Justice Funders is hiring a Development & Communications Director

Download a PDF of the job announcement here.

POSITION: DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

FTE: 100%

Location: Bay Area preferred; may consider other locations

Position reports to: Senior Engagement Director

Application deadline: May 22, 2020

Ideal start date: July 1, 2020

Salary: $80,000

 

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Justice Funders is a partner and guide for philanthropy in reimagining practices that advance a thriving and just world.  We believe that such a world cannot be achieved if institutional philanthropy is constrained by its ingrained practices that uphold the accumulation of wealth and power, while perpetuating systemic social and economic inequality. Responding to the needs of both movements and the philanthropic sector, Justice Funders supports individual, organizational, and field-wide transformation toward a Just Transition for Philanthropy to redistribute wealth, democratize power and shift economic control to communities. We are guided by the Just Transition principles that build political and economic power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.  Justice Funders’ work encompasses the Bay Area Justice Funders Network,  leadership development programs, consulting, and an action lab for designing, piloting and scaling innovative collaborations that advance social justice movements. More information is available at: https://justicefunders.org.

 

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Development & Communications Director position is new for the organization and reflects the intention for the organization to grow over the next five years.  The primary roles of this position are to 1) develop and implement a strategy for securing contributed income needed to advance the mission of the organization, and 2) develop and implement a strategy for communicating the organization’s work, impact and vision of a Just Transition for Philanthropy. In both of these roles, the Development & Communications Director will interface with a range of external stakeholders including institutional supporters, members of the Bay Area Justice Funders Network, program participants and consulting clients, as well as our larger national network of movement and philanthropic allies. The nature of this position will demand a high level of initiative, organization and attention to detail.  This position will report to the Sr. Engagement Director.

 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Resource Development

• In partnership with the Executive Director and Sr. Engagement Director, provide strategic leadership in the creation of a resource development strategy to grow annual revenue from institutional grants and individual gifts from $600,000 to $1.25M over the next 5 years, which represents 50-60% of organizational revenue.
• In partnership with the Executive Director and Sr. Engagement Director, lead the development of a new strategy for engaging individual major donors capable of contributing six-figure gifts.
• Lead in the identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of a portfolio of institutional funders and individual donors who are aligned with Justice Funders’ mission.
• Draft and edit letters of inquiry, grant proposals and reports; manage and track their submission processes.
• Work with the Finance Department of our fiscal sponsor (Movement Strategy Center) to produce grant budgets and financial reports.
• Coordinate with and provide support to other members of the Justice Funders team who hold responsibilities for institutional fundraising for their programs.
• Work with Justice Funders’ Steering Committee members in their efforts to support the organization’s resource development strategy, including identifying and cultivating prospective institutional funders and individual donors.
• Create and maintain an organization-wide calendar and tracking system for grant processes and deadlines.
• Provide as-needed backup support to the Sr. Engagement Director in soliciting and securing annual dues from institutional and individual members (current & prospective) of the Bay Area Justice Funders Network, as well as event sponsorship.

Strategic Communications & Narrative Strategy

• Partner with the Executive Director & Senior Engagement Director to develop and implement strategies for communicating our programmatic work and impacts to external stakeholders.
• Advance a narrative strategy to influence the philanthropic sector in adopting a vision of a Just Transition for philanthropy, as well as to position Justice Funders as a leader in organizing philanthropy to embody Just Transition principles and practices.
• Write, edit and curate content for our website, bi-weekly e-newsletters, social media, event announcements, programmatic materials, blog posts, media articles and publications.
• Create and implement special projects that advance Justice Funders’ narrative strategy and thought leadership, such as publications, videos and blog series.
• Support the Executive Director and program staff in writing and editing external communications and preparing for speaking engagements.
• Manage logistics, workflow, and coordination of external communications efforts across programs.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with media outlets such as Nonprofit Quarterly, Chronicle of Philanthropy and Inside Philanthropy; pitch stories and articles for publication.
• Oversee the maintenance of Justice Funders’ website (on WordPress) and social media presence (twitter).
• Manage and utilize ActionNetwork online platform for mass emails, donation pages and event registration pages .
• Work closely with the Operations and Administrative Coordinator in their work to support social media engagement, website maintenance and the creation of bi-weekly e-newsletters.
• Serve as a liaison to venders for communications activities, including graphic designers, printers, photographers and videographers

 

ORGANIZATION-WIDE RESPONSIBILITIES

Administrative

• Manage administrative responsibilities related to development and communications, including grants processing, invoicing and reimbursement requests.
• Utilize Asana Project Management System to coordinate work across programs, including creating and maintaining projects, tasks and conversations.

 

Organizational development

• Actively participate in creating, learning, and implementing the practices and skills that build a thriving organization culture and effective processes.

 

Movement Accountability

• Build relationships with and learn from grassroots movement experience of philanthropy that helps to inform Justice Funders’ fundraising and communications.

 

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 for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

 

QUALIFICATIONS

• A passion for Justice Funders’ mission and vision of a Just Transition for Philanthropy
• A demonstrated commitment to racial and economic justice and the redistribution of land, wealth and power into community control
• Five-plus years experience in both institutional fundraising and communications, preferable in a senior-level role
• Demonstrated success in identifying, cultivating and soliciting financial resources from institutional funders and individual donors, including securing six-figure gifts
• Demonstrated success in utilizing strategic communications and narrative shift strategies to advance social change
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills, including writing and copy editing
• Outstanding organizational skills with a capacity for attention to detail
• Superb project management and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Strong networking ability and exceptional interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated success in creating positive working relationships with external stakeholders including institutional funders, individual donors and other supporters/allies
• A self-starter and a team player
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and Google Online Office Tools
• Experience in the use of CRMs (e.g. Salesforce), Project Management Software (e.g. Asana) and online Email/Donation platforms (e.g. Action Network) preferred
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality
• Demonstrated respect of, and ability to work with, all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender identify and disability
• Travel requirements: 3-4 times per year for funder meetings and philanthropic conferences

 

POSITION TYPE & COMPENSATION

The Development & Communications Director is a 100% FTE, exempt salaried position.  Annual gross salary is $80,000.

Movement Strategy Center (fiscal sponsor)’s 100% FTE benefits package includes:

• 20 days vacation leave per year;
• 12 standard holidays and 2 personal days per year;
• 12 sick days per year;
• 1 week paid MSC family and medical leave after one year of service; an additional week of paid leave for each additional year of service, up to 4 weeks;
• Medical, vision, dental for employees and dependents (requires 30 day waiting period and a per paycheck employee contribution);
• 100% employer sponsored basic life, short-term and long-term disability insurance coverage;
• Access to a 403b retirement plan;
• Access to Flexible Spending Account and Commuter Benefits.

 

APPLICATION DEADLINE & INSTRUCTIONS

To apply, send a cover letter, resume, brief (1-page) writing sample and 3 references to justicefunders@gmail.com with the subject line: Development & Communications Director. Applications will be reviewed and interviews conducted on a rolling basis. Deadline to apply is May 22, 2020.

 

Justice Funders is a fiscally-sponsored project of the Movement Strategy Center (MSC). Justice Funders is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or belief, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by law.  People of Color, working-class people, differently-abled people, and LGBTQ persons are strongly encouraged to apply.