Do you have 4–6 years of nonprofit development experience and enjoy building donor relationships, improving fundraising processes, and supporting a meaningful mission?

We are currently seeking a Senior Development Associate for a mission-driven nonprofit organization in San Francisco. This is an opportunity for an experienced development professional to support donor stewardship, fundraising operations, Salesforce reporting, and gift administration while helping create an exceptional donor experience. This is a Temporary to Permanent, Hybrid opportunity in San Francisco, CA

Position Details

• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Schedule: Full-time, Monday–Friday, 40 hours/week
• Work Arrangement: Hybrid, with at least 3 days onsite per week initially
• Pay Rate: $42/hr- $47/hr
• Salary: $85,000–$90,000 annually
• Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage fully paid for the employee, life and long-term disability insurance, 403(b) retirement contribution, 15 days of vacation to start, and 10 paid holidays

Position Overview

The Senior Development Associate will support the day-to-day work of an established Development team, with a focus on donor relationships, fundraising systems, gift processing, reporting, and project coordination.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working with donors, keeping projects organized, identifying ways to improve processes, and ensuring fundraising activities run smoothly. The successful candidate will bring strong communication skills, sound judgment, attention to detail, and a proactive, service-oriented approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Donor Relations & Stewardship: Respond to donor questions, prepare personalized acknowledgments and tax letters, and ensure donors receive timely, thoughtful service.
• Fundraising Campaigns & Events: Support annual giving campaigns, donor communications, event invitations, registration, and follow-up.
• Salesforce & Reporting: Maintain accurate donor records, generate reports and mailing lists, monitor fundraising activity, and help improve database processes.
• Gift Administration: Coordinate gift processing, including complex gifts, and work with Accounting to reconcile records and resolve discrepancies.
• Grants Administration: Track grant deadlines, maintain records, and help coordinate grant reporting and required documentation.
• Project Coordination: Organize fundraising materials, manage timelines, and collaborate with Development, Finance, Communications, and other teams to keep projects on track.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities to improve workflows, data accuracy, reporting, and the overall donor experience.

Our Ideal Candidate

• Approximately 4–6 years of progressively responsible nonprofit development experience.
• Experience working within an established Development or fundraising department.
• Strong donor service and relationship-building skills, with the ability to communicate warmly and professionally.
• Excellent writing skills, including experience preparing donor correspondence and acknowledgments.
• Proficiency with Salesforce or another donor database, including reporting and data management.
• Experience with gift processing, reconciliation, and maintaining accurate donor and financial records.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Ability to investigate issues, solve problems independently, and use good judgment about when to ask for guidance.
• A proactive, collaborative approach and genuine interest in supporting a mission-driven organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Salesforce NPSP or Nonprofit Cloud.
• Familiarity with fundraising platforms such as OneCause, Funraise, or similar tools.
• Experience with complex gifts, grant administration, annual giving, direct mail, or digital fundraising campaigns.
• Background in fundraising analytics, event coordination, or process improvement.
• Experience supporting donor communications and fundraising reporting.

Personality Fit

We are looking for someone who is positive, resourceful, detail-oriented, and service-minded. The ideal candidate enjoys helping donors, anticipating what needs to happen next, and finding solutions rather than waiting for direction.

This person should be comfortable wearing multiple hats, balancing competing priorities, and working collaboratively on a small team. Strong judgment, accountability, and responsive communication are especially important in creating a smooth and personalized donor experience.

Why This Role?

This is an opportunity to contribute to an established nonprofit Development team while taking on meaningful work beyond routine data entry. The Senior Development Associate will help strengthen donor relationships, support complex gifts and fundraising initiatives, and improve the systems and processes that make the organization’s mission possible.

We’d love to hear from you.

If this sounds like the job for you, we would love to help make that happen. Please apply using this link.

Emailed responses will experience a delayed processing. Deadline to apply is 10/13/2026. 

For more information about Careers In Nonprofits and our other available opportunities and workshops, please visit our website at www.careersinnonprofits.com.

Careers In Nonprofits is an equal opportunity employer. Empowered by the #ILoveMyJob mission, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment within the nonprofit sector.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we regretfully can only respond to those candidates who best meet the requirements of a specific position or whose backgrounds are generally applicable to our client base. Please rest assured that we retain all candidate information for possible future matches, even if you do not hear from us in regard to your application in response to this ad.