Manager of Individual Giving and Development Events

ORGANIZATION

VOCEL is a nonprofit early childhood education organization dedicated to equipping and supporting parents, teachers, and school leaders to strengthen early learning in homes and schools. With a core focus on brain-building playful learning, VOCEL designs innovative programs across Chicago communities facing economic hardship. Our mission is to ensure every child has the foundation to learn, grow, and lead — and every fundraising effort brings us one step closer to that goal.

We’re seeking a driven, strategic, personable, and creative Manager of Individual Giving and Development Events to grow and strengthen VOCEL’s individual and corporate giving portfolios and our annual calendar of fundraising events. Reporting directly to the Director of Development, you’ll leverage quantitative and qualitative donor data to build strategic engagement plans, craft compelling donor and marketing communications, and orchestrate our marquee events — most notably our Annual Fall Benefit Dinner and Spring Associate Board fundraiser.

In this capacity, you’ll help build our people-first, innovative development operation, enabling significant growth of VOCEL’s vision of early childhood excellence in Chicago and beyond. You’ll also play a critical role in executing VOCEL’s strategic plan – aiming to triple our program reach and grow our budget from $2.5 million to $5 million by 2029.

It’s important you know VOCEL’s Development Team is collaborative, innovative, and building a dynamic, highly-effective, and anti-racist development operation rooted in partnership, compassion, and joy. You won’t walk into an environment with all the kinks worked out and systems built — but you’ll have the opportunity to help build it with stellar, dedicated team members.

• Manage VOCEL’s individual and corporate giving strategy, collaborating closely with the Director of Development and Executive Director to create and execute compelling donor journeys that inspire new supporters and strengthen our relationships with current supporters
• Lead execution of the Development Team’s marketing and mass outreach, driving donor engagement through compelling newsletter emails and inspiring social media posts that resonate with our diverse audience of stakeholders
• Craft new annual campaigns and seasonal giving opportunities to continuously help expand, refine, and strengthen our annual giving strategy
• Collaborate with the Executive Director to refresh and execute a fulfilling, impactful experience for members of Parents for VOCEL and Grandparents for VOCEL, our first donor circles for parents and grandparents who give a minimum of $1,000 annually
• Collaborate with the Development and Program teams to plan and execute individual and corporate volunteer opportunities that connect supporters with VOCEL’s mission, such as our annual Gift of Joy holiday drive

• Work closely with the Director of Development to manage and inform VOCEL’s individual giving and corporate giving portfolios, tracking their engagement to inform solicitation strategy and requests for new, renewed, and increased giving
• Collaborate with the Manager of Institutional Giving and Development Operations to document clear and accurate donor/prospect information, constituent communications and interactions, and all donation details in our CRM, including inputting notes following any staff members’ interactions with individual or corporate donors
• Work closely with the Manager of Institutional Giving and Development Operations to ensure timely sending of personalized notes of gratitude and tax acknowledgment letters to donors in your portfolios
• Support the Director of Development in crafting compelling solicitation letters informed by detailed research and a responsive, relationship-driven approach to fundraising
• Conduct ongoing, in-depth prospect research to propose new engagement and solicitation opportunities to grow VOCEL’s individual giving and corporate giving portfolios

• Lead the planning and execution of the entire Development…