Development Coordinator

The Development Coordinator supports The Biomimicry Institute’s fundraising and partnership efforts through donor stewardship, prospect research, grant coordination, fundraising campaigns, events, and development operations.

Working closely with the Head of Development and Communications, the Coordinator helps translate fundraising priorities into action by maintaining accurate donor and prospect information, coordinating communications and outreach, tracking deadlines and deliverables, preparing materials, and ensuring development activities are organized and completed on time.

This is an execution-focused, detail-oriented role for someone who enjoys getting things done, conducting research, writing clear and compelling communications, building relationships, and supporting the systems and activities that make successful fundraising possible. The role offers opportunities to take on increasing responsibility and ownership as experience and capability develop.

Essential Functions

Donor Stewardship and Development Operations

• Coordinate timely donor acknowledgments, individualized stewardship, donor communications, and outreach.
• Maintain accurate and current donor, prospect, contribution, pledge, and activity records in the CRM.
• Ensure appropriate documentation of cash gifts, pledges, matching gifts, planned gifts, and other contributions.
• Support donor learning sessions, webinars, and other donor-facing activities.
• Help maintain development calendars, workplans, records, procedures, and supporting documentation.
• Coordinate with the Operations and Finance functions to support accurate gift recording, reconciliation, and reporting.

Grants and Institutional Fundraising

• Research foundations, corporations, sponsors, and other institutional funding opportunities aligned with TBI’s mission and priorities.
• Prepare prospect research and briefing materials to support funder cultivation and outreach.
• Support development of grant proposals, letters of inquiry, reports, and other funder materials.
• Maintain grant calendars and track proposal, reporting, and stewardship deadlines.
• Coordinate collection of programmatic, financial, and organizational information required for proposals and reports.
• Support thoughtful and timely stewardship of institutional funder relationships.

Fundraising Campaigns and Communications

• Support planning and execution of annual and special fundraising campaigns.
• Draft and coordinate donor communications, appeals, campaign materials, and related outreach in collaboration with Development and Communications colleagues.
• Track campaign schedules, deliverables, responses, and follow-up.
• Help ensure development communications are accurate, timely, audience-aware, and consistent with TBI’s voice and brand.

Events and Donor Engagement

• Support planning and execution of donor engagement, fundraising, and strategic Institute events.
• Coordinate event logistics including registration, vendors, materials, timelines, invitations, participant communications, and follow-up.
• Assist in developing event concepts, programming, and opportunities to deepen donor engagement.
• Coordinate effectively with the CEO, Head of Development and Communications, other staff, and external partners involved in events.

Research, Systems, and Project Coordination

• Conduct research on prospective individual, foundation, and corporate supporters.
• Prepare concise prospect briefs and other research materials.
• Use Asana and other organizational tools to track development tasks, deadlines, deliverables, and dependencies.
• Maintain and help improve development procedures, systems, templates, and documentation.
• Identify opportunities to make recurring development work more efficient, organized, and reliable.
• Provide responsive project and administrative support to the Head of Development and Communications across priority fundraising initiatives.

Core Competencies

• Execution and follow-through: Strong “get it done” orientation and ability to move work reliably from idea to completion.
• Organization: Able to manage multiple deadlines, details, and workstreams without losing sight of priorities.
• Writing: Clear, accurate, compelling, and audience-aware written communication.
• Research: Curious and resourceful, with the ability to synthesize information into useful prospect and funder insights.
• Relationship management: Warm, professional, and responsive with internal and external stakeholders.
• Attention to detail: High standards for accuracy, documentation, data quality, and brand consistency.
• Project coordination: Comfortable organizing work, tracking dependencies, and following up with multiple contributors.
• Initiative: Able to work independently, recognize what needs to happen next, and seek guidance appropriately.
• Adaptability: Comfortable working in a fast-paced, collaborative, remote environment with changing priorities.
• Growth orientation: Interested in developing deeper fundraising expertise and taking on increasing responsibility over time.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 2–4 years of relevant experience in fundraising, nonprofit development, communications, project coordination, research, or a related area preferred.
• Strong writing, research, organizational, and project-management skills.
• Experience with donor databases or CRM systems preferred.
• Experience supporting grants, fundraising campaigns, donor communications, or events preferred.
• Comfort using collaborative workplace tools such as Google Workspace, Asana, Zoom, and Slack.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across teams in a remote environment.
• Commitment to The Biomimicry Institute’s mission and values.

Success Measures

Success in this role will include:

• Development deadlines, donor communications, grant deliverables, and campaign activities are completed accurately and on time.
• Donor and prospect information is reliable, current, and well maintained.
• Donors and funders receive timely, thoughtful stewardship and follow-up.
• Prospect and funding research provides useful, actionable information to Development leadership.
• Fundraising campaigns and events are well organized and effectively executed.
• Development systems, processes, and documentation become increasingly clear, efficient, and reliable.
• The Coordinator demonstrates increasing independence, judgment, and ownership as they grow in the role.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Frequent activities include communicating effectively with others, reviewing and assessing work, using computers and related tools, and remaining in a stationary position for prolonged periods.
• Occasional activities include moving between worksites and handling materials associated with meetings and events.

Work Environment (Remote)

The work environment described here is representative of that which an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Duties are performed in a home workspace. Employees are expected to maintain their home workspace in a safe manner, free from safety hazards.
• Occasional travel is required for meetings, conferences, donor events, and other Institute activities.
• Approximately 10% travel may be associated with this position.

Comp & Benefits

• Applicants from California and Washington only.
  Salary is determined based on internal equity; internal salary ranges; market
  data/ranges; applicant’s skills; prior relevant experience; certain degrees or
  certifications, etc. The salary for this position ranges: $55K - 65K
• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Enjoy 100% coverage for employees for medical/dental/vision provided by Biomimicry Institute. (Please note, employees are responsible for coverage for spouses and/or dependents.)
• Retirement Plan: Begin your retirement savings after just 6 months of employment.
• Paid Time Off (PTO): Benefit from our generous PTO policy, allowing you to recharge and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• Paid Holidays: Take advantage of paid holidays as outlined in our Employee Handbook.
• Home Office Stipend: Receive a monthly stipend to help support your home office setup.

This is not necessarily an exhaustive or all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts, functions, or working conditions associated with the job. This job description is not a contract of employment, or a promise or guarantee of any specific terms or conditions of employment. The Biomimicry Institute may add to, modify, or delete any aspect of this job (or the position itself) at any time as it deems advisable.

This is not necessarily an exhaustive or all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts, functions, or working conditions associated with the job. This job description is not a contract of employment, or a promise or guarantee of any specific terms or conditions of employment. The Biomimicry Institute may add to, modify, or delete any aspect of this job (or the position itself) at any time as it deems advisable. I have read and understand this job description. My signature acknowledges that I am capable of performing the essential functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation.