Philanthropy Coordinator

Position Summary:

The Philanthropy Coordinator supports the Philanthropy department including grants process, mail intake, gift acknowledgement letters, database maintenance, event support & sponsorships, and administrative projects.

Organizational Values:

Kids’ Food Basket believes all children have a right to equitable, consistent access to the nutrition they need to grow.

Since its inception in 2002, Kids’ Food Basket has grown from serving 125 students in Kent County to serving thousands of children daily across four counties (Kent, Ottawa, Allegan and Muskegon) with healthy nourishing meals through our flagship Sack Supper program and other community-driven meal provision programming.

In addition, over the past two decades, Kids’ Food Basket has also increased healthy food access for our communities through the growth and distribution of sustainably grown produce on our two chemical-free farms. Nourishing healthier generations of children is at the core of Kids’ Food Basket’s mission and is what we strive for daily through our five commitments:

• Nourish: We feed our future by providing healthy, nutritious, ready-to-eat meals each weekday to children experiencing food insecurity.
• Grow: We increase healthy food access for our communities through the growth and distribution of sustainably grown vegetables and fruits on our chemical-free farms.
• Learn: We use our facilities and farms as classrooms to foster a deeper understanding of where food comes from and why it is important, empowering children to make lifelong healthy choices.
• Engage: We invite and include diverse perspectives to increase culturally responsive solutions and food equity in West Michigan.
• Advocate: We strive to increase our community’s understanding of food access, why it is important and what we can do to ensure good food for generations.

Job Responsibilities:

1. Supports the VP and Senior Director of Philanthropy by managing the department calendar, scheduling meetings, and providing general administrative support.
2. Provides support to the Events team by managing sponsorship online submissions and applications, coordinating invoices, and handling follow-up tasks.
3. Collaborate with the Finance Team to manage the mail intake process, including opening, scanning, and coding donations into the donor database.
4. Edits and finalizes merged gift acknowledgment letters, processes donor thank-you communications and cards and handles donation receipting.
5. Provide backup support for the donor database, including gift processing, database maintenance, donor profile updates, duplication removal, list generation, and data analysis. Enhance expertise through cross-training and adherence to standard operating procedures. (Raiser’s Edge)
6. Manages projects for the Philanthropy team, including direct mail campaigns and annual fund strategies, as needed.
7. Supports the Grants Team by coordinating the grants calendar and tracking grant details in the Raiser’s Edge database.
8. Offers support and exceptional customer service to donors, addressing inquiries and ensuring a positive experience.
9. Perform additional duties as needed to support team goals and organizational needs.

Supervision Received:

General Direction: Plans and arranges own work. Uses a wide range of procedures to accomplish assigned objectives.

 Supervisory Responsibilities:  

No supervision: No supervisory responsibilities.

Education & Experience:

1. High school diploma or GED required. Associate degree preferred.
2. Two (2) or more years of relevant experience.

Other Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

1. Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
2. Experience with CRM or donor database. Raiser’s Edge preferred.
3. Knowledge of development, grants, and research.
4. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
5. Strong organizational skills, excellent attention to detail, and strong attention to follow through.
6. Ability to work occasional evenings as needed to support events.
7. A sense of optimism and an assets-based way of viewing people and situations.
8. Ability to effectively interact with a diverse population from a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
9. Have a desire to develop a basic understanding of hunger and poverty issues in West Michigan.