About LIFE Skills Foundation:
Our mission is to empower transition age youth to live stable, self-directed lives by providing them with housing and wraparound support services. Most of our participants have aged out of foster care or are housing insecure for other reasons.
LIFE Skills is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from all persons regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, mental or physical disability, age, political affiliation or any other non-merit factors. We are committed to the professional development and well-being of all employees. We provide competitive salaries and a full benefits package. Relocation assistance is not available. We participate in e-verify.
Primary Purpose of Position:
While LIFE Skills has traditionally operated in Durham County, we have recently expanded our housing and wraparound support programs into both Orange and Wake County. One of our strategic goals is to create a Triangle-wide system to provide support for youth exiting foster care that they can access easily regardless of location. We are looking for an knowledgeable and dynamic Development & Communications Director to help us scale up our fundraising efforts and continue to grow as an organization.
The Development Manager is responsible for working with the Executive Director to: ensure that LIFE Skills Foundation has adequate financial resources to meet its strategic goals; promote public awareness and support for the organization’s mission; and assist with maintaining/growing the donor database.
This is a full-time, exempt position reporting directly to the Executive Director while also working closely with the Director of Operations. This position is intended to average 90% fundraising and 10% operations. The Development & Communications Director role will be largely remote with some in-person duties.
List of Responsibilities, Requirements and Duties:
Development and communications (90%)
- Develop and execute a development and communication strategy
- Write grants and grant reports, keep grant records
- Manage the annual campaign
- Coordinate two major events each year
- Produce the annual report in collaboration with the Director of Operations and Executive Director
- Conduct donor outreach
- Manage the organization’s social media presence and e-newsletter
- Maintain donor records, send acknowledgements and grow the donor database
- Identify new funding opportunities
- Support the Board of Directors Development Committee
Operations (10%)
- Assist with documentation and filing
- Collect and process mail
- Deposit donations
- Other light office work as directed by the Executive Director
Duties may also include:
-Public speaking
-Working with youth interns
- Staying up to date on fundraising and other trends
- Other tasks as assigned by the Executive Director
Required Skills and Experience:
- At least 2 years of experience writing a variety of government and non-governmental grant proposals and grant reports
- At least 2 years experience cultivating major donors and/or corporate donors
- Experience using social media to successfully promote nonprofit organizations and raise funds
- Excellent writing skills
- Event planning and management experience including ticketed events and a range of large and small events
- Familiarity with the SalesForce Nonprofit Success Pack or another CRM for donor management
- Experience with iContact, MailChimp or other programs for distributing e-newsletters
- Basic knowledge of data analysis
- Strong organizational skills
Additional Skills and Experience:
LIFE Skills Foundation is committed to providing a workplace where all employees and clients are respected and supported. To be successful, employees need a high level of cultural and emotional competency as well as exemplary communications skills. The work requires that staff problem-solve independently, but also function as part of a close-knit team. Training in topics such as team dynamics, facilitation, diversity, equity, leadership or other areas is a plus.
The following are desirable, but not required:
- Working with transition age youth - especially those who have been in foster care or have experienced homelessness
- Quickbooks and/or other bookkeeping software
- Basic understanding of SEO principles and Google analytics
- Proficiency managing websites built on SquareSpace or Wordpress
- Basic graphic design experience using Canva, Adobe or other creative platforms
- Photography experience