy, military discharge status, veteran status or source of income and citizenship.

Disclaimer

This job description is not a comprehensive list of all of the possible job-related responsibilities, tasks and duties that are required of this position, and further, Center on Halsted reserves the right to change as it sees fit any and all of the employee's responsibilities, tasks and duties.