ABOUT FLOW: Everything we do is reflected in our name: For Love of Water or simply “FLOW.” Our vision is a future where healthy waters sustain healthy communities in the Great Lakes Basin. Our mission is to ensure the waters of the Great Lakes Basin are healthy, public, and protected for all. FLOW’s law and policy work focuses on: (1) maintaining public ownership of water and water infrastructure; (2) promoting awareness and use of the public trust doctrine to defend public waters and public trust uses; (3) ensuring that water is safe and affordable for all; (4) strengthening state and local protection of groundwater and drinking water; and (5) promoting regenerative agriculture and holding factory farm polluters accountable. Through our targeted policy initiatives, FLOW has built key partnerships with state and regional Great Lakes groups, leveraged our expertise to influence agencies and impact state and federal legislation, and grown to be a trusted source of current information on issues affecting our freshwater seas. For more information about FLOW’s history, programs, staff, or board visit: www.ForLoveOfWater.org.

FLOW is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a diverse and inclusive workplace, and seeks a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds. FLOW is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in employment, promotion, compensation, or other terms and conditions of employment on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. FLOW encourages all qualified candidates to apply!

POSITION SUMMARY: FLOW’s Development Manager position offers an opportunity to sustain a dynamic water policy nonprofit in the Great Lakes. The Development Manager is part of a team that creates and implements FLOW’s fund development plan to support programs and operations. The Development Manager reports to the Development Director, and also works closely with the Executive Director and other colleagues to support or lead activities to increase revenue. Primary responsibilities are to enhance grant-seeking success, plan and execute annual giving campaigns, increase business engagement and partnerships, and coordinate gatherings and revenue-generating events.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Grants: In collaboration with the Development Director, assist in cultivating past, current, and new institutional relationships; identify new institutional funders aligned with FLOW’s mission.

• Manage the grant application process from beginning to end in collaboration with the Development Director and program staff.
• Write and edit letters of inquiry, grant proposals, and interim and final grant reports. 
• Maintain internal grants calendar and monitor team progress against deadlines.
• Perform research to identify new grant funding opportunities. 

Annual Giving: In collaboration with the Development Director, develop and implement a strategic plan of action with objectives, timelines, and evaluation measures for the annual giving program (includes spring appeal, year-end appeal, and targeted donor campaigns) that includes identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of constituents. The Development Manager will: 

• Prepare mailing lists and segments—direct mail and digital campaigns.
• Coordinate with vendors to ensure timely delivery of direct mail according to solicitation schedule.
• Prepare reports using the SalesForce CRM database, and work with the Development Director to measure progress against stated goals and objectives.
• Collaborate with the Public Engagement team to analyze social media analytics and evaluate targeted marketing and messaging campaigns.
• Cultivate and steward recurring gifts; develop and implement plan for increasing recurring gifts.

Community and Business Engagement: In collaboration with the Development Director, cultivate and steward relationships and partnership opportunities with other organizations doing complementary work, and with businesses that align with FLOW’s values and ethos. 

• Assist with the development of a comprehensive business partnership plan for FLOW.
• Contribute to bi-monthly e-news and social media content with a focus on business partnerships.
• Assist in the organization and management of FLOW volunteers.
• Secure business sponsorships for key annual events.
• Establish and report progress on revenue goals for this sector.

Public Engagement: In collaboration with the fund development and public engagement teams, design and implement communications campaigns to highlight FLOW’s programmatic work and create meaningful connections with current and prospective donors. 

• Establish growth targets and report on progress.
• Write donor stewardship and solicitation emails. Develop content and design emails in Mailchimp. 
• Support the creation of fund development content for weekly e-newsletter to supporters related to business partners, annual appeals, and FLOW events and volunteer opportunities.

Events and Engagement Activities: In collaboration with the Development Director and other key staff identify, organize, and execute key events designed to cultivate new—and sustain existing—donor relationships. Duties include:

• Identify, organize, and execute key annual events; establish revenue/expense projections and report on budget actuals.
• Coordinate logistics for events, including concept, planning, promotion, volunteer recruitment, implementation, and post-event follow-up.
• Collaborate with artists to develop Art Meets Water events, presentations, and performances. 

Administrative:

• Work with the Board of Directors, interns, and volunteers as needed.
• Prepare reports for dissemination to staff and Board.
• Maintain Fund Development calendars, checklists, and procedural documents.
• Maintain and enhance data integrity in our Salesforce CRM.

WORKING CONDITIONS: FLOW is based in downtown Traverse City, Michigan, and we offer a hybrid remote-work option upon completion of necessary training. It will require additional moderate programmatic travel associated with the position.  

PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: 

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, or a related discipline; master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience in a fundraising, marketing, or sales position. Prior nonprofit experience is desirable. 

Skills and Proficiencies 

• Superior interpersonal engagement, spoken, and written communication skills and problem-solving ability. 
• Demonstrated ability to be highly organized, self-driven, and in possession of excellent time-management skills.
• Familiarity at the local and regional level.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives and tasks simultaneously and meet deadlines, flexibility and team-oriented approach. 
• Capacity to motivate and manage volunteers, customer-service orientation. 
• Professional discretion, sound judgment, and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Experience with event planning.
• Proficiency or professional experience with essential software, including Google Workspace, Microsoft Office Suite, Salesforce, email marketing programs (MailChimp, etc.), and project management tools.

Shared Values

• Commitment to FLOW’s mission to ensure the waters of the Great Lakes Basin are healthy, public, and protected for all.
• Dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion and an ability to infuse those elements into communications strategies and organizational and campaign planning. 
• Commitment to building a healthy work culture based on collegiality, teamwork, collaboration, partnerships, and public engagement.

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS, AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE: This is a full-time, manager-level position with a salary range of $50,000 to $60,000, commensurate with skills and experience, and benefits.