Senior Development Officer, Special Events

Job Description

Job Description

This position is supervised by:  Assistant Director of Development, Special Events

This position supervises:  None

Job Summary:

Founded in 1938, the SPCA of Texas is the most comprehensive and longest-serving animal welfare agency in North Texas. Our mission is to provide every animal exceptional care and a loving home. To accomplish this, we focus on five key pillars to achieve the vision of our strategic plan: 1. Prevent and Prosecute Cruelty; 2. Care for Rescued Animals; 3. Keep Animals in Home; 4. Invest in our People; 5. Strengthen our Operations.

To help bring our mission to life, the SPCA of Texas is seeking a Senior Development Officer, Special Events (Sr. Officer). The Sr. Officer is responsible for fundraising for the SPCA's four main special events: Fur Ball, Strut Your Mutt, Home for the Holidays, and Paws Cause. The Sr. Officer manages a portfolio of sponsor and donor relationships across the four events and owns the ask and the relationship for every company and donor in that portfolio.

The Sr. Officer builds and manages their own annual fundraising goals to support the organization’s mission in partnership with the Assistant Director of Development and the Vice President of Development.

The Sr. Officer works alongside the Senior Development Officer, Corporate Giving, the Development Coordinator, Special Events, and the rest of the development team. The Sr. Officer is entrepreneurial, collaborative, demonstrates integrity in all donor communications and interactions, and balances strategic thinking with building meaningful relationships on behalf of the SPCA of Texas.

Essential duties and responsibilities:

• Manage a portfolio of event sponsors and donors across the four main fundraising events, with responsibility for the portfolio's annual revenue and expense budget
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward sponsors, table hosts, underwriters, and auction and in-kind donors for each event
• Design and execute customized engagement and recognition strategies for event sponsors; ensure fulfillment of sponsorship agreements and maintain strong relationships with corporate partners in coordination with the Senior Development Officer, Corporate Giving
• Set specific goals for visits and solicitations within the portfolio; regularly assess and report on donor engagement and event fundraising results to inform future strategy
• Help identify, recruit, and work alongside high-profile civic and community leaders and volunteers to support the events
• Develop sponsorship proposals, decks, and impact reports for major event supporters
• Develop and maintain cultivation plans in a moves management structure
• Work with volunteer event committees and chairs to open doors to new sponsors and donors
• Support the Assistant Director in setting sponsorship, ticket, and attendance budgets for each event
• Work with the marketing and communications team on event marketing materials, event messaging, and sponsor recognition
• Build the first draft of annual fundraising goals for events the Sr. Officer is responsible for, based on past performance and current pipeline;
• Participate in the team's strategic planning and five-year fundraising growth plan
• Present program financial performance, project milestones, and bottlenecks at the monthly full-team development meeting
• Set and complete one to three quarterly "improve the machine" goals (document, automate, or retire a process; test a new strategy; build a dashboard)
• Record and maintain donor strategies, information, and actions in Raiser's Edge NXT
• Collaborate with the entire development team so donors' experiences are consistent across all levels of giving
• Support a culture of collaboration, learning, mutual support, and respect
• Other duties as assigned

Knowledge, skill, and abilities needed to perform the Essential functions of this position:

• Must demonstrate the Core Values of the SPCA of Texas on and off the job
• Fundraising experience: 3+ years of event fundraising experience with demonstrated success soliciting and closing event sponsorships and gifts
• Events experience: Has raised money for fundraising events raising $1M+
• Analytical skills : Builds and manages a revenue and expense budget; reads and analyzes fundraising reports
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfort interacting with senior corporate executives and volunteer leaders
• Educational background: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• Word, PowerPoint, and Excel skills are required
• Experience with Raiser's Edge NXT or a comparable donor CRM preferred

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job.

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This position is regularly required to use hands to fingers, handle, and talk and hear. The incumbent is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms, and stoop, kneel or crouch. The position holder must be able to regularly lift and/or move up to 40 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required for this position include close vision, distant vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to focus.
• While performing the duties of this job this position may be exposed to animal odors or airborne particles.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Working Conditions

• An individual performing this job may be required to work more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, including nights, weekends and some holidays.
• Four days a week in the office is the baseline. For frontline fundraisers, donor meetings outside the office count; team meetings are in person.
• Flexible schedule required, including long hours near and during event dates, some evenings, weekends, and holidays. The SPCA of Texas runs four major fundraising events per year and 8+ smaller donor engagement events per year.