Individual Giving Coordinator in Seattle, Washington at DESC

Days Off: Saturday/Sunday

Location: Hybrid remote and in-person at 515 Third Ave, Seattle, WA 98104. Occasional team meetings and events at various DESC sites across King County.

Shift: Office Day

Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

While a cover letter is not required as part of the application process, we strongly encourage applicants to submit a brief letter of interest describing why they are interested in this role, how their experience and strengths align with the position, and how the opportunity connects to their personal and/or professional goals.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background.

About DESC:

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs,19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

DESC is seeking a strategic, relationship-driven fundraising professional to serve as our Individual Giving Coordinator—a key member of the Fund Development team responsible for managing and growing DESC’s mid-level giving and annual fund programs.

As a frontline fundraiser, this role focuses on building meaningful relationships with donors, strengthening engagement, increasing philanthropic support, and advancing donor retention and upgrade strategies. Through thoughtful stewardship, personalized outreach, and strategic solicitation, the Individual Giving Coordinator will manage a portfolio of mid-level donors, oversee DESC’s annual fund and recurring supporter efforts, and support the execution of organization-wide giving campaigns.

The Individual Giving Coordinator will help elevate DESC’s fundraising program by connecting donors to the organization’s mission and impact, while demonstrating a commitment to principles aligned with Community-Centric Fundraising—including centering community voice, promoting equity, and fostering mutual accountability.

The ideal candidate is passionate about advancing DESC’s mission and skilled at building meaningful, lasting relationships with donors and supporters. They are energized by engaging individuals in conversations about community impact and philanthropy and are motivated by helping donors connect their values with opportunities to support DESC’s work.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As the Individual Giving Coordinator, your job duties will include:

Individual Donor Relationship Management

• Manage a portfolio of 250-300 active and prospective mid-level donors and family foundations.
• Develop and implement tailored solicitation and stewardship moves management plans.
• Conduct personal visits to directly solicit gifts, including mid-level and major gifts, with a focus on increasing donor commitment and connection to our work.
• Share prompt and meaningful gratitude with individual donors in assigned range and portfolio, in accordance with DESC’s gift acknowledgment procedures.
• Identify donors with the potential and inclination to make major or planned gifts, and flag them for collaborative cultivation.
• Build trust-based relationships that encourage ongoing engagement and advocacy and center Community Centric Fundraising principles.
• Communicate accurate information and ideas to DESC supporters, partners, and the public.
• Maintain a strong understanding of current issues, trends, policies, and funding related to homelessness services to engage knowledgeably with donors, supporters, and community partners, while demonstrating flexibility and adaptability in response to evolving priorities, opportunities, and timelines.

Annual Fund Management

• With the partnership of DESC’s Sr. Manager – Individual Giving, develop and execute a broad-based annual plan for cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of non-managed supporters to help DESC’s Individual Giving Team meet revenue goals, maximize donor participation, and encourage renewal and upgrade of gifts.
• Manage DESC’s monthly donor program and recurring donors' programs including regular communications, donor relations, retention, and growth of program.
• Track and evaluate the success of the annual giving program and assess the effectiveness of specific strategies.
• Partner with DESC’s Donor Database Administrator to ensure gifts are accurately coded and segmented, optimize donor data integrity and reporting, and utilize the donor database to track, analyze, and report annual performance metrics related to unmanaged donors.

Prospecting

• Proactively identify and cultivate new individual donors through research, outreach, and engagement events.
• Engage in team-wide prospecting strategy meetings and recommend strategy for mid-level and annual fund donors.
• Represent DESC at public events, presentations, and speaking engagements to educate about the organization’s mission and identify new prospects interested in supporting DESC’s work.

Fundraising Campaigns

• With the support of DESC’s Sr. Manager – Individual Giving, help spearhead fundraising campaigns including Give-Big, Giving-Tuesday, written appeals and other fundraising events.
• Conduct personalized outreach and direct ask solicitation to donors for DESC’s fundraising campaigns, giving events, and year-end giving campaigns
• Coordinate outreach and solicitation efforts for unmanaged donors across annual fundraising campaigns, helping to identify target audiences, tailor messaging, and drive donor engagement and giving.

Data Management & Reporting

• Maintain donor database (Salesforce) records with donor engagement, significant activities, financial projections and mutli-year gift strategies.
• Monitor key data performance indicators including donor growth, retention, and revenue.
• In collaboration with the Sr. Manager of Individual Giving, prepare reports for leadership, committees, and Board stakeholders.
• Collaborate with DESC’s Donor Database Administrator to develop and maintain donor database systems that support Annual Fund metric planning, tracking, and reporting, and monitor progress toward fundraising goals and key performance indicators.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with DESC's Fund Development Team and other DESC stakeholders to identify opportunities to connect donor interests to organizational priorities and engagement events.
• Support and attend special events, including large-scale fundraising events and organization-wide events that advance donor engagement, community awareness, and philanthropic support.
• Contribute to Community Centric Fundraising initiatives, organizational engagement efforts, and annual work planning.
• Other duties as assigned.

REPORTING STRUCTURE:

This role reports to the Senior Manager of Individual Giving and works closely with DESC’s Fund Development team to ensure alignment with organizational fundraising and communication strategies.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• 2+ years' experience in nonprofit fundraising or related donor-facing roles.
• 2+ years' experience in professional writing, communications, or content development, with a focus on external stakeholder communications.
• Demonstrated experience managing and cultivating a donor portfolio, including making direct gift solicitations and advancing donors through the giving cycle.
• Excellent task, time, and project management skills, with the ability to strategically prioritize work, balance competing projects and deadlines, adapt to shifting priorities, and confidently conduct outreach through cold calls and other donor engagement activities.
• Knowledge of donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, and moves management strategies, with an understanding of how to engage and retain donors through meaningful relationship-building and communications.
• Comfortable writing your own fundraising communications, including personal cultivation emails, stewardship letters, event invitations, and appeal language.
• Commitment to DESC’s mission and to community-centric, equity-based fundraising practices, with a demonstrated understanding of social and racial justice and a proven ability to apply racial and economic justice lenses in both personal and professional contexts.
• Ability to work independently; willingness to be flexible and work cooperatively with team members to accomplish department and agency objectives.
• Excellent task, time, and project management skills, including the ability to set goals and objectives, apply appropriate analytical tools to update projections, and communicate and work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines.
• Ability to manage a high level of responsibility with accurate attention to detail
• Pass a required Washington State criminal background check
• Intermediate to high level of computer proficiency including MS Office

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 2 or more years’ experience working with nonprofit, government, or social service organizations.
• Experience with Salesforce, Raisers Edge or similar CRM or DRM systems.
• Knowledgeable about social systems that lead to chronic homelessness
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically at a systems level, including experience developing and guiding high-level engagement or partnership strategies that align organizational values with external stakeholders, particularly with individuals or family foundations.
• Proven ability to engage donors through in-person outreach, with a strong understanding of effective fundraising strategies and a focus on building and maintaining meaningful relationships, is highly preferred.
• Experience coordinating and supporting volunteers is a plus.
• Prior public speaking experience a plus.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Frequently operate a computer and other office machinery such as a keyboard, mouse, and phone.
• Move between work sites.
• Ability to transport objects weighing up to 30 lbs.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required sit for long periods of time, communicate with other persons by talking and hearing, required to lift and carry items weighing up to 40 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems.
• Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.