Development Manager

Kandelia’s mission is to address systemic inequities so immigrant and refugee families and communities can thrive without having to compromise values, heritage or ethnicity. For over 15 years, Kandelia has worked in partnership with Seattle World School (SWS) to provide high quality youth enrichment programs to all students and families enrolled in the school. SWS is the only public school in King County designed as a preliminary entry point for refugee and immigrant children of middle and high school age: 100% of students have immigrant or refugee status and 97% identify as a student of color. Our Youth Enrichment Programs offer a model that bridges in-school and out-of-school learning time across multiple school and community partners.

Our Youth Enrichment Program has a proven track record – to date, more than 80% of students have increased their English and math scores by the equivalent of one or more grade levels each year as measured by standardized tests. Active Kandelia students have consistently increased their school-day attendance rates compared to their peers. In 2014, an independent evaluator found that students who participated in our programs consistently scored higher (an average of half a grade level) on math and English standardized tests compared to their peers.

Position Overview

Annual salary: $50,000 – $57,000

Full-time employees are eligible for health insurance, PTO, Sick Days, and Holidays.

Location:

Until January 2021, primarily remote work, with some days needed at the Kandelia office. After January 2021 (if state laws permit and pending guidance from the ED), this role will be based at the Kandelia office, with very occasional duties at Seattle World School (pending district and school Covid-19 guidelines) or travel in Seattle metro area.

Hours:

Full-time Monday through Friday, with some flexibility

Kandelia seeks an organized, enterprising, mission-driven, tech-friendly and service-oriented candidate with a demonstrated passion for building systems and relationships for the cultivation and stewardship of new and existing relationships with donors. The Full-Time Development Manager will play an important role in growing our small shop and achieving our mission of reducing institutional barriers preventing success and put refugee and immigrant youth and families on a path toward success in school, work, and in life opportunities. The Development Manager will report to the Executive Director, with significant collaboration with other members of the Kandelia administrative team, including the Community Engagement Manager, Finance and Admin Coordinator, and Senior Program Manager.

Core Responsibilities

Fundraising

  • Serve as the “organizer” for our small fundraising team, coordinating deadlines and connecting staff
  • Create and manage organization fundraising calendars and timelines
  • Take a lead role, working with ED and fundraising team, to create annual Fundraising Plan
  • Support grant-writing consultant in executing grant calendar
  • Engage Program staff as needed for application or reporting deadlines
  • Track progress and regularly report to staff on progress toward Fundraising Plan
  • Prepare and own distribution of donor materials, including solicitation, follow-up and thank yous
  • Conduct research to identify new prospects, create prospect profiles, and recommend strategies
  • Responsible for producing monthly fundraising report that ED will use in monthly board packet
  • Principal responsibility for annual gala, working with Community Engagement Manager and ED
  • 2021’s annual gala will likely be virtual – you’d design this new experience for our team
  • This includes procurement, venue, vendors, media, technology, and all other logistics
  • Support Executive Director in cultivation and stewardship of existing and new relationships with donors, including correspondence and creating meeting prep sheets and follow-up materials
  • Support Executive Director in scheduling (and joining, as needed) in fundraising meetings
  • Support Executive Director in engaging board members and scheduling their fundraising activities
  • Support Executive Director in designing engaging funder site visits
  • Design and support special events, working with Community Engagement Manager and ED
  • Partner with Community Engagement Manager to integrate effective traditional fundraising strategies into community-centered fundraising focused on cultural competency and authenticity
  • Support Community Engagement Manager in designing “friend-raiser” activities and visible community partnership events such as Food for Thought series at local restaurants or house parties
  • Support Executive Director in representing the org through networking events, fundraising events, media, and other public-facing events with fundraising or thought leadership potential

Data Management

  • Manage the donor database and act as our in-house Frontstream expert
  • Input gifts into donor database; add new entries; update database; remove duplicates, etc.
  • Maintain high-quality fundraising data and continue to learn and share best practices
  • Run all requested reports, imports, and exports
  • Train other team members (including fundraising team and Volunteer Coordinator) in its use
  • Lead our staff to geek out and use data more creatively to raise money more strategically
  • Track philanthropic requests, pledges and contributions
  • Prepare mailing materials like invitations, solicitations and newsletters
  • Work with the Finance and Admin Coordinator to reconcile donation entries with QuickBooks Online and Frontstream entries on monthly basis
  • Provide foundation and donor reports and lists from the database as needed/requested

Marketing

  • Take leadership over and expand Kandelia’s social media presence
  • Own and manage Mailchimp lists, work with grant-writing consultant and ED to generate content
  • Update Kandelia website, as needed
  • Serve as the brand manager to ensure our new re-branding is kept uniform and impactful

Qualifications

  • 3-5 years of experience as a professional fundraiser or non-profit professional with substantial leadership experience and knowledge of fundraising activities
  • Must have ability to prioritize multiple assignments; work independently and collaboratively; communicate about challenges; plan; and most importantly, follow through
  • Must be highly organized and skilled at organizing simultaneous activities of others, good at building systems in a small shop
  • Previous experience with a donor database (Frontstream preferred)
  • Highly proficient computer skills in Zoom, Google Suite (Gmail, calendar, forms and Drive) and Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and their Google Docs equivalents)
  • Very strong verbal and written communication skills, strong interpersonal skills
  • Ability to think strategically and create flexible long-term plans and check-in points
  • Experience working with grant-funded programs and reading grant contracts is a plus.
  • Experience in urban education is a plus, whether as a professional or as a student.
  • Previous experience in Seattle Public Schools preferred
  • Experience with immigrant and refugee populations and with youth arts, sports, and culture programming is a plus.
  • Experience fundraising with BIPOC prospects and technology professionals is a plus.
  • Bilingual fluency in Spanish, Maya Quiche, Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, Tigrinya, Russian or Ukrainian is a plus.
  • Experience with community-centered fundraising strategies is a plus.
  • Experience working with senior stakeholders and decisionmakers is a plus.
  • Experience with Quickbooks Online is a plus.

Other Requirements

  • Legal clearance to work with minors and within a school is non-negotiable and you must pass a background check and any other tests required by Seattle Public Schools or government partners
  • Strong ethics, maturity, and appropriate boundaries for adult interactions with minors, including compliance with all Seattle Public Schools HR and reporting requirements
  • Must be available to work flexibly, including occasional evenings and rare weekends
  • Physical demands include working at the computer but also loading and transporting supplies (boxes up to 50 pounds, paper, printers, supplies, technology, t-shirts, food, etc.)

Characteristics

  • Strong connection to the Kandelia mission
  • Empathy, humility, flexibility and willingness to serve and lead
  • Ability to learn, create, communicate and teach new systems to colleagues
  • Positive, solution-oriented approach in a team working toward common goals
  • Flexible, resilient, and able to deal with unexpected and unplanned challenges
  • Cultural competency learned from experience with diverse needs, challenges and communication styles
  • Strong work and financial ethics
  • Kindness, discretion, and respect in telling the stories of our students and families in a way they would find authentic and never exploitative
  • Must have the utmost integrity and an ability to process, protect and exercise discretion in handling confidential information and materials
  • Professional and ethical commitment to student protection and student privacy

Hiring Process

To apply, submit a cover letter and resume to hr@kandelia.org.

The position will begin as soon as October 2020, pending candidate’s availability. Qualified candidates must be available for up to 2 interviews, likely in consecutive weeks, through Zoom.

Kandelia is an equal opportunity employer.