The Opportunity

Be an essential part of a purpose-driven, vision-inspired, and mission-led team. 

One in seven babies born in the US spends time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).  Parenting a child in the NICU is a traumatic experience that increases a parent’s risk for developing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). Hand to Hold® is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides compassionate in-person and virtual support to NICU and bereaved parents before, during and after a NICU stay.  This early intervention mental health support is available at no cost to NICU families across the United States.  

As a Best Place for Working Parents® business for three consecutive years (2022-2024), our dynamic, growing organization seeks a Development Manager to join our team in Austin, TX. Reporting to the Executive Director, this person will play a vital role in helping to bring our 3-year strategic plan to life by leading and executing an integrated donor engagement strategy to recruit and retain individual donors through a meaningful donor experience. 

The successful candidate will be a self-starter who demonstrates a high degree of proactivity, works well in a growth minded, collaborative environment and is experienced in developing project management plans from a defined vision.

As a Development Manager at Hand to Hold, your role will be crucial in raising essential funds for our mission and stewarding the donor experience for National and local (Austin-area) donors. You will contribute to the overall strategic initiatives and play a part in achieving the organization's growth goals. KPI’s for each area will help celebrate progress. This role is designed with career progression in mind and the opportunity to grow into a Development Director.

Here are the essential functions and requirements of the position:

• Lead, manage and execute fundraising for individual donors and provide Hand to Hold donors with a meaningful, high-touch donor experience. Track donor engagement through moves management in CRM and progress related to specific metrics. 
• Develop, manage, and grow the Hand to Hold Giving Society: Nurture and grow a pipeline of relationships with donors at the $250-$7500 annual gift level while strategically working to increase their contributions and giving experience with Hand to Hold 
• Support the gift level pipeline process for $7,500+ level as part of career development. Work directly with the Executive Director and CEO to support acquisition and stewardship. 
• Individual Donor Growth: The role will focus on building donor relationships and stewardship to convert into meaningful gifts for Hand to Hold to maintain and grow its mission. Donor growth (quantity), donor conversion (% of donor list) and average donation (dollars).
• Individual Donor Retention: The role will focus on individual giving strategies, nurturing relationships with individual donors, and developing strategies to increase loyalty and engagement. This could involve donor stewardship activities, and implementing personalized cultivation and recognition initiatives.
• Champion the individual donor campaigns from start to finish. This will be done through dynamic, targeted local and national appeals, including direct mail, digital email, social media campaigns, phone calls, text communications and face-to-face. Creative development is handled by other team members but this role will be responsible for inspiring campaign briefs and providing clear strategy, direction and goals for each campaign. 
• Utilize research and donor insights: Gather and interpret research and insights to develop donor fundraising plans, improve methods, and maximize return on fundraising investment.
• Document and share donor campaign results: Provide post campaign feedback on what worked well and areas for improvement to facilitate continuous learning and growth through the plus/delta process.
• Create and manage an annual calendar of campaign and activation plans to create visibility with department teams and identify opportunities to integrate donor engagement into local and national plans

Pay & Benefits:

• Full-time, exempt, salaried position starting at $60,000 annually. Open to applicants in the Austin, Texas metropolitan area. 
• Benefits provided include 
  • Generous time off
    • 15 days paid time off 
    • Monthly sick time accrual
    • 15 paid holidays per year plus all working days after Christmas Day through New Year’s Day
    • Summer Fridays & more
  • Insurance
    • Fully paid Medical Insurance for employee
    • Monthly stipend for ancillary benefits of employee’s choice
      • May include Life Insurance (whole or term), dental, vision, accident insurance & more
• Flexible work schedule, professional development opportunities & team building activities

We Need You to Have

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with great attention to detail.
• Three to five years equivalent experience in nonprofit fundraising focused on individual donors.
• Two to three years of experience and proficiency working with a database or CRM tool (HubSpot experience a plus). 
• Strong analytical skills: Possess the ability to analyze data, determine insights from donation data and make decisions based on facts and informed hypotheses.  
• Skilled project management: Experience managing complex projects with measurable success and program growth.
• Strong commitment to the ethical handling and management of donor information. 
• A strong desire for donor stewardship and creating a memorable donor experience both in-person and online. 
• Embody qualities of integrity, professionalism, credibility, and a strong commitment to Hand to Hold's mission.
• Availability to be in-person at our office in northwest Austin a minimum of 3 days each week. 

We Want You to Have

• Personal experience with the Mission: Having personal experience with a child or loved one in the NICU is preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, or Business is preferred.  Relevant work experience may suffice.
• Career-minded individual: Motivated for learning and skill development as opportunities for advancement based on demonstrated performance are available.

Physical Demands:

You should be able to reach the 2nd-floor office space by stairs (no elevator access) multiple times daily or use the 1st-floor office space.

Hand to Hold is dedicated to hiring a diverse workforce that reflects the diverse families that we support through our mission.  We are thought leaders and change makers. We embrace change and are always learning, developing, and evolving to champion a world where all NICU families thrive.