Senior Development Manager

The Senior Development Manager leads resource development, communications, and volunteer management for IRC’s San Diego office. This role is responsible for donor cultivation and stewardship, grants development, special events, volunteer program oversight, communications, advocacy, and community engagement, as well as reporting and analytics. The position supervises the Volunteer Coordinator and interns, and is part of the senior management team sharing accountability for office strategy and operations.

Responsibilities

• Set the office’s annual private fundraising goals in partnership with Executive Director and Finance Director, aiming to increase year over year.
• Build and lead an annual development plan covering restricted and unrestricted funds aligned with organizational priorities and strategic action plan.
• Develop an annual tactical Development Action Plan covering special events, online giving campaigns, grant proposals, targeted fundraising appeals, and donor asks.
• Serve as the office’s focal point for IRC’s Integrated Fundraising Model, coordinating with Headquarters fundraising teams.
• Partner with Headquarters fundraising teams on cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation of corporate, foundation, and major donor relationships.
• Conduct prospect research and lead cultivation and stewardship of local foundation, corporate, and philanthropic relationships.
• Set strategy and goals for annual special events; supervise event planning and execution and lead sponsorship solicitation.
• Ensure timely, accurate donor activity records in Salesforce and timely generation of donor acknowledgements.
• Lead development and submission of grant proposals and funding applications.
• Oversee solicitation, intake, and distribution of in-kind donations ensuring compliance with policies and IRS rules.
• Establish and maintain tracking mechanisms for monitoring spend-down, reporting, and donor acknowledgement requirements on restricted funds.
• Ensure professional, timely responses to donor and external inquiries.
• Develop and lead an annual communications/marketing plan supporting organizational and fundraising priorities.
• Coordinate with Headquarters Communications and Executive Director on media requests.
• Prepare and support staff and/or clients for interviews, speaking engagements, and advocacy opportunities.
• Ensure compliance with media and social media policy and alignment with IRC brand guidelines.
• Produce IRC San Diego’s annual Impact Report.
• Respond to speaking engagement requests and prepare assigned speakers with talking points.
• Support Executive Director in representing the office at meetings and engagements with local officials.
• Conduct outreach, networking, and public presentations to recruit and educate prospective donors, volunteers, and constituents.
• Maintain current knowledge of IRC’s mission and San Diego’s strategic priorities and client base.
• Oversee Volunteer Coordinator to meet annual volunteer placement goals.
• Ensure organizational policies are followed in recruitment, onboarding, and supervision of volunteers and interns.
• Provide guidance and mentorship on volunteer management practices and policy questions.
• Provide leadership, supervision, and professional development for Volunteer Coordinator and other direct reports.
• Hold regular one-on-ones with direct reports to review priorities and progress.
• Set clear annual or semi-annual goals with direct reports and provide coaching and development opportunities.
• Foster a team culture built on fairness, consistency, open communication, and shared credit.
• Manage Development/Communications team overtime requests ensuring compliance with labor law.
• Maintain strong collaborative relationship with program staff to stay current on programs and resource needs.
• Participate in weekly leadership team meetings and keep Executive Director informed of development initiatives.
• Maintain accurate donor and relationship records in Salesforce CRM and provide reporting and analysis.
• Submit Development/Communications expenses to Finance on a timely basis.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Executive Director.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Nonprofit Management, Communications, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
• Graduate degree in a related field (desirable).
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive professional experience in resource development/fundraising within a nonprofit, social services, or humanitarian organization, including donor cultivation and stewardship, grant writing, and special event management.
• Minimum of 2 years of supervisory experience, including performance management and staff development.
• Demonstrated experience managing organizational communications and/or public relations, including media relations and public-facing content development.
• Experience developing and monitoring a development/communications budget and tracking progress toward fundraising goals.
• Experience engaging private foundations, corporations, or major donors in the San Diego/Southern California market (desirable).
• Familiarity with IRC’s Integrated Fundraising Model or a comparable multi-office fundraising structure (desirable).
• Demonstrated ability to promote an organizational culture that reflects IRC’s core values of service, accountability, integrity, and equality.
• Proven leadership, coaching, and team-building skills, with the ability to manage staff performance in accordance with IRC’s People Manager Standards.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to produce polished, donor-centric, brand-compliant materials.
• Strong relationship-building, diplomacy, and networking skills, with success engaging donors, volunteers, partner agencies, government officials, and colleagues across a range of backgrounds and contexts.
• Self-starter with strong problem-solving, prioritization, and time-management skills in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) and donor CRM platforms, with the ability to generate reports and interpret data to inform strategy.
• Valid driver’s license and access to a reliable, insured vehicle; comfortable driving agency vehicles as needed.
• Proficiency with Salesforce CRM (desirable).
• Experience with design/publication tools such as Canva, Adobe, or Publisher (desirable).
• Bilingual or multilingual skills reflecting languages spoken by the local client community (desirable).

Skills

• Resource Development
• Fundraising
• Donor Cultivation
• Grant Writing
• Special Event Management
• Supervision Experience
• Performance Management
• Staff Development
• Organizational Communications
• Public Relations
• Media Relations
• Content Development
• Budget Development
• Fundraising Budget Monitoring
• Donor Stewardship
• Relationship Building
• Networking
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Donor CRM Systems
• Report Generation
• Data Interpretation

Languages

English