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Development Manager

Bernie's Book Bank • Full-time • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States • 3w ago

Position Details

Title: Development Manager

Type: Job

Class: Full-time

Date: 6/30/2025

Region: Southeast Wisconsin

City, State: Milwaukee, WI

Summary:

Bernie’s Book Bank - Milwaukee is looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated team player to serve as our Development Manager, a key role in the Development Department. Incumbent must demonstrate passion about our mission to enable positive life experiences through books and book ownership and inspire others to embrace our mission. While fulfilling responsibilities, the Manager will be expected to maintain the integrity of Bernie’s Book Bank’s mission, culture, brand standards, core values and goals at all times.

The Development Manager is responsible for event planning/execution, donor stewardship, accounting and partner communications. This position is responsible for gift processing, gift acknowledgment, data/CRM support, department financials and prospect research. In addition, he/she will lead registration and communication for 4-6 special events each year and annual communications with up to 200 partner schools/organizations to coordinate delivery of books.

Responsibilities:

Events

Manager will work closely with Executive Director to determine evolution of event calendar over time: possibility of Women’s event, Volunteer Recognition Event or Annual Giving Society celebrations to be considered
Manage all existing and developed event logistics
Develop pre-event budgets and reconcile profit and loss statements post event
Serve as primary liaison to event committees
Serve as liaison to Marketing Department, which acts as an accelerator for event promotions and revenue generation
Overall project management of sponsorship stewardship, fulfillment and acknowledgement. Including but not limited to targeted solicitation, follow up, and acting on leads generated by Development Team

Accounting

Play an important financial role in recording, processing, and recognizing all contributed support made to Bernie’s Book Bank
Record all donations and pledges in all applicable outlets, and work in partnership with external accounting firm on reporting and reconciliation of contributions, event registrations, etc. Including stock gifts, donations via donor advised funds, and all other forms
Generate deposit reports, copy all checks, and deliver all monies and credit card donations to the appropriate place(s)
Process all events credit card statements and generate event financial reports for Ledgers and Executive Director

Donor Stewardship

Focus on donor relations, ensuring the philanthropic experience consistent, process driven and positive
Co-ownership of the Salesforce database and accurate input and export of donor related data, in partnership with Director of Information Technology and Supply Chain.
Generate all donation-related correspondence for gifts received, including thank you/tax letters as well as pledge payment reminders.
Generate queries and mailing lists for appeals, events and initiatives as requested
Generate monthly donation reports for the Ledgers and ED
Conduct monthly reconciliation of GL accounts and provide detail for variance report
Utilizing prospect research tools, update constituent records on regular basis
Assist in production of major gift prospect reports for cultivation and solicitation

Partner Communications

Implement and improve a plan to strategically and effectively communicate with all active/pending distribution partners
Build and maintain the pipeline of potential distribution partners
Work collaboratively with Senior Operations Manager to plan and coordinate distributions and schedule VIP distributions for donor stewardship
Collect, enter, maintain and analyze data related to distribution partners in Salesforce

Requirements:

3-5 years of experience supporting a fundraising team doing data management, gift processing or donor management or equivalent applicable experience.
Experience working in donor management/CRM systems (experience with Classy and Salesforce strongly preferred)
Experience in using Quickbooks and doing basic AP/AR work is preferred
Possess the following qualities: organized, able to multitask/prioritize, detail-oriented, problem-solving, self-motivated, system-driven, friendly, enthusiastic, team-oriented
Ability to learn computer systems and databases, including Microsoft 365, Salesforce and event-related software
Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines
Strong people skills, ability to speak with donors, school partners and event attendees in person and remotely
Excellent customer service and oral/written communication skills
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
Excellent communication (written and verbal) skills, and interpersonal skills
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Compensation & Benefits:

Medical Insurance via BCBS, PPO available, starting day 1
Dental and Vision Insurance, available starting day 1
Hybrid work environment
Employer covered Long Term Disability Insurance
Short Term Disability Insurance available
401k with match after 1 year
17 Days of PTO a year
4 Floating Holidays per year
9 Paid holidays per year
A passionate team with long term growth potential as we begin national expansion