Wanted: Director Of Development

Do you have a passion for fundraising? The St. Labre Indian Catholic School has a job that is perfect for all experienced fundraisers.

The Ashland, Montana-based organization is looking to hire a Director of Development to raise funds to meet its annual operating and capital budget and to allow additional investment in reserves through an integrated fundraising program.

In addition to this goal, the chosen candidate will have many other responsibilities:

•  Develops and implements fundraising strategy that integrates direct mail, major gifts, planned gifts, charitable gift annuities, grants, corporate sponsorships, telemarketing, special events, capital campaigns, e-fundraising, Newsletters, social media, and other strategies and media as needed.
• Sets priorities, goals and budgets; researching and identifying potential donors, cultivating new donors and communicating with current donors.
•  Increase/maintain current active donor pool as instructed by Executive Director through retention of current donors and acquisition of new donors.
• Prepares and administers annual department budgets.
• Manage all aspects of the fundraising program including, but not limited to, the relationship with the consultants and vendors, the overall creative strategy, messaging, and appropriate photography consistent with usage policies in place.

In order to qualify for this position, applicants must have a Bachelor's Degree from a four-year college or university and a minimum of five years experience in fundraising or a related field. Must also have a valid Montana driver's licence.

Interested? Apply today on our career center.

You should also check out St. Labre's other featured job, an Executive Assistant to the CEO, which would be a great fit for those with less experience.

4 Important Cover Letter Rules

The cover letter is arguably the most important aspect of your job application. While the resume gives the employer a basic idea of your skills and experience, the cover letter explains in detail why you should be seriously considered.

Because it is so important to your chances at getting a nonprofit job, it stands to reason that what you write can have a big impact on your chances. That's why you should never wait to write it until the last minute. Instead, you should plan out carefully what you want to say. Don't be afraid to constantly refine it until you get the message you want.

That is the first of four rules that you should follow when crafting your cover letter. Here are the other three:

• Don't Rehash: One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is simply rehashing what they already listed in their resumes. If you want to expand on a specific point, that's find, but you should really focus on giving specific reasons why you are best for the job.
• Know The Norms: Speak to people in the nonprofit sector and see what hiring managers in that industry usually expect from applicant cover letters. What length do they want? Are there specific details they like to hear? All of this information can be key to meeting the needs of the employer.
• Proofread, Proofread, Proofread: There's no such thing as too much proofreading with something this important. There's nothing more embarrassing than a few careless typos in the middle of an otherwise great cover letter. Try reading it out loud to make sure it sounds OK. This will also help you spot errors that you missed.

How To Save A Dead Job Search

Has your job search hit the skids? It happens to all job seekers at some point, but it doesn't mean you have to accept it.

It's easy to get frustrated when you go weeks or months without any response from employers. You probably get advice from friends and family telling you to just take a break from the search for a bit. While it can be helpful to take a quick breather, there are other steps you can take to bring your job search back from the dead.

It all starts with a self-assessment. Take a look at your skills and experience from the perspective of the employer. How do they match up with the organization's needs? If you find that you are lacking in some areas, think of some creative ways to fill those gaps. Do you have any non-traditional experience you can add to your resume?

Another part of your self-assessment should examine what job search methods you are using. Relying solely on online job boards or newspaper ads is not a great strategy, as they usually take the longest to bring in results. Make extensive use of your career network to enhance your applications, and consider directly contacting organizations you are interested in joining.

The final step you should take is to re-evaluate your resume and cover letter. These documents are key to communicating your worth to the organization, so you need to be sure you are communicating these points effectively. Answer the following questions:

• Are you communicating your value to the employer by explaining how your unique skills will help the organization reach its goals?
• Are you using concise sentences that leave no doubt to your meaning?
• Are you including only relevant information so the employer isn't confused about your skills?

If you answer yes to these questions by the end of your evaluation, your resume and cover letter should be in good shape.

Resurrecting your job search isn't something that happens overnight. It will take some time and a lot of hard work. But if you follow the steps in this post, you should be able to turn frustration into success.

Education And Your Cover Letter

There's no doubt that graduating college is exciting and something to celebrate. As important as a diploma is, however, it's not the first thing that you should announce to an employer in your cover letter.

Nonprofits certainly value education like any other business. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to get a decent nonprofit job without a college degree. Having said this, where you went to school has no bearing on whether or not you get the job most of the time. You want to make sure that the hiring manager reading your cover letter is not left wondering why you didn't include more relevant details.

A lot of college graduates make the mistake of mentioning their recent graduation in the opening of their cover letter. Every sentence in this document is valuable, and you want to make sure you spend as much time as possible highlighting the skills that will really make you stand out among the competition. Remember, your educational history will be clearly stated in your resume, so there's no need to mention it again.

The only references to school you should make in your cover letter are relevant internships or jobs you obtained through it. It's also fair to bring up your major if it is applicable to the job for which you are applying. Otherwise, all mentions of education should be left in your resume. 

Wanted: Major Gifts Officer

Any experienced fundraiser will tell you that his/her ultimate goal is to secure the largest possible donations, known as major gifts. These are the lifeblood of any fundraising program, and now you have the chance to be responsible for these important gifts.

Planned Parenthood Health Systems (PPHS) in Charlotte, NC is looking to hire a Major Gifts Officer to identify, cultivate, and solicit prospects capable of making major gifts. This involves recommending and implementing strategies to find such individuals with an emphasis in selected sites that secure private funding for general operations, special campaign and restricted priorities.

Other responsibilities include:

• Assisting the Vice President for Development in setting fundraising goals creating affiliate-wide strategic development plans, establishing fundraising systems to support the sustainability and expansion of PPHS, and engaging the Board of Directors.
• Leading the planning and execution of major donor activities.
• Managing a portfolio of major gift donors.
• Advising the VP for Development when a donor is read to be further cultivated.    
• Coordinating with the Director of Development to identify and cultivate major donors for the annual fund donor pool.
• Ensuring effective and regular communications with donors.    
• Maintaining donor database for assigned portfolio.

There are even more duties the Major Gifts Officer must undertake, but the above are the most important ones.

As you might imagine, this position requires significant experience in fundraising, particularly with major gifts. Here are the qualifications PPHS wants in a candidate:

• Bachelor's degree in related field.
• CFRE preferred.
• Minimum of three years of progressive experience in fundraising development, with most recent experience in major gifts. Prefer demonstrated supervisory experience of volunteers and/or administrative staff.
• Understanding of and commitment to PPHS’ goals and mission.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Must be able to work independently, as part of a team and have strong team-building skills and ability to prioritize with minimal supervision.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality.

This nonprofit job presents a great opportunity for any experienced fundraiser. If you are interested in applying, head to our career center and get started on your application.

The NonProfit Times' 2012 Salary And Benefits Survey

Every year, The NonProfit Times and BlueWater Nonprofit Solutions team up for the the most comprehensive salary and benefits report in the sector. Last year's efforts resulted in the 2011 Salary and Benefits Report.

The deadline to complete the 2012 Salary and Benefits is June 15, only three days away. If you haven't already started yours, now is your chance to participate in the only survey for nonprofits that will provide you with the comprehensive information needed to make key hiring and employment decisions.  Plus, you’ll have access to information that can be used to save money on salary and benefit costs.

All participants will receive a free Executive Summary of the results with salary data for all positions.

So what will the 2012 Salary Survey help you do? Here are some of the advantages:

• Make sound decisions on staff salaries and benefits. Give your board and managers the data they need.
• Get current salary and bonus pay data on 300 + nonprofit jobs from entry-level to the executive office.
• Check YES when the IRS asks you on your Form 990 if salaries for your chief executive and key employees were set using comparability data for similar positions.
• Learn about 94 employee benefits - health insurance, retirement, and more.
• Track changes and trends from 2011 to 2012 for ALL Salary & Benefits information. 
• Get data by nonprofit field, budget size, number of employees, and region throughout the U.S.A. 
• Discover what special benefits are being offered to 15 executive level positions.
• Stay competitive.

You can read more about the survey by clicking here.

Four Tricks To Boost Your Online Job Search

Most experienced job seekers know all about the standard things they need to do to enhance their prospects. Whether it's customizing resumes for each job application or being prepared for interviews, these individuals know what it takes to succeed in the job search. But did you know there are some lesser-known tips that can make a big difference?

It goes without saying that a lot of job hunting is done online these days. As such, most of the tips you will find have to do with the Internet. It's no different from these new tricks I am about to share with you. If you are finding your normal techniques are not working, consider trying out these four techniques to enhance your prospects:

• Answer LinkedIn Questions: There's a feature on LinkedIn that allows you to answer questions from other users. If your answers are rated highly enough, they will show up on the experts list. This will give your profile greater exposure, which in turn will grow your personal network.
• Use Twitter: Many employers and job search engines utilize Twitter as a means to post new jobs. For example, The NonProfit Times has an account that posts the latest positions from the Nonprofit Job Seeker.
• Search Employer Websites: Many employers will post their open positions on their own website in addition to third party job boards. Make sure to check out the pages of the nonprofits that you are most interested in joining.
• Use Key Words In Your Resume: Strategically insert key words into your resume so that they will get past the automated systems many organizations use. If you aren't sure which words to use, read the job description. The key words that employers want to see will usually be sprinkled throughout it.