Development executive jobs are normally prescribed to non-profit or non-governmental organizations that provide charity, social welfare, or some other sort of assistance to distressed populations. They can also refer to business development roles which seek new business opportunities and new leads for companies and startups. In the film and entertainment industry, development executive refers to someone who finds scripts to be made into films or television series. To become a competent development executive, rigorous education and targeted experience is required.
Within the non-profit realm, the development executive job description includes fundraising and donor management. Non-profit organizations must continuously raise money in order to survive, and they need an executive who will be in charge of finding the most efficient ways to secure these funds and keep donors happy and generous. Fundraising efforts that a professional in one of the non-profit development executive jobs may be responsible for include new donor acquisition, encouragement of planned and major gifts, grant writing, coordinating development promotion, and hosting special fundraising events and galas.
The non-profit development executive usually works in tandem with the marketing and public relations team to promote the ideals of the non-profit in hopes of gaining new supporters and donors. He or she oftentimes reports directly to the Executive Director of the organization. Responsibilities within this development executive career track include quantitatively analyzing donor records and gifts over time. Strong communication skills and decisive analytical skills are very important in this job.
Within for-profit organizations, the business development executive jobs are more dominant. Unlike the non-profit development executive jobs, positions in the for-profit sector have nothing to do with raising funds, but have everything to do with increasing leads. Every successful business survives by acquiring new leads and opening up business opportunities. Business development professionals extend leads through building partnerships with like-minded businesses, networking at trade shows and industry conferences, and managing new product and employee mergers and acquisitions.
The film and entertainment industry defines development in terms of obtaining new material for the purposes of media production. A development executive in this industry is charged with reading scripts and finding creative content that can be turned into a profitable film, television show, or Internet series. The director oversees the development process of a screenplay, from written script to motion picture. Professionals in this field must be highly creative and must have a keen sense of present trends in pop culture, and how these trends may change in the future.
