Donor Specialist

Description

Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO)’s mission is to provide civil legal aid and advocacy to overcome unfairness and injustice, reduce poverty, and increase opportunity. LASCO has a long-standing history of being committed to searching out the patterns, causes of, and solutions to the repetitive and fundamental legal problems facing low-income Ohioans and pursuing the legal recourse needed to address those problems. Since 1966, our organizations have helped thousands of Ohio’s poor obtain and keep housing, secure public benefits, worked with families to gain and maintain economic stability, and helped domestic violence survivors to live free of fear and abuse and to obtain the resources needed to sustain themselves and their children.

LASCO is actively seeking a dedicated Donor Specialist to join the Development team. This position plays a key role in maintaining donor communication and satisfaction through timely donor acknowledgement and maintaining database integrity. The Donor Specialist will be responsible for managing donor relationships and stewardship. 

Are You Someone Who:

• Is dedicated to improving the lives of low-income individuals in our communities?
• Is motivated, professional and customer service focused?
• Works well within a collaborative, team-driven, and goal-based environment?
• Can communicate verbally and in writing with a wide range of people?
• Is agile and able to respond effectively to the changing needs of a growing organization?
• Creates processes to increase work efficiencies and systems to work smarter not harder?
• Enjoys participating in community events?
• Takes pride in completing tasks accurately, timely and precisely?
• Is attentive, persistent and able to creatively adapt to dynamic situations?
• Has high standards of integrity, authenticity, self-confidence and willingness to roll-up your sleeves to get the job done?
• Promotes a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and quality?

You Will:

• Manage the donor database, import and export donor data and updates and work with third-party database coordinators to ensure we do not miss any donations through employer-based systems.
• Represent LASCO to prospective donors and funding partners. 
• Develop communication strategies and engage with donors to increase contributions. 
• Competently pull reports from internal databases to guide our fundraising plans.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive donor acknowledgement and recognition plan to support all donors.
• Continually update and streamline correspondence with donors.
• Establish and coordinate targeted stewardship plans and campaigns.
• Work with the Development and Communications teams to create, edit, and execute fundraising-related communications, including, but not limited to solicitation mailings, newsletters (both mailed and emailed), tax summaries, and other donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship pieces.
• Work with the Development Director to organize and access necessary organizational information to timely respond to requests from funders.
• Track and analyze online and direct mail appeal responses to inform subsequent efforts and achieve greater impact.
• Coordinate in-person donor cultivation and stewardship events such as the Fresh Start Gala, receptions, and open houses. 
• Provide other assistance, as needed, to the Development team or Executive Director, as directed.

Requirements

You Have:

• Bachelor’s degree required
• A positive attitude, go-getter mindset and drive to do things well
• Ability to anticipate needs and navigate problems with a creative, practical approach toward reaching successful resolution
• The ability to prioritize workload to manage time and tasks in a dynamic environment
• Proficient skills across the Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• Demonstrated ability to communicate, verbally and in writing, effectively with diverse audiences
• Strong work ethic with an eye for detail
• High ability to exercise sound judgement and discretion
• English language proficiency is essential. Additional languages – even better
• Legal authorization to work in the United States
• Prior nonprofit fundraising experience a plus, but not required
• Prior experience with donor database software or customer relationship management software is a plus, but not required

Other Details:

• It is the policy of LASCO not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, disability, age, ancestry, and military status or any other characteristic protected by law.
• This full-time, exempt position is based in Columbus, Ohio and reports to the Development Director. Some travel to offsite locations may be required at times.
• Salary begins at $59,000 & up and is dependent upon level of experience.
• LASCO offers an excellent comprehensive benefits package, currently including an employer funded HRA (up to $12,000), employer-paid employee dental and vision insurance, a language skills differential ($2,500-$3,500 annually), paid vacation, sick and holiday time, and ongoing training and development opportunities.

To Apply: Submit resume, writing sample, references, and letter of interest.