Development Coordinator

Job Summary: Reporting to the Director of Donor Engagement & Communications, the Development Coordinator plays a critical role in maintaining the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of Higher Achievement’s fundraising, events, and grants infrastructure while also providing high-level administrative support to the CEO and Board of Directors, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and strategic coordination across the organization. Serving as the Raiser’s Edge database administrator and a key liaison between the development and finance teams, this position ensures accurate gift processing, timely reporting, and effective donor stewardship. This position also serves a critical role in supporting Higher Achievement’s annual Going Places event by managing all backend fundraising outreach and sponsorship fulfillment.

The Development Coordinator is responsible for managing all aspects of donor data, including gift and pledge entry, financial reconciliation, donor acknowledgements, and customized reporting. They support event fundraising operations through backend management and stewardship systems; conduct research and analysis to inform fundraising strategy; and provide administrative support to the grants team. This role also manages the CEO’s schedule and meeting logistics; facilitates Board engagement and compliance; and supports key fundraising and donor engagement efforts of the CEO. With a dual focus on data integrity and relationship support, this highly organized, detail-oriented, and solutions-driven professional strengthens organizational fundraising efforts through insight, precision, and collaboration. While this position does not hold direct revenue goals, it serves as a critical partner to the Development Team and CEO, supporting fundraising, legacy events, and grants that contribute significantly to Higher Achievement’s revenue goals.

• Start Date: anticipated to start March 2026
• Supervisor: Director of Donor Engagement & Communications
• Works closely with: Development Team 
• Position Status: Full-Time, Exempt 
• Duration: Indefinite
• Location/Office Status: Hybrid. Must live within commuting distance of our affiliate office locations in Washington, DC, Richmond, VA, or Baltimore, MD. In-person required for any development or fundraising events and for mission critical activities and relationship building events.  
• Schedule/Hours: Works Monday through Friday, 9:00-5:00 pm. We currently offer half-days Fridays, with early closures at 1:00 PM. Occasional evening and weekend availability is required for specific duty-specific events such as fundraising events and board meetings related to executive assistant duties.   
• Travel: Candidate must have the ability to travel to their local main office location as needed and for duty-specific events such as fundraising events and board meetings related to executive assistant duties, via reliable transportation and attend events in the location area on a regular basis.
• Compensation:  $65,000- 68,000 annual salary 
• Benefits:  
  • Medical, dental, life insurance, long and short-term disability insurances,     
  • Vision, critical illness and accident insurances- employee paid     
  • Paid holidays each calendar year     
  • Paid Annual Breaks and Early Closures Fridays    
  • Paid annual leave per fiscal year that can be used for vacation, sick, or personal days    
  • 403 (b) retirement plan     
  • Tuition Advancement funds and Professional Development funds    

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Raiser’s Edge and Fundraising Operations

• Act as Raiser’s Edge database administrator by working closely with development staff to ensure data integrity, timely data entry, and implementation of current and new policies and procedures. Stay up to date on Raiser’s Edge functionality to maximize use.
• Enter gifts, pledges, and other relevant donation data into database, and manage stock and EFTs/ACHs processing.  Work closely with development staff across office locations to ensure timely adherence to gift procedures and proactively communicate with finance and development staff to ensure seamless processing.
• Produce accurate and customized donor acknowledgement letters on a timely basis.
• Prepare a variety of reports including contact information, giving history, event attendees, and monthly financials.
• Conduct in-depth data analysis on fundraising data, including win rates, donor retention, prospect analysis, and giving trends.
• Manage outstanding pledge collection in collaboration with development team.
• Act as a bridge between finance and development teams through close collaboration with finance staff on monthly reconciliations, yearly write-offs, and financial audit.
• Conduct training for new staff on donor database, lead ongoing training as needed to maximize staff knowledge and usage of the donor database and maintain up-to-date user manual.
• Serve as liaison for program data including but not limited to mentor and alumni information.

Event Fundraising

• Support the annual gala through sponsorship fulfillment, ticket management, pledge collection, sending of solicitation emails, and committee support (managing list review meetings and supporting chair and committee meetings).
• Additional fundraising and event logistics support to the fundraising team as directed by the Director of Donor Engagement & Communications.

Prospecting and Grant Support

• Conduct prospect research on new fundraising opportunities (grants, individuals, corporate) working in collaboration with the Development team, Executive Directors, and CEO.
• Collect external data trends, such as but not limited to out-of-school time data, city specific education information, and district/school-level data, to justify fundraising needs.
• Provide administrative support to the grants team with grant invoicing, grant database data entry, and other needs.

Board/Executive Support

• Provide administrative and logistics support for CEO, including calendar management and scheduling, meeting logistics (reserving space/Teams, food, etc.), managing notes and follow-up, credit card reconciliation, and other duties as needed.
• Provide administrative support to the CEO with Board fundraising and management including meeting scheduling (Board, committee, new member orientation), meeting logistics (virtual and in-person), meeting materials and notes, Board and committee lists (internal and external), annual compliance materials, and board assessment survey.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Commitment to the mission, work, and core values of Higher Achievement including a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Demonstrated comfortability with networking in professional settings and with communicating passionately about Higher Achievement’s mission and vision
• Two years of experience in development/fundraising strongly preferred
• Strong technical skills including proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word & Excel required)
  •  Strong emphasis on Excel functions and data analysis
  • Raiser’s Edge or other donor database/CRM system, including email and mail merge strongly preferred
• Comfortable learning and using new technology
• Ability to analyze data to answer questions and identify opportunities for fundraising
• Ability to demonstrate a solutions-oriented, customer-service focused mindset
• Ability to balance multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Exceptional organizational and data management skills, and superb attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong desire to work in collaboration with other team members and volunteers by both leading and offering guidance/support

Higher Achievement Core Values: Scholar-Centricity, Striving for Excellence, Power of Community, Voice, and Social Justice

Physical Requirements and Work Environment: Work is regularly performed in an office environment. The employee may spend long periods sitting, standing, and walking. Required to transfer from one part of the worksite to another and climb stairs. Regularly lift, carry, and position objects weighing up to 20 pounds. Regular use of computers, keyboard, telephone, and face-to-face communication in small and large group settings with adults; ability to communicate clearly and professionally in these situations. Visual, auditory, and physical ability to respond quickly to critical incidents involving students and act in an emergency. Occasional travel required between Baltimore, DC, and Richmond (primarily single day travel). Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Acknowledgement:

The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. This position's key duties are a summary of the typical job functions, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Other duties to support the functions of the program may be required and assigned by management.

To Apply: Interested applicants are encouraged to apply immediately with resume with a priority deadline of January 20, 12 midnight. The position will remain open until all spots are filled. 

Salary : $65,000 - $68,000