Development Manager

Bernie's Book Bank

Reading is the single most important skill a child needs to succeed in life. Yet, too many children lack books, especially books of their own in their home.

At Bernie’s Book Bank, we’re here to change that. Driven by the knowledge that better futures begin with books, we hand-deliver free high-quality books to children who need them most. We do this with the help of thousands of volunteers who believe there’s nothing more important than transforming children’s lives through book ownership.

Today,15 years after our founding, we have hand-delivered over 29 million free high-quality books. Our effective, scalable, and sustainable model allows us to source, process, and distribute eight books every year to children from birth to sixth grade so they can have a home library of their very own and always have a book within reach.

https://www.berniesbookbank.org/


Position Details

Development Manager
Job
Full-time
Office/WFH
100% remote
6/30/2025
Southeast Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI

Position Summary:

Bernie’s Book Bank - Milwaukee is looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated team player to serve as our Development Manager, a key role in the Development Department. Incumbent must demonstrate passion about our mission to enable positive life experiences through books and book ownership and inspire others to embrace our mission. While fulfilling responsibilities, the Manager will be expected to maintain the integrity of Bernie’s Book Bank’s mission, culture, brand standards, core values and goals at all times.

The Development Manager is responsible for event planning/execution, donor stewardship, accounting and partner communications. This position is responsible for gift processing, gift acknowledgment, data/CRM support, department financials and prospect research. In addition, he/she will lead registration and communication for 4-6 special events each year and annual communications with up to 200 partner schools/organizations to coordinate delivery of books.

Job Responsibilities:

Events:

  • Manager will work closely with Executive Director to determine evolution of event calendar over time: possibility of Women’s event, Volunteer Recognition Event or Annual Giving Society celebrations to be considered
  • Manage all existing and developed event logistics
  • Develop pre-event budgets and reconcile profit and loss statements post event
  • Serve as primary liaison to event committees
  • Serve as liaison to Marketing Department, which acts as an accelerator for event promotions and revenue generation
  • Overall project management of sponsorship stewardship, fulfillment and acknowledgement. Including but not limited to targeted solicitation, follow up, and acting on leads generated by Development Team

Accounting:

  • Play an important financial role in recording, processing, and recognizing all contributed support made to Bernie’s Book Bank
  • Record all donations and pledges in all applicable outlets, and work in partnership with external accounting firm on reporting and reconciliation of contributions, event registrations, etc. Including stock gifts, donations via donor advised funds, and all other forms
  • Generate deposit reports, copy all checks, and deliver all monies and credit card donations to the appropriate place(s)
  • Process all events credit card statements and generate event financial reports for Ledgers and Executive Director

Donor Stewardship:

  • Focus on donor relations, ensuring the philanthropic experience consistent, process driven and positive
  • Co-ownership of the Salesforce database and accurate input and export of donor related data, in partnership with Director of Information Technology and Supply Chain.
  • Generate all donation-related correspondence for gifts received, including thank you/tax letters as well as pledge payment reminders.
  • Generate queries and mailing lists for appeals, events and initiatives as requested
  • Generate monthly donation reports for the Ledgers and ED
  • Conduct monthly reconciliation of GL accounts and provide detail for variance report
  • Utilizing prospect research tools, update constituent records on regular basis
  • Assist in production of major gift prospect reports for cultivation and solicitation

Partner Communications:

  • Implement and improve a plan to strategically and effectively communicate with all active/pending distribution partners
  • Build and maintain the pipeline of potential distribution partners
  • Work collaboratively with Senior Operations Manager to plan and coordinate distributions and schedule VIP distributions for donor stewardship
  • Collect, enter, maintain and analyze data related to distribution partners in Salesforce

Requirements:

  • 3-5 years of experience supporting a fundraising team doing data management, gift processing or donor management or equivalent applicable experience.
  • Experience working in donor management/CRM systems (experience with Classy and Salesforce strongly preferred)
  • Experience in using Quickbooks and doing basic AP/AR work is preferred
  • Possess the following qualities: organized, able to multitask/prioritize, detail-oriented, problem-solving, self-motivated, system-driven, friendly, enthusiastic, team-oriented
  • Ability to learn computer systems and databases, including Microsoft 365, Salesforce and event-related software
  • Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines
  • Strong people skills, ability to speak with donors, school partners and event attendees in person and remotely
  • Excellent customer service and oral/written communication skills
  • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Excellent communication (written and verbal) skills, and interpersonal skills
  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

What We Offer:

  • Medical Insurance via BCBS, PPO available, starting day 1
  • Dental and Vision Insurance, available starting day 1
  • Hybrid work environment
  • Employer covered Long Term Disability Insurance
  • Short Term Disability Insurance available
  • 401k with match after 1 year
  • 17 Days of PTO a year
  • 4 Floating Holidays per year
  • 9 Paid holidays per year
  • A passionate team with long term growth potential as we begin national expansion


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