Development Manager

Organization Overview

The League of Women Voters of Houston has been working for more than a century to empower voters and defend democracy.

Every team member and volunteer upholds our vision: a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate.

LWV Houston is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic engagement organization serving Greater Houston through voter registration, voter education, civic learning, advocacy education, trusted election resources, and community-based partnerships.

Summary Job Description

The League of Women Voters of Houston is seeking a strategic, relationship-driven, and detail-oriented

Development Manager to help grow and sustain the organization’s contributed revenue. This role will focus primarily on individual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and institutional grants

, with secondary responsibility for membership fundraising and fundraising events.

This is an important growth position for LWV Houston as the organization continues building a sustainable fundraising model that supports year-round civic engagement, voter education, and nonpartisan democracy work.

The Development Manager will work closely with the Executive Director, board members, Development Committee, donors, funders, volunteers, and staff to strengthen donor relationships, expand revenue opportunities, and improve development systems.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building authentic relationships, writing compelling donor and grant materials, managing details carefully, and helping supporters see the direct impact of their investment in democracy.

The Development Manager reports to the Executive Director.

• Approximate Allocation of Responsibilities
• 50% Major Gifts, Individual Giving & Planned Giving
• 30% Institutional Grants
• 20% Membership, Events & Development Operations
• Key Areas of Responsibility
• Major Gifts, Individual Giving & Planned Giving — 50%
• Build and manage a portfolio of individual donors and prospects, with emphasis on major gifts, multi-year commitments, legacy giving, donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, stock gifts, and other tax-wise giving opportunities.
• Support the Executive Director in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors.
• Prepare donor briefings, call notes, follow-up materials, proposals, gift acknowledgments, and stewardship updates.
• Develop personalized donor engagement strategies that connect supporters to LWV Houston’s mission, impact, and long-term sustainability.
• Help grow a planned giving pipeline, including legacy gift intentions, bequest conversations, Annette Finnigan Fund prospects, and related donor communications.
• Coordinate donor stewardship activities, including thank-you calls, handwritten notes, impact updates, small gatherings, and recognition opportunities.
• Work with the Executive Director and board members to support donor meetings, house parties, introductions, and peer-to-peer fundraising.
• Help develop annual fund messaging and donor segmentation strategies in coordination with communications and administrative staff.
• Maintain accurate donor relationship records and next steps in the donor database.
• Institutional Grants — 30%
• Research, calendar, draft, submit, and track foundation, corporate, civic, and institutional funding opportunities aligned with LWV Houston’s mission and nonpartisan status.
• Work with the Executive Director and program staff to develop compelling grant proposals, letters of inquiry, budgets, reports, and supporting materials.
• Maintain a grant calendar with deadlines for applications, reports, renewals, site visits, and stewardship touchpoints.
• Coordinate internal collection of program data, stories, financial details, and impact metrics needed for proposals and reports.
• Help translate LWV Houston’s voter education, outreach, digital engagement, civic education, and organizational capacity work into funder-ready language.
• Support compliance with grant restrictions, reporting requirements, and documentation standards.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with foundation and institutional funders in partnership with the Executive Director.
• Identify opportunities for renewed, expanded, and multi-year institutional support.
• Membership, Events & Development Operations — 20%
• Support membership fundraising strategy, with emphasis on converting members into deeper donors and creating clear pathways from membership to giving, volunteering, and leadership.
• Work with the Administrative and Data Manager to ensure membership records, donor records, acknowledgments, renewals, and gift processing are accurate and timely.
• Support fundraising events, including the Political Pioneers Luncheon, donor gatherings, membership events, stewardship receptions, and cultivation opportunities.
• Assist with sponsorship outreach, sponsor stewardship, guest tracking, and event follow-up.
• Coordinate with communications staff on donor-facing and member-facing materials, including fundraising appeals, event invitations, impact updates, and sponsorship materials.
• Generate regular development reports for the Executive Director, board, and Development Committee.
• Help improve donor data clean up, segmentation, reporting, and moves management systems.
• Perform other development-related duties as assigned.

Skills & Qualifications

• Commitment to the mission of the League of Women Voters and strict adherence to nonpartisanship.
• At least 3 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, donor relations, grant writing, development operations, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships with donors, funders, board members, volunteers, and community stakeholders.
• Strong writing skills, especially for donor communications, grant proposals, reports, appeals, and stewardship materials.
• Comfort discussing charitable giving, donor motivations, financial sustainability, and long-term impact.
• Experience with major gifts, annual giving, planned giving, institutional grants, or sponsorships strongly preferred.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, including ability to manage multiple deadlines and follow-up steps.
• High attention to detail and comfort working with donor databases, spreadsheets, and reporting systems.
• Ability to handle confidential donor and financial information with professionalism and discretion.
• Strong judgment, emotional intelligence, and ability to represent LWV Houston with warmth, credibility, and nonpartisan integrity.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a small staff team.
• Familiarity with Little Green Light, Every Action, Bloomerang, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, or similar platforms preferred.
• Bilingual proficiency in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, or another language commonly spoken in Houston is a plus but not required.
• Desired Attributes

The strongest candidate will be

• A relationship-builder who enjoys connecting people to meaningful civic impact.
• A strong writer who can make democracy work feel urgent, hopeful, local, and fundable.
• Comfortable working with both high-level strategy and day-to-day follow-through.
• Highly organized and able to manage a donor pipeline, grant calendar, and event details without losing sight of relationships.
• Respectful of board/staff roles and able to support board members in fundraising without treating them as staff.
• Committed to nonpartisan civic engagement and able to navigate a polarized environment with care and discipline.
• Excited to help a growing nonprofit move from reactive fundraising to a more mature, sustainable development program.
• Details

The position is an exempt salaried position and is not eligible for pay over 40 hours worked in a week. It is full-time with a flexible, hybrid (office and remote) schedule

Occasional evening and weekend work may be required for events and donor engagement activities.

Lifting of at least 20 pounds and standing for several hours at a time may be required for events.

This position requires quality decision-making skills that may impact the financial success of the organization.

Salary

The starting salary is $60,000 with employer-paid health benefits, 401k 5% match, 160 hours of paid time off, and holiday and office closures.

Our Mission

The League of Women Voters of Houston fosters a thriving democracy by engaging all people in the political process through nonpartisan information sharing, passionate civic engagement and by providing opportunities to participate in the democratic process.

Our Commitment as an Employer

The League is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

About LWV Houston

The League of Women Voters of the United States and LWV Houston (LWVH) were both established in 1920, the year that the United States Constitution’s Nineteenth Amendment provided women the right to vote.

The LWVH is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to serving the community by offering voter outreach initiatives and trusted, impartial election information.

We do not support or oppose candidates, and we advocate for public policy issues only after careful study by our volunteer members.

This past year, LWVH developed a three-year strategic plan which the Staff and Board work together on implementation.

#J-18808-Ljbffr