Development Assistant

Sarah's Inn; Forest Park (IL); On-site; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Sarah’s Inn, a community-based nonprofit in Forest Park, IL, seeks a Development Assistant to provide essential administrative support to the Development Department. You will manage gift processing, donor records, private grant administration, and event logistics while ensuring accuracy and timely documentation.

Ideal candidate has a Bachelor's degree and 2+ years in nonprofit development, with proficiency in MS Office, Google Suite, donor databases, and Canva.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 2+ years of nonprofit development, fundraising, administration, and/or event administration.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Suite programs.
• Experience working with donor databases or CRMs; nonprofit experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with gift processing, reconciliation, fundraising events, and/or development operations strongly preferred.
• Experience with design software, such as Canva, preferred.
• Availability to work some evening and weekend hours.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative and operational support to the Development Department to ensure accurate gift processing, effective donor stewardship, organized fundraising systems, and successful execution of events and other development activities as assigned.
• Maintain the donor database with timely data entry, quality control, and records updates.
• Reconcile gifts monthly and support cross-department reconciliation between Development and Finance.
• Coordinate development events, including planning, logistics, and record-keeping.
• Support communications and donor stewardship activities, including materials for meetings and board events.
• Maintain inventory of Development supplies and outreach materials.

Skills

Attention to detail

Organizational skills

Communication

Time management

Problem solving

Stakeholder management

Diversity & inclusion

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Google Suite

CRM / donor databases

Canva

Job description

Sarah’s Inn is a community-based non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of
those affected by domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence for future generations. Our
services and initiatives focus on ending relationship violence through domestic violence crisis intervention,
community education, and violence prevention programs for youth.

Job Title: Development Assistant

Department: Development
Reports To: Development and Communications Manager

Status: Exempt/Full-Time

Position Summary: The Development Assistant provides essential administrative and operational
support to Sarah’s Inn’s development program, with primary responsibility for accurate and timely gift
processing, donor database maintenance, private grant administration, and event support. The
Development Assistant works closely with the Development team to ensure donor records are accurate,
gifts are properly documented and acknowledged, fundraising and grant deadlines are tracked, event
information and materials are organized, and development systems remain current and reliable. The
Development Assistant reports to the Development & Communications Manager.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Other duties may be assigned.

Provide administrative and operational support to the Development Department to ensure accurate gift
processing, effective donor stewardship, organized fundraising systems, and successful execution of
events and other development activities as assigned. Success in this position requires exceptional
attention to detail, strong follow-through, sound judgment, and the ability to identify and resolve
discrepancies.

• Manage accurate and timely entry and acknowledgment of gifts ensuring gifts are entered using
  established coding and documentation procedures, while reviewing gifts and constituent
  information for accuracy and completeness prior to entry.
• Maintain the accuracy and integrity of the donor database through consistent data entry practices,
  routine quality-control review, record updates, duplicate management, and ongoing database
  clean-up.
• Complete timely reconciliation of gifts, and support monthly reconciliation of private contributions
  between Development and Finance departments; provide and maintain clear supporting
  documentation and resolve discrepancies as needed.
• Support the successful planning and implementation of development events through effective
  administrative coordination, logistical support, and timely maintenance of event records and
  tracking systems.
• Provide administrative and logistical support for development activities, including appeals, donor
  stewardship, and related initiatives, while maintaining accurate records and documentation.
• Maintain organized inventory and storage of Development supplies, outreach materials, and other
  development materials.
• Collaborate with the Volunteer & In-Kind Coordinator to ensure in-kind donations are accurately
  documented in the donor database and acknowledged according to established procedures.
• Provide administrative support for development related communication and digital fundraising
  activities, as needed.
• Assist with preparing materials for meetings, including committee, board and associate board

meetings.

Supervisory Responsibilities:
This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Qualifications:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty
satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill,
and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals
with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Location and Schedule:

Sarah’s Inn Office- Forest Park
Overall, this position is Monday through Friday during normal business hours, however there will be exceptions
requiring evening and weekend hours (i.e. for Client or Sarah’s Inn Events, outreach events).

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 2+ years of relevant professional experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, administration,
  database management, and/or event administration.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, etc.) and Google Suite
  programs.
• Experience working with donor databases or CRMs required; nonprofit experience
  strongly preferred.
• Experience with gift processing, reconciliation, fundraising events, and/or
  development operations strongly preferred.
• Experience with design software, such as Canva, preferred.
• Availability to work some evening and weekend hours.Knowledge and Skills:
• Commitment to Sarah’s Inn’s mission and anti-violence.
• Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize workload and maintain multiple
  tracking systems, deadlines, and recurring processes simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to follow established procedures consistently while recognizing
  when information is incomplete, inconsistent, or requires clarification.
• Strong follow-through and ability to independently monitor assigned work through
  completion.
• Excellent communication, organizational, writing and proofreading skills.
• Ability to problem solve and make decisions individually and/or within a team and
  take necessary action.
• Ability to communicate effectively in diverse and persistent situations.
• Ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with a wide variety of people,
  including but not limited to, board members, staff, volunteers, interns, government
  officials, community partners, organizational donors, media.
• Commitment to and experience in working with people from diverse cultural, ethnic,
  social economic backgrounds and lifestyles.
• Valid driver’s license, current insurance and reliable car.

Success Factors/Job Competencies:

• Integrity & Ethics – models Sarah’s Inn’s Vision, Mission & Values
• Customer Focus – demonstrates commitment to customer
• Collaboration & Teamwork – embraces an inclusive workplace
• Quality – produces quality work product
• Innovation/Continuous Improvement – finds new and better ways of doing things
• Job Knowledge – demonstrates a clear understanding of and executes roles and responsibilities
• Time Management/Productivity – manages time and resources effectively
• Problem Solving/Decision Making – demonstrates proper judgment, problem solving and decision
  making
• Independence/Initiative – works with little or no supervision and seeks out new work
• Communication – effectively communicates

Physical demands and work environment:
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those
that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable
accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical demands: While performing duties of job, incumbent is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit;
use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Specific vision
abilities required by the job include close vision and distance vision.

Performance Standards:

• Annual performance evaluation
• Attainment of annual goals established between supervisor and incumbent

Approval/revision date: August 2026

Sarah’s Inn is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for
employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, national origin, or
disability. EOE/M/F/D/V