Relationship Development Manager

Title: Relationship Development Manager - Sales

Reports to: Chief Growth Officer

Before you apply:

Dear Potential Friend and Teammate:

Most job descriptions are written to filter people out. This one is written to help the right person recognize themselves as an excellent fit.

If you've ever felt too people-first for a numbers-only sales culture, or too curious and research-driven for a role that just wanted you to dial for dollars, keep reading! If you'd rather earn trust with insight than close with pressure, this might be the most interesting sales job in the Nonprofit industry.

NextAfter is the growth accelerator for Nonprofits. We run thousands of experiments every year to understand why donors give, and then we use that knowledge to support our clients in raising more money so they can help more people experience the joy of generosity.

We're not a traditional agency. We operate at the intersection of behavioral science, digital marketing, and a data analytics lab. Our clients are strictly Nonprofits, many of them in the faith-based ministry space.

Our Growth Team is how we bring new organizations into the NextAfter ecosystem. And right now, we're growing the sales function in a way that matches how we work: account-based, relationship-first, and grounded in data-backed insight.

• Ben Smithee - CGO - NextAfter

About the role:

We've reached an inflection point. Our research is known. Our reputation is strong. NIO Summit is strong. Nonprofit leaders read our studies, take our courses, and follow our work. The awareness is there, and we are looking for a dedicated person who wakes up every day focused on converting that awareness and warm interest into meaningful conversations, and those conversations into long-term client relationships.

That's where you could come in.

You'll identify and prioritize Key Accounts on our Target Account List, run outbound and inbound lead management, follow up on conference and event relationships, and work closely with our Marketing team on an ABM strategy that's actively being deployed. That said, you won't just be plugging into someone else’s playbook, you’ll have the chance to help optimize it. This role blends a relationship-building focus, backed by accountability to goals (rocks), EOS processes, and scorecards/metrics that lead to ultimate success.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Pipeline Development

• Own and manage a portfolio of Key Accounts drawn from our ABM Target Account List. Primarily VP and Executive level nonprofit leaders that match our ICP.

• Execute personalized outbound efforts to establish and nurture relationships enhanced by our research content and other value drivers. Comms should be calibrated to where a prospect is in their awareness journey, and not templated mass sales messages.

• Manage inbound leads from our content, webinars, courses, and events with urgency and intentionality, as well as screening them for proper fit.

• Follow up on leads generated at NIO Summit, speaking engagements, and other conferences, as warm relationships.

Sales Execution

• Run discovery conversations that uncover current organizational pain points, needs, and opportunities. These may include issues such as fundraising plateaus, donor retention challenges, lack of testing discipline, etc.

• Collaborate with CGO and Growth Team to develop proposals and scope engagements.

• Maintain a clean, disciplined CRM, including pipeline hygiene, data and tracking.

• Adherence to our EOS processes, Goals (rocks), Scorecards and Metrics. These are seen as the backbone that ensures relational output is driving things in the proper strategic direction and produces real and tangible/measurable results.

• Navigate multi-stakeholder nonprofit buying processes with patience and strategic awareness, maintaining a relational approach.

ABM Collaboration

• Participate in a regular departmental and 1:1 meetings to sync and align on target accounts, content in motion, and outreach cadence

• Provide Marketing, Sales, and Client Services regular feedback on what's resonating in conversations. This is a two-way relationship between our Sales/Growth Team and the Client Services Team.

• Use our shared resources and tools to track account engagement signals and time outreach accordingly.

Conference & Event Follow-Through

• NIO Summit, NIC, external conferences, and speaking engagements generate meaningful relationship capital. This role has the responsibility to capture it and identify new opportunities, and carry relationships forward through a disciplined handoff process.

• You'll attend key events and represent NextAfter with the depth and credibility our values, mission, and brand demands.

What Success Looks Like in the first 90 days:

• You will have a firm grasp on the basics of NextAfter’s research and ideologies.

• You will have documented your insights on the opportunities to further optimize NextAfter’s sales approach within our ABM strategy and Targets. And you will have begun to leverage your existing networks, and inbound leads.

• You will also have begun outbound comms and strategic efforts to engage and develop relationships with Key Account Contacts.

• Meeting cadences and reporting will have been established.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Comfort with account-based sales motions = You know how to work an account over time, not just close a transaction in record times

• Strong CRM discipline = You log everything, you trust the data, and you hate losing deals because of poor follow-up (lack of follow-up is not an option in your world)

• Clear and confident written and verbal communicator = You can write a compelling outreach email and run a nuanced discovery call

• Familiarity with digital marketing concepts (email, paid media, content) at a level where you can speak credibly to nonprofit Executives

• Experience selling to Executives in the nonprofit sector

• Familiarity with fundraising, donor acquisition, or digital fundraising programs

• Experience building or iterating on a sales processes

Education and Experience:

• 3–6 years of B2B sales experience, ideally in professional services, consulting, or agency environments

• Demonstrable experience selling to senior-level Executives and Key Contacts = You can hold a strategic conversation, not just pitch features and benefits of a SaaS product.

• Experience and proficiency in Google suite

• Knowledge and capability in Hubspot

The Intangibles (but non-negotiables):

Congratulations - If you have made it this far and are still excited or saying “this sounds exactly like me” that’s amazing. But, here is where you have to really understand the heart of NextAfter.

You must buy into the mission behind the mission

Our Clients are on a mission and in order for us to actualize our vision, we have to help them achieve those missions successfully and more rapidly.

You lead with curiosity and humility

You're genuinely interested in understanding how an organization works, where it's stuck, and what it's tried. You ask a second question before you answer the first one, and you’re not afraid to admit you don't have all of the answers.

You’re a builder not just an executer

This role doesn't have a fully baked playbook yet. You'll need to be comfortable with flexibility and experimentation, while being energized by ownership, and disciplined enough to build repeatable processes while you're still closing deals. If "we're figuring it out" makes you anxious, this isn't the right fit.

You’re honest even when it is uncomfortable

We'd rather lose a deal than oversell a client and under-deliver. If a prospect isn't a good fit, you say so. If a proposal is too big for where they are, you say so. We win when our clients win, and we only work with organizations where we're genuinely confident we can create more green arrows up and to the right.

You value the gain more than the gap

You can see the whole board and recognize opportunities when you see them. You are not oblivious to the gap between the goal and what it takes to get there. But, you don't live in the gap, you’re too inspired by the gain. TLDR: No negative Nancy’s…..all other Nancy’s welcome to apply.

The Compensation

• Competitive base salary + bonus structure

• Health, dental, and vision benefits - NextAfter covers 100% of healthcare premiums for our team and their dependants

• Flexible hybrid work arrangements. We're based in Dallas but not chained to a desk

• Direct access to the CGO as your primary collaborator and manager. This is a high-visibility role on a smaller sized team.

• Real ownership. We just launched our ESOP - so you will actually be an Owner

• Real impact. This role directly impacts the future success of our company and our clients

• Real fun. We’re much about the hang. Likeability and being winsome is not an option.

Full Time

Salary Range: $85,000-$100,000