Development Manager

Organizational Background

Rocking the Boat began as a boatbuilding afterschool project for high school students in the South Bronx and was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2001. Today, the organization, with an annual budget of over $5 million, is a hub of youth development programming that serves roughly 5,000 community members annually. The mediums of boatbuilding, environmental science, and sailing are paired with social-emotional, academic, and career counseling by a team of licensed social workers to have profound and lasting impact on participants. At the invitation of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and with the endorsement of the India Basin Waterfront Park Project Executive Team, Rocking the Boat is replicating its youth development program model in the new India Basin Waterfront Park in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, opening its doors in fall 2024.

Position Summary

The Rocking the Boat San Francisco Development Manager is primarily a writing position, responsible for supporting the San Francisco Executive Director in raising funds for the organization’s youth development activities as well as necessary capital acquisitions and improvements. Program areas for funding include a year-round after-school and summer program in traditional wooden boatbuilding, comprehensive student support services, and a public rowing program.

Responsibilities

• Developing appeal and thank you letters to individuals and letters of inquiry, grant proposals, project budgets, and reports to foundations, corporations, and public agencies in collaboration with program staff and outside partners
• Coordinate with New York-based development team to share resources, written content, and information about fundraising ideas and opportunities
• Tracking proposal and report deadlines, being attentive to new RFPs
• Ensuring that all donors receive written acknowledgements in a timely fashion
• Collaborating with Communications Director to produce printed and web-based promotional materials including website content, bi-monthly e-blasts, and fundraising event-specific e-blasts
• Maintaining integrity of Salesforce donor database
• Supporting San Francisco Fundraising Committee Members on fundraising strategies and prospective donor outreach
• Identifying and researching prospective individual and institutional donors
• Supporting major donor development
• Organizing cultivation events

There is opportunity for this to be a hybrid position.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proofreading skills, accuracy, and attention to detail
• Five years of nonprofit fundraising experience
• Proactiveness
• Responsiveness
• Ability to multi-taskHighly organized and flexible
• Creativity
• Salesforce proficiency is a plus
• Knowledge of youth development and familiarity with San Francisco donor community helpful

Pay: $75,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 403(b) matching
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Work Location: Hybrid remote in San Francisco, CA 94124