Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is a leading national organization focusing on mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorder, which affects over 21 million Americans, accounts for over 50% of the nation’s suicides every year, and costs $23 billion in lost workdays and other workplace losses.
Through our extensive online and print resources and our support groups and chapters, DBSA reaches millions of people each year with in-person and online peer support; current, readily understandable information about depression and bipolar disorder; and empowering tools focused on an integrated approach to wellness.
DBSA publishes in peer-reviewed medical journals and conducts surveys on issues of importance to individuals living with mood disorders and those treating these disorders.
DBSA’s prestigious 40-member Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) is comprised of leading researchers and clinicians in the field of mood disorders. SAB members review DBSA publications and programs for medical and scientific accuracy. In addition, SAB members present at DBSA conferences, author peer-reviewed manuscripts on behalf of the organization, and represent DBSA to the media.
DBSA is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and depends upon public support to achieve its vital mission to empower and educate peers…and save lives. Roughly 85% of DBSA’s budget comes from charitable contributions, which include gifts and grants from corporations, foundations, individuals, and government agencies. The remaining 15% of DBSA’s budget comes from earned revenues, chapter affiliation and membership fees, program dues, contracted work in training and consultation, and event and publication fees.
DBSA’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DBSA recognizes the unique ways identity, culture, and access affect people living with mood disorders. We strive to create safe and inclusive spaces for individuals to feel empowered on their own path to wellness. DBSA seeks to create equitable access to peer support services and mental health resources and advocate for all individuals with a lived experience with a mood disorder, regardless of cultural and social identity or systemic barriers.
Our Team Values
Integrity
- Perform at the highest standards. We strive for best in class.
- Be honest in our interactions and develop trusting relationships.
- Take personal, and where appropriate, team responsibility for results.
- Acknowledge what we don’t know.
Openness
- Demonstrate a willingness to continuously learn, grow, and change.
- Celebrate our differences.
- Be present, curious, and receptive to new and different ideas and situations.
Mindfulness
- Ask for help and reciprocate help when needed.
- Respect each other’s perspectives, experiences, and sensitivities.
- Be mindful of our individual impact on the work environment.
- Speak with thoughtfulness. We think before we speak.
Collaboration
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- Show a willingness to give up personal ownership for the greater good/outcome.
- Work together to foster individual and organizational growth.
- Create an environment where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Have a holistic view of the work of the organization.
- Remain flexible to achieve optimal outcomes.
Dedication to an Equitable Workplace
DBSA is committed to equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. DBSA is committed to achieving a diverse workforce through our equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policies in all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training. At DBSA, we make a point to celebrate our differences and respect each other’s unique perspectives. In fact, it is core to the work we do.
The Development Manager is responsible for growing revenue from individual donors through the planning, execution, and optimization of fundraising campaigns and donor engagement strategies. Reporting to the Senior Director of Development, this position manages a portfolio of donors and prospects, leads annual giving initiatives, and supports donor cultivation and stewardship efforts that advance DBSA’s mission.
Development Manager
The Development Manager serves as a key fundraising partner to the Senior Director of Development and plays a central role in donor acquisition, retention, upgrade strategies, campaign performance, grant prospecting and grant writing.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Individual Giving & Donor Management
- Manage a portfolio of individual donors and prospective supporters.
- Develop and implement donor cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, retention, and upgrade strategies.
- Conduct donor outreach through phone, email, virtual meetings, and in-person engagement.
- Identify opportunities to increase donor retention, reactivation, and major gift pipeline growth.
- Support moves management and prospect pipeline development.
- Collaborate with the Senior Director of Development on major donor strategies and gift opportunities.
Fundraising Campaign Management
- Lead the execution of annual giving, year-end giving, Giving Tuesday, Mental Health Awareness Month, peer-to-peer fundraising, and other fundraising initiatives.
- Develop campaign timelines, audience segmentation strategies, donor engagement pathways, and stewardship plans.
- Partner with Communications and internal stakeholders to develop donor-facing fundraising materials and messaging.
- Monitor campaign performance and recommend data-driven improvements.
- Analyze fundraising results and report on key performance indicators that support organizational revenue goals.
Volunteer & Community Engagement
- Serve as a liaison to fundraising volunteers, ambassadors, and community supporters.
- Support volunteer-led fundraising activities and third-party fundraising initiatives.
- Coordinate resources, communications, and fundraising tools for volunteer fundraisers.
- Assist with stewardship and recognition activities that strengthen volunteer engagement and fundraising participation.
Development Planning, Analytics & Reporting
- Maintain accurate donor records, portfolio activity, and fundraising data.
- Develop and maintain fundraising reports, dashboards, forecasts, and campaign analyses.
- Track donor engagement, fundraising performance, and strategic plan metrics.
- Support annual fundraising planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes.
- Provide reporting and analysis to development leadership, executive leadership, and other stakeholders as needed.
Grant Research & Funding Support
- Conduct grant prospect research and identify foundation, corporate, and government funding opportunities aligned with organizational priorities.
- Assist in the development and submission of grant proposals, letters of inquiry, budgets, and supporting materials.
- Support grant tracking, reporting, and compliance activities to help ensure fulfillment of funder requirements and deadlines.
Other duties
- Develops and maintains positive, collaborative working relationships with the leadership team, staff, board, volunteers, donors, and other stakeholders.
- Travel (local and national) and attend evening and weekend events, as needed.
Please note: this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee of this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
QUALIFICATIONS AND RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
Required
- Three to five years of progressively responsible nonprofit fundraising experience, including experience managing individual donor programs and fundraising campaigns.
- Proven success cultivating, soliciting, stewarding, and retaining individual donors.
- Experience managing a donor portfolio and advancing prospects through a moves management process.
- Demonstrated experience planning and executing fundraising campaigns, including annual giving, year-end appeals, Giving Tuesday, peer-to-peer fundraising, or similar initiatives.
- Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to engage donors, volunteers, and stakeholders through written, virtual, and in-person communications.
- Experience utilizing CRM systems for donor management, fundraising activities, reporting, and pipeline tracking. Experience with Raiser’s Edge or comparable donor databases preferred.
- Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting fundraising data and preparing reports, dashboards, forecasts, and performance metrics.
- Experience conducting grant prospect research and supporting grant proposal development and funder reporting.
- Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and cross-functional initiatives.
- Ability to manage confidential information with discretion, professionalism, and sound judgment.
Preferred
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Nonprofit Management, Marketing, Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Experience with Raiser’s Edge NXT.
- Experience with major gift fundraising and donor stewardship strategies.
- Experience developing grant proposals and managing grant compliance and reporting.
- Experience with fundraising analytics, dashboards, and reporting tools.
- Experience working within a national nonprofit, health, mental health, advocacy, or mission-driven organization.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
- Ability to perform work utilizing a computer and a telephone for extended periods of time.
- Ability to travel by air or ground transportation as required in performing the work.
- Ability to frequently interact with others and work in environments with others
- Ability to demonstrate regular and predictable attendance
- Ability to multi-task, shift priorities
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust, rapport, and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
- Excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex information clearly in verbal and written formats.
- High emotional intelligence with the capacity to navigate sensitive conversations, support staff, and motivate teams.
- Strategic thinking skills with the ability to develop long-term plans, anticipate challenges, and identify opportunities for growth.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
- Sound judgment and decision-making abilities that reflect a balance between analysis, experience, and organizational values.
- Ability to lead, coach, and mentor staff in a supportive and accountable manner.
- Adaptability and resilience, especially when responding to changing external conditions, funder expectations, or organizational priorities.
- Demonstrated commitment to collaboration, teamwork, and fostering an inclusive, respectful workplace culture.
COMPENSATION
This is a full-time, exempt position with generous benefits, including health, dental, vision, disability, 401K, and life insurance. The salary range for this position is $76k-$90K
The position will primarily work standard hours of 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, with flexible start/end times possible. Periodic evening or weekend hours may be required.
This position is fully remote through 2026, with required travel to Chicago for quarterly leadership meetings and additional meetings as needed. While the role is currently remote, candidates should be open to a potential return to a hybrid or in-office model in Chicago beginning in 2028. Local Chicago candidates are preferred, and the position is open only to residents of Illinois.
To apply, please email your resume and cover letter to jobs@dbsalliance.org with the position title in the subject of your email.
Development Coordinator
The Development Coordinator plays a critical role in organizing the systems, processes, and workflows that support the organization’s fundraising efforts. This position helps ensure development activities stay on schedule, data remains accurate and useful, and teams have the operational support needed to effectively execute campaigns, stewardship, and reporting. By connecting day-to-day execution with long-term fundraising strategy, the Development Coordinator brings structure and clarity that support sustainable fundraising growth.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Donor Engagement, Campaign & Team Support
- Maintain grant records in Raiser’s Edge and provide grant research and grant writing support, including monitoring restricted grants and following projects through the full grant lifecycle.
- Assist in campaign execution (e.g., MHAM, Giving Tuesday, year‑end), including calendar coordination, timelines, list pulls, segmentation, and performance tracking.
- Provide operational support for fundraising events, including registration tracking and post-event reconciliation.
- Support cross-functional project planning and provide operational assistance across the development team.
- Build and maintain project plans for fundraising campaigns and development initiatives, ensuring key tasks, timelines, and dependencies are clearly documented and tracked.
Development Operations & Data Management
- Maintain, configure, and continuously optimize the Raiser’s Edge database, including constituent records, gifts, actions, relationships, and custom fields.
- Design and maintain efficient workflows, dashboards, queries, and exports to support fundraising, development operations, and leadership decision‑making.
- Oversee all grant tracking and management within Raiser’s Edge, ensuring accuracy from prospecting through reporting.
- Establish and reinforce database best practices while training and supporting colleagues as the internal Raiser’s Edge resource, partnering with development staff to ensure the system effectively supports fundraising strategy and operations.
- Maintain and optimize the Windfall integration to support prospect research, segmentation, and major gift strategies.
- Develop and maintain documentation of development operations processes and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Reporting, Analytics & Strategic Insights
- Develop and maintain clear, accurate fundraising, donor, grant, and pipeline reports for development staff and leadership.
- Execute and track fundraising metrics and reports in support of the strategic plan and revenue goals, collaborating with development leadership to ensure alignment with established priorities
- Create dashboards and reporting tools that track goals and fundraising progress.
- Compile and report on giving trends, donor activity, and pipeline metrics to support development leadership’s planning and decision-making.
- Prepare timely reports for Board of Directors and committees, providing accurate data and analysis.
Revenue Operations & Financial Management
- Process and acknowledge all gifts (mail, online, credit card, planned gifts, and stock transfers) in compliance with tax receipt standards and stewardship requirements within one week of receipt.
- Manage pledge tracking, acknowledgments, and follow‑up, achieving a target of at least 95% pledge fulfillment.
- Oversee matching gift processing and tracking, ensuring accurate donor crediting and identifying opportunities to increase participation within one week of receiving payout details.
- Reconcile gift records in Raiser’s Edge with QuickBooks on a monthly basis in partnership with Finance by the first week of each month.
- Support audit‑related inquiries in a timely manner.
- Manage third‑party vendor Labyrinth, ensuring compliance with charitable registrations, filings, and related regulatory requirements.
Other Duties
- Develops and maintains positive, collaborative working relationships with the leadership team, staff, board, volunteers, donors, and other stakeholders.
- Travel (local and national) and attend evening and weekend events, as needed.
QUALIFICATIONS AND RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
Required
- 2+ years of experience with CRM database management, including knowledge of Raiser’s Edge.
- Experience in any of the following: data entry, database administration, project management, budgeting, and/or donor stewardship.
- High level of computer literacy and competency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, and familiarity with project management tools and CRM platforms, including Raiser’s Edge.
- Ability to successfully manage project deadlines and deliverables.
- Ability to multitask and provide support to team members with diverse work styles.
- Commitment to problem-solving, continuous improvement, curiosity, and personal development.
- Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, and write effectively.
- Strategic thinker with strong analytical skills.
- Enthusiasm for nonprofit fundraising and a willingness to proactively seek best practices and new ideas.
- Ability to manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
Preferred
- Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Psychology, or related field, preferred.
- Project management tool experience such as Smartsheet or Planner are preferred.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
- Ability to perform work utilizing a computer and a telephone for extended periods of time.
- Ability to travel by air or ground transportation as required in performing the work.
- Ability to frequently interact with others and work in environments with others
- Ability to demonstrate regular and predictable attendance
- Ability to multi-task, shift priorities
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust, rapport, and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
- Excellent communication skills, including the ability to convey complex information clearly in verbal and written formats.
- High emotional intelligence with the capacity to navigate sensitive conversations, support staff, and motivate teams.
- Strategic thinking skills with the ability to anticipate challenges and identify opportunities for growth.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
- Sound judgment and decision-making abilities that reflect a balance between analysis, experience, and organizational values.
- Adaptability and resilience, especially when responding to changing external conditions, funder expectations, or organizational priorities.
- Demonstrated commitment to collaboration, teamwork, and fostering an inclusive, respectful workplace culture.
COMPENSATION
This is a part-time, non-exempt position up to 20 hours per week. The hourly range for this position is $23-26. The position will primarily work standard hours of 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, with flexible start/end times possible. Periodic evening or weekend hours may be required.
This position is fully remote through 2026, with required travel to Chicago for quarterly meetings and additional meetings as needed. While the role is currently remote, candidates should be open to a potential return to a hybrid or in-office model in Chicago beginning in 2027. Local Chicago candidates are preferred, and the position is open only to residents of Illinois.
To apply, please email your resume and cover letter to jobs@dbsalliance.org with the position title in the subject of your email.
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