We Are Hiring: Donor Database Administrator (Part Time)

The Isabella Santos Foundation, a 501c3, was established in honor of Isabella Santos, who fought a long and courageous battle with Neuroblastoma. Isabella passed away at the young age of 7, and her foundation has continued her mission of fighting for a world with no more cancer.

ISF has grown rapidly over the past several years and is currently looking for a Charlotte based, part time donor database administrator.

Please apply through our LinkedIn Jobs posting or send an email to erin@isabellasantosfoundation.org

DATABASE MANAGEMENT/MAINTENANCE 

  1. Manage data entry and record management, ensuring accuracy, consistency and timeliness
  2. Manage and enforce gift acknowledgement processes, ensuring timely and accurate recognition of all gifts
  3. Make appropriate and timely recommendations on database expansion and/or enhancements to ensure the most effective and efficient use of the system
  4. Respond to donor inquiries concerning gift history, receipts, and other documentation
  5. Provide routine maintenance and cleanup of donor database
  6. Set up and maintain event sites and donations
  7. Suggest, maintain and implement proper security protocols for database and donor information

DATABASE REPORTING AND ANALYSIS 

  1. Provide regular and ad hoc reporting to development and finance departments
  2. Provides support to staff by assisting with creation of mailing/donor lists and other projects
  3. Collaborate with other staff members to analyze fundraising trends/results and provide related analysis
  4. Perform donor/prospect research and provide recommendations for enhanced donor engagement

TRAINING and SUPERVISION 

  1. Train development staff on usage of database and donor stewardship processes
  2. Supervise data volunteers/interns

OTHER DUTIES AS NEEDED 

  1. Working knowledge of finance and reporting
  2. Support other agency campaigns and projects
  3. Participate, lead (when necessary), and attend community and agency-appropriate meetings

Other duties as assigned

Knowledge of etapestry preferred.

Salary range approximately $20-$25k

Charlotte area applicants only.

Please apply through our LinkedIn Jobs posting or send an email to erin@isabellasantosfoundation.org

10 Year Old Boys

10-year-old boys, well I guess he is 10 ½ . You gotta love them. Right? I feel like I have written so many blogs about how amazing my kids are, but we know that is not how kids are all the time. Grant is killing me right now. I think he is just really transitioning into a pre-teen and it’s happening kind of fast in this house. Sometimes I think I’m raising a little Ryan Seacrest, which has its good points and bad points. Needless to say, he is killing me every day lately so I thought I would share the darker side of Grant for all those parents out there who feel this pain.

Top 10 ½ things Grant is doing right now that are killing me:

  1. He stinks. I am watching this very carefully. I crawled in bed about a year ago to give him a little cuddling before he fell asleep. The minute I snuggled in, my eyes burned. I immediately told him to jump in the shower and from that point on, deodorant has been a daily routine. But even with the product in use, the minute I pick him up from Student Council and he pops in the front seat, it’s a smell of grass, sweat, pennies, dirt… I don’t even know what. I have to roll down the windows immediately. Grab a couple of his friends and you have to take you car in for detailing.
  2. His teeth. They are all in this weird phase where they lost their baby teeth so they are all walking around these massive horse teeth. Not to mention when they walk in the door and dive into a Cheetos (Baked, mind you…) snack pack. He walks over to me as I’m on my computer to tell me about his day while shoveling these things in his mouth. His lips and teeth are covered in orange disgusting crap. When I look up I stop him immediately and say, “Nope. Finish what you are doing and go brush your teeth. They look disgusting.” An eye roll usually follows from him and the dumping of the entire bag into his mouth. He will then proceed to come downstairs after 30 seconds of “brushing” only for me to send him upstairs again. This will take about a total of 4 cycles until his teeth are a shade of green that I can live with. I’m also constantly dousing him with mouthwash. How do these kids even talk to each other with this kitten breath? These poor teachers.
  3. Dabbing. I get it. It was cool. Cam Newton is amazing. But enough already. Not only did I have to live with a year of dabbing but also now the dab has turned into eighteen different dance moves before the actual “Dab”. We also dab when we sneeze, when a cool song comes on and really any life situation that has some break that calls for this move. He is also become critical of any other dab and told his little sister that her basic dab is not cool and she should stop doing it immediately. Kill. Me. Now.
  4. Flip Cup. Can the boy from Ardrey Kell High School that created this fad be punished in any way? I’m all about kids doing something that is not electronics, but really? Hours of entertainment? I chaperoned a school field trip a couple of months ago and about lost my shit on my group of boys that were more interested in who could land the Gatorade bottle perfectly on the ground than hearing about how old guns were made. I get it. But by the end of the trip, every single bottle was confiscated. I also just found my son standing naked in his bedroom the other day flipping a water bottle on his dresser while the shower was on for 15 minutes. Is this a real skill? Are there scholarships for this? No. Give me the damn bottle.
  5. Music. I have probably done this one myself. I’m a music lover and all day every day there is music on in my house. The problem with introducing your kids to this is that they latch on to your favorite song and then play it over and over and over until you want to never hear it again. There is nothing less cool than jamming out to “Fake Love”, by Drake and listening to your son and his friends not only jam out with you but know every word and have dance moves with dabbing involved in it. Nothing kills a song more than my son.
  6. His hair. It’s official. I have become that parent I said I would never be. My Dad always rode my brother’s ass about getting a haircut and shaving his entire life. I always thought how silly it was because your hair is YOUR hair. Then I have a son and I find that I want that short military cut on him every time because he looks ridiculous. He wants to grow his hair out and have grow over his ears and down to his eyes and then flip his head so his hair falls just right. I just stare at him when he does this. My husband takes him for haircuts after many fights, only to have him walk in the door and I say, “Seriously?” To which they both roll their eyes at me, followed by a talking to by my husband that tells me to chill out about his hair. He has also been begging for me to let him dye it for about a year. I just agreed and dyed the top of his head red yesterday. He looks ridiculous and loves it. Whatever.
  7. Face Time. I find myself saying, “Who the hell is he talking to?” every other day. I jump off the couch and run upstairs to find him FaceTiming another buddy and they are pretty much just watching each other flip water bottles. He then turns the screen around on me and some kid says “Hi” to me as I stand there in his doorway in PJs and no bra looking like an idiot. My favorite is when I catch him sitting in his bed talking to a girl and he has no shirt on. I stop this immediately and just about take the hinges off the doors. Yes, I am becoming that mom.
  8. Sleep. I know the 8pm bedtime isn’t working as well as it once did. He is getting older and feels like a 6 year old by making him go to bed that early. We try each night but he takes some 30 minute shower (don’t even get me started… I don’t even want to go there…) and then comes downstairs to get a drink, get some book, give me a kiss, whatever. Then it’s 9:00. Waking him up in the morning is also my least favorite task in the world. It’s about a 30-minute morning struggle where he proceeds to ruin my morning because he makes us all late. We have blown air horns on him, poured water on him, you name it. We have now moved to where we no longer even get him up. We wake Sophia who is a ray of sunshine each morning. If he gets up and makes it to the car in time, he gets a ride. If he isn’t ready – he walks to school. Best part is that on Saturday mornings, I hear his ass up at the crack of dawn because he is allowed to play on his iPad on Saturday. Um…. I thought you were exhausted? I can’t even.
  9. His need to be entertained. What am I a damn cruise director? Heaven forbid all of his buddies in the neighborhood are busy or out of town. You would think his legs were cut off from under him. There is absolutely nothing to do or nothing to play with. What really kills him is when I don’t allow him to have a friend over. GASP! You think I am the devil that I don’t want to watch other people’s kids all weekend. These days are usually filled with him following me around to tell me how bored he is or asking me, “What should I do?”. My favorite days are the days when no one I know is here or in town or wants to do anything. Days when I can just sit alone quietly. For him, this is equal to death.
  10. His diet. If I allowed this boy to eat Fruit Loops, Doritos and Soda all day every day, he would do it. I pride myself on having the healthiest food on the block. This way, random kids aren’t walking in my house for snacks. They know it’s a banana or a yogurt. Actually most kids will have a snack at their house before coming here. Bonus. Honey Nut Cheerios are a stretch for me to buy at the grocery store. But like always, every time I leave town my husband goes to the store and buys them junk like Fruity Peebles that are probably ridden with cancer. Grant tells me I’m the “Cereal Nazi”. I come out looking like the crap Mom once again because I try to keep them alive. Last summer I was over him asking me for soda every day. So I bought him a 2-liter of Sprite and made him drink it all in one day. He had diarrhea for a week, but didn’t ask me for soda all summer. Let’s not even start on the table manners and how he shoves everything in his mouth like it’s his last meal. He then wipes his hands on his pants even though I put a napkin out for him. I no longer sit at the table with the kids. 

1/2. His butt. I’m a “runner”. Because I’m a runner, I tend to lose my butt. So I spend quite a bit of time in the gym doing squats to have something that resembles a tush. This kid will stand there naked and talk to me for hours. He turns around to walk away and his butt is like two gigantic grapefruits. It really is unreal. How can I be jealous of his rear? But I am. It is the butt that I strive to have every day, and he just walks around with it. I think he knows he tortures me with this ridiculous backside. He just shrugs it off when I tease him about it, like, “Yeah… I guess it’s just something I’m born with.”. I hate him.

I could probably go on for a couple more pages here. But because my boy is ahead of his time, he is probably on Facebook reading this with an account I don’t even know he has. He is about 2 months away from being smarter than me and I’m trying every single day to keep him alive but stop myself from killing him.

I’m nervous for 11.

 

The Faces of ISF…Meet Colleen Hinsberg

Getting to know youNames/ages of children: Julia (13) Meghan (10) Brittany (26)

Years married and to whom:  Tom Hinsberg (20 years)

Years in Charlotte:  16

Neighborhood: Tega Cay, SC

Hometown: Sarasota, FL

College Alumni: Florida State University

Occupation: Director of Sales- Contour Products

Years Involved with the Foundation: 9

What is your role with the Foundation: Race Director

How did your involvement with ISF begin? I worked with Stuart and Erin at Lendingtree and was with a close friend of theirs when they got the news that Isabella was sick. From that first day I felt inspired to help in any way that I could. Over the years I have taken on more responsibilities within the foundation and became Race Director 3 years ago.

What is your favorite story about Isabella? My favorite memory is from the 2011 race when we had some rain towards the end of the race. We were scrambling to get raffle items and food moved under the tent and the DJ was still playing music. Isabella stopped and started dancing and I looked around and a whole group of people there, stopped and danced with her. All of us- children and adults stopped our hustle bustle and danced in the rain. It was awesome.

What is one of your top ISF moments? On race day the year that Isabella passed away I was running around like a crazy woman. Someone grabbed me and said stop you HAVE to come see this. I walked over to the starting line to see 2000 people decked out in purple all the way down the street. It was overwhelming to see how we had grown. The emotion was so raw that year and that crowd was incredible to see. Each year now I MAKE myself take a moment to take all it in. From 175 people the first year to over 2500 participants last year. The community support is amazing.

Where do you see ISF in 5 years? I see ISF being very involved in a minimum of the 25 NMTRC cities raising funds and raising awareness as kids are continuing to win the battle against relapsing with Neuroblastoma

What is something you think ISF could improve on this year? I love that we are now sharing the immediate impact of how we are using the money that we raise. Knowing the number of children that we are impacting is such a great story! I look forward to many more of those kinds of stories this year.

How has ISF impacted your kids? This is where ISF has impacted my life the most. My kids have learned the generosity of people who are willing to donate to their races, bake sales and lemonade stands. They proudly support ISF and tell Isabella’s story as often as they can. They have a true sense of community and are willing to give their time and energy for a cause bigger than them.  The are more generous and more active because of their involvement with the Foundation. They are also my biggest cheerleaders when I am fully wrapped up during race time. Seeing Julia finish her first 5K at one of our races was a very proud moment. The fact that she is joining me this year as a part of the Dream Team is even better!

Who are your role models? I feel like we have all said this but I have to say my parents. They were happily married for 62 years, raised 5 girls and taught us all the value of family and friends. Through them, I learned to work hard, respect others and take time to play hard too.

What is something about you that would surprise people? I am the youngest of 5 girls and my sisters and I have 8 daughters between us. Not a boy in our family!

What is your biggest pet peeve? I have a really hard time interacting with passive aggressive people. If you have a problem, tell me what it is and let’s figure out how to solve it. I’m not good at trying to figure out what is upsetting you.

What is the hardest thing you have ever done? My parents passed away within 6 months of each other 2 years ago. It was huge and sad and putting one foot in front of each other was hard for a while. I knew I had get my act together and came out at the end, a stronger and happier person.

What do you love to do in Charlotte? We love to spend time on Lake Wylie.

What are a couple of your guilty pleasures? I love brownies. Even when I am training and “trying” to eat well I will say yes to a brownie almost every time.

Who is your celebrity crush? Matt Bomer. I “know” but he’s still adorable.
What is your favorite drink? I’m a beer girl

The Faces of ISF…Meet Rachel Wood

Screen Shot 2016-07-17 at 3.33.19 PM Names/ages of children: Asher (9), Haldo (20) and Conrad Jr (25)

Years married and to whom: Conrad- 12 years

Years in Charlotte: 14 yrs

Neighborhood: Piper Glen Area

Hometown: New Bern, NC
College Alumni: Meredith College, Raleigh NC

Occupation: For the past 10 years, I have shared a Marketing business with a childhood friend. We provide full circle marketing for several green building products as well as provide specific marketing needs to many other industries/markets. My love is graphic design and turning ideas/thoughts into a visual presentation.

Years Involved with the Foundation: 6 yrs

What is your role with the Foundation: Director of Marketing

How did your involvement with ISF begin? Our youngest son, Asher, was in preschool at Calvary with Isabella’s brother Grant. We became good friends with the Santos family during that year. As I got to know them better, I started helping out in marketing related activities for the foundation.

What is your favorite story about Isabella? We used to have playdates at our friend Karen’s house. One night, all of the kids wanted to have a dance party. We danced for hours with our kids singing at the top of our lungs… Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Taylor Swift. All Isabella’s favorites…. she danced and danced and sung so loud. After that night she begged for dance parties. She was always dancing and singing. She was the best snuggler, would much rather be with 30-something old ladies than kids and had the best high pitch laugh. I miss that laugh- it truly was one of a kind.

What is one of your top ISF moments? Becoming part of Isabella’s Dream Team last year. Bringing a group of passionate people together for one cause is extremely powerful. Not only do you grow so many unexpected relationships, it is amazing how much good a group of people can do. If just feels right being part of something bigger than yourself. Even though I hate running! And in the process, Conrad and I ran our first half marathon! And we just started training again for our second half marathon.

Where do you see ISF in 5 years? I see ISF with a wider national presence raising funds for orphan cancers.

What is something you think ISF could improve on this year?  Telling our story better. ISF has accomplished so much in just a few short years. As a marketing team, we are working on telling those stories better and the impact… where exactly is all the money you donated going to, what clinical trials we are involved in and the story of those trials, ect. People want to know where their donations went and telling the impact story will hopefully help people continue donating year after year.

How has ISF impacted your kids?  Bringing awareness and raising funds for ISF has become a family effort. Our kids have always taken part in ISF events and been given specific volunteering duties.   I loved having my last parent/teacher conference and having the teachers ask more about ISF… because Asher talked so much about Isabella and raising funds. It is so important for kids to be aware of others around them that are in need. And it is so important that our kids grown up volunteering and giving to those around us.

Who are your role models?  My parents. From being married 45+ years and still being in love and good to one another, to doing so much for the people in their community and church, to loving my insta-family the very moment they stepped into my life, to supporting every ISF race we have put on, to being big kids at heart with all the grandchildren … my parents are the epitome of what parents should be. I can only hope that my kids, family, friends and community will think the same of Conrad and I one day.

What is something about you that would surprise people? I am deathly afraid of the dentist.

What is your biggest pet peeve? Popping/clicking your gum drives me up the wall. Keep your gum chewing to yourself please!


What is the hardest thing you have ever done? 
Becoming an insta-mom at age 24. My husband Conrad was a single father to 7 and 11 year old boys when we met. I instantly went from the single girl life to being a insta-mom to Haldo and Conrad Jr. Diving in head first was the best thing that ever happened to me.Rachel 3Rachel 2

What do you love to do in Charlotte? We love the Whitewater Center (even with it’s current troubles). I have a new found hobby of Paddle boarding and would be out there every day if I could. I love being out on the water. Most days you can find me working out at Orange Theory or Flywheel. My workout group is my backbone. They keep me sane, healthy and in-check. Love backyard cookouts with good friends/kids… and of course anything to do with the PANTHERS!!

What are a couple of your guilty pleasures? Binge watching netflix shows with my husband. Currently trying to get through House of Cards and it is madly obsessive. I am gluten free; but I crave donuts almost all the time. A good donut goes a really long way.

Who is your celebrity crush? Channing Tatum

What is your favorite drink? Wine

 

 

The Faces of ISF…Meet Stuart Santos

Screen Shot 2016-06-19 at 8.30.42 PMNames/ages of children: Grant 9 and Sophia 6

Years married and to whom: Married for 12 years to Erin Santos

Years in Charlotte: 17 years in Charlotte

Neighborhood: Marvin Creek

Hometown: Coral Springs, Florida

College Alumni: University of South Carolina

Occupation: Global Account Manager, ServiceSource

Years Involved with the Foundation: 9 yrs

What is your role with the Foundation? Chairman of the Board

How did your involvement with ISF begin? Co-Founder

What is your favorite story about Isabella? My favorite story about Isabella was from Christmas morning when she received Jake the Cat. Jake was in a huge box wrapped with kitty paper and when Jake heard her voice he peered out of the top and jumped right out when he saw her. Isabella carried Jake around the rest of the day like a little baby and dressed him up in her American Girl clothing. I still think this is why Jake is so loving.

What is one of your top ISF moments? One of my favorite moments is when we flew up to Grand Rapids this March and handed Dr. Sholler a check to fund her latest Neuroblastoma trial. It also happened to be on Isabella’s birthday. I knew there were families waiting to start the trial and to know the foundation would be responsible for helping them immediately.

Where do you see ISF in 5 years? In 5 years, I see the Isabella Santos Foundation putting on events across the country and funding more than $1 Million dollars of cancer research annually.

What is something you think ISF could improve on this year? I would like to see ISF develop a product that could be purchased no matter where you lived with the profits benefiting childhood cancer. I think there are people all over the country that would like to do more to support what we are doing but don’t have the ability to attend an actual event.

How has ISF impacted your kids? The foundation has impacted our family in so many different ways. It has given Grant and Sophia a lasting connection to Isabella, in the sense that she’s still alive and part of her family through her legacy and can live on forever for them.

Who are your role models? Outside of the obvious role which my mother and father have played in helping to guide my life, my Grandfather on my mom’s side and Grandmother on my dad’s side have always been huge role models for me. They overcame very hard times in their life with unbelievable perseverance and courage.

What is something about you that would surprise people? I think some people might be surprised to know I’m a bit of worrier. It’s something I try not to focus on but life has thrown me some curveballs.

What is your biggest pet peeve? When people are insensitive or sarcastic for the sake of a joke.

What is the hardest thing you have ever done? Saying goodbye to Isabella. (I’m still working Screen Shot 2016-06-19 at 8.30.57 PMon it)

What do you love to do in Charlotte? I really enjoy running through the different areas in Charlotte. The weather is so gorgeous almost year round so I really get to lose myself in scenery. I also think the Roasting Company on Montford or Del Friscos are my favorite places to eat.

What are a couple of your guilty pleasures? Ice Cream from Dairy Queen when I’m at the beach. I go every night when I’m there. I’m also a big fan of Charleston Chews.

Who is your celebrity crush? Eva Green (from the movie 300) & Blake Lively

What is your favorite drink? My favorite beer is a NODA CAVU.