Development Manager

Tilting Futures is building our development team to strengthen our philanthropy engine to carry out our mission. We're looking for a strong writer who thinks operationally. In this Development Manager role, you'll lead our communications and systems while working alongside our Director of Development Operations and Chief External Affairs Officer, in close collaboration with our CEO. Your work will be the infrastructure that enables them to focus on strategy and relationship-building, allowing them to focus their work externally.

You'll draft compelling grant proposals and donor communications, with multiple rounds of intense feedback, manage complex project workflows, maintain our donor database, and coordinate cross-functional logistics. You're someone who writes clearly and compellingly, thinks systematically, and takes pride in keeping things running smoothly, while anticipating needs and solving problems so leadership can focus on what matters most.

The Development Manager reports directly to Jennifer Woods, Director, Development Operations, on the External Affairs team. The other primary stakeholders for this role are Aziza Musa (Chief External Affairs Officer), and Erin Lewellen (CEO). Get to know them here.

Communications & Content: Draft compelling proposals and communications that move our mission forward

• Develop grant proposals and funding concepts, donor communications, and external-facing materials
• Support the Chief External Affairs Officer with written content for board, donor, and partnership audiences
• Draft emails and written communications for CEO and development team review, becoming familiar with organizational voice and style

Development Operations & Project Management: Keep workflows running smoothly so leadership can focus on strategy

• Manage grant operations, including timelines, project coordination, reporting requirements, and submission deadlines
• Own moves management logistics, donor cultivation tracking, and development/external affairs calendar coordination using Asana and other tools
• Conduct prospect research to identify and profile potential donors and partnership opportunities

Donor Database & Reporting: Maintain accurate, accessible donor information and performance data

• Lead Salesforce database maintenance, including donor data entry, engagement tracking, communications logging, and pipeline accuracy
• Generate reports, dashboards, and KPI tracking to monitor development team performance and donor trends
• Manage gift acknowledgement workflow, including Salesforce documentation, thank-you letters, and tax receipt coordination

Cross-Functional Coordination: Support key meetings and strategic events

• Coordinate development committee meetings, including agenda coordination, minute-taking, and follow-up task management
• Research and support strategy for conferences, events, and partnership venues relevant to development objectives

We are looking for more than just hard skills; we want teammates who will add value to our organizational culture by bringing these mindsets to their work:

• Connected to our mission
  :
  Something in your own life experience drives your passion for Tilting Futures’s mission and vision.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational chops: You catch what others miss and keep systems running. You're the person who knows what's due when and where things live.
• Problem solver: When something breaks, you don't panic. You dig in, find the root, and fix it.
• Information seeker: You ask the questions that matter. You dig into data, understand context, and get to what's actually needed before acting.
• Independent: You take initiative without needing hand holding. You see what needs doing and do it, knowing when to loop in…