Development Manager

Tilting Futures; Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Tilting Futures in Oakland, CA seeks a Development Manager who writes clearly and thinks operationally to support fundraising and external affairs. You will work with the Director of Development Operations and the Chief External Affairs Officer to maintain systems and enable leadership to focus on strategy.

You’ll draft compelling grant proposals and donor communications, manage workflows, maintain the donor database, and coordinate cross‑functional logistics to drive fundraising success.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of nonprofit development, operations, grant writing, or related experience.
• Familiarity with nonprofit development pipeline management and donor moves management.
• Strong writing skills with ability to communicate clearly across formats (emails, proposals, reports).
• Experience drafting grant proposals or major donor communications.
• Demonstrated ability to learn organizational voice and adapt communication style based on feedback.
• Proficiency with Salesforce CRM.
• Project management skills with comfort using tools like Asana or similar platforms.

Responsibilities

• Draft grant proposals and donor communications to move the mission forward.
• Manage grant operations, including timelines, coordination, reporting, and deadlines.
• Own moves management logistics and donor cultivation tracking with Asana/other tools.
• Conduct prospect research to identify potential donors and partnerships.
• Lead Salesforce maintenance, engagement tracking, and dashboard reporting.

Skills

Nonprofit development

Grant writing

Strong writing

Project management

Communication

Attention to detail

Tools

Salesforce CRM

Asana

Job description

Tilting Futures is building our development team to strengthen our philanthropy engine to carry out our mission. We're looking for a strong writer who thinks operationally. In this Development Manager role, you'll lead our communications and systems while working alongside our Director of Development Operations and Chief External Affairs Officer, in close collaboration with our CEO. Your work will be the infrastructure that enables them to focus on strategy and relationship-building, allowing them to focus their work externally.

You'll draft compelling grant proposals and donor communications, with multiple rounds of intense feedback, manage complex project workflows, maintain our donor database, and coordinate cross-functional logistics. You're someone who writes clearly and compellingly, thinks systematically, and takes pride in keeping things running smoothly, while anticipating needs and solving problems so leadership can focus on what matters most.

The Development Manager reports directly to Jennifer Woods, Director, Development Operations, on the External Affairs team. The other primary stakeholders for this role are Aziza Musa (Chief External Affairs Officer), and Erin Lewellen (CEO). Get to know them here.

YOUR OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPACT

Communications & Content: Draft compelling proposals and communications that move our mission forward

• Develop grant proposals and funding concepts, donor communications, and external-facing materials
• Support the Chief External Affairs Officer with written content for board, donor, and partnership audiences
• Draft emails and written communications for CEO and development team review, becoming familiar with organizational voice and style

Development Operations & Project Management: Keep workflows running smoothly so leadership can focus on strategy

• Manage grant operations, including timelines, project coordination, reporting requirements, and submission deadlines
• Own moves management logistics, donor cultivation tracking, and development/external affairs calendar coordination using Asana and other tools
• Conduct prospect research to identify and profile potential donors and partnership opportunities

Donor Database & Reporting: Maintain accurate, accessible donor information and performance data

• Lead Salesforce database maintenance, including donor data entry, engagement tracking, communications logging, and pipeline accuracy
• Generate reports, dashboards, and KPI tracking to monitor development team performance and donor trends
• Manage gift acknowledgement workflow, including Salesforce documentation, thank-you letters, and tax receipt coordination

Cross-Functional Coordination: Support key meetings and strategic events

• Coordinate development committee meetings, including agenda coordination, minute-taking, and follow-up task management
• Research and support strategy for conferences, events, and partnership venues relevant to development objectives

WHO WILL THRIVE IN THIS ROLE

We are looking for more than just hard skills; we want teammates who will add value to our organizational culture by bringing these mindsets to their work:

• Connected to our mission: Something in your own life experience drives your passion for Tilting Futures’s mission and vision.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational chops: You catch what others miss and keep systems running. You're the person who knows what's due when and where things live.
• Problem solver: When something breaks, you don't panic. You dig in, find the root, and fix it.
• Information seeker: You ask the questions that matter. You dig into data, understand context, and get to what's actually needed before acting.
• Independent: You take initiative without needing hand holding. You see what needs doing and do it, knowing when to loop in leadership and when to solve it yourself.
• Persistent: You push through obstacles and try different angles when something doesn't work the first time.
• Continuous learner: You're hungry to get better. You take feedback exceptionally well and translate it into growth.

The following skills are required:

• 3+ years of nonprofit development, operations, grant writing, or related experience
• Familiarity with nonprofit development pipeline management and donor moves management
• Strong writing skills with ability to communicate clearly and compellingly across formats (emails, proposals, reports)
• Experience drafting grant proposals or major donor communications
• Demonstrated ability to learn organizational voice and adapt communication style based on feedback
• Proficiency with Salesforce CRM
• Project management skills with comfort using tools like Asana or similar platforms

Bonus points if have/are:

• Experience supporting nonprofit leadership teams or executive-level operations

YOUR LEGACY

In this role, you'll strengthen our development infrastructure and enable our team to operate more strategically. Your written communications and operational systems will help us build deeper donor relationships and execute our most ambitious fundraising goals to date.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Morning

You start by conducting lead generation research on three prospective donors identified by the Chief External Affairs Officer. You dive into their giving history, organizational interests, and recent news to build context. After a quick check-in with the Director of Development Operations about this week's priorities, you prepare a briefing document for an upcoming donor meeting, including key talking points and background on the prospect's past engagement with Tilting Futures.

Afternoon

You attend a donor stewardship planning meeting with the development team, where you take notes and update the moves management tracker with next steps for five key prospects. You spend time updating Salesforce with recent donor engagement activities and generating a quick dashboard snapshot for the leadership team's weekly meeting. You also customize a donor proposal template for a specific prospect, tailoring the language and impact metrics to align with their giving interests.

Before Signing Off

You draft a follow up email from the CEO to a recent donor, incorporating feedback from a prior conversation and making sure the tone matches the relationship stage. You also confirm all logistics for next week's development committee meeting and send a preview of the agenda and supporting materials to attendees.