Donor Growth Strategist

Development Officer (Mid-Level)

Our core purpose:
As an expression of God's love in Southwest Florida, we are growing to ensure that no one experiencing hunger, homelessness or addiction is alone or without a pathway for their journey from crisis to contributor. Together with our partners and participants, we cultivate communities where people are progressively seen, accepted, challenged, and supported.

The Development Officer (Mid-Level) personally identifies, cultivates, solicits, and stewards a managed portfolio of donors giving between $500 and $2,499.99 annually, moving them from a one-to-many direct response experience toward individualized, relationship-based philanthropy. Working in collaboration with the Director of Individual Gifts, the DOML builds authentic donor relationships at scale—using Artificial Intelligence, phone, email, and personal written communication to increase retention, grow revenue per donor, and qualify donors for transition into the major gifts pipeline.

• Manages a qualified portfolio of 500–750 mid-level donors giving $500–$2,499.99 cumulative annually, with individualized touchpoint plans and revenue goals for each assigned relationship.
• Identifies, cultivates, solicits, and stewards portfolio donors using Artificial Intelligence, personal phone calls, handwritten notes, email, and impact communications—targeting 8–12 meaningful contacts per donor per year.
• Qualifies new mid-level prospects surfaced from direct mail upgrades, recurring donor files, lapsed major donors, and event attendees; documents a written qualification note for each new prospect within 30 days of assignment.
• Achieves a portfolio donor retention rate of 70% or higher year-over-year and tracks year-over-year revenue from the same donors, not only bottom-line totals.
• Maintains complete and timely records in Virtuous CRM, logging all donor contacts, proposals, and stewardship activity; follows established procedures for tracking, qualifying, and reporting gifts in accordance with Development protocols.
• Collaborates with the Director of Individual Gifts and Development team to graduate qualified donors into major gift portfolios; participates in review meetings and maintains warm relationships during donor transitions.
• Coordinates with direct mail and digital fundraising channels to ensure mid-level portfolio donors receive a coherent, high-touch experience that complements—rather than duplicates—mass communications.
• Surfaces planned-giving conversations where appropriate.
• Conducts research to identify prospects and creates strategies to match prospects' interests to the priorities of St. Matthew's House.
• Participates in programs and activities designed to increase the visibility of St. Matthew's House to internal and external constituencies, including donor cultivation events and program site visits.
• Keeps senior Development staff and volunteers informed of the status of key mid-level prospects and portfolio performance; supports preparation of portfolio reports for leadership and board committees.
• May train and support volunteers performing related development work; may participate in volunteer recruitment as appropriate.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree preferred; at least three (2) years of related fundraising or donor relations experience required.
• Demonstrated ability in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual donors; experience in a portfolio-based or relationship fundraising environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability in planning and implementing long- and short-range development initiatives in conjunction with organizational strategic planning processes.
• Proficiency with a fundraising CRM (Virtuous, Raiser's Edge, Salesforce NPSP, or equivalent); demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions using giving history, retention metrics, and portfolio analytics.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with leadership, prospects, donors, and/or volunteers across a wide range of roles and backgrounds.
• Ability to conduct research, gather data, analyze information, and prepare effective, accurate, and…