Donor Communications Manager

Overview

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Beijing; Bozeman, Montana; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C.  

NRDC is seeking a Donor Communications Manager, Donor Relations to work with the Development team in our Washington, D.C., New York City, Santa Monica, San Francisco, or Chicago office.  

Position Summary  

NRDC is seeking a Donor Communications Manager to develop effective fundraising materials for major and principal gift donors and prospects. This includes collaboratively creating narratives, visuals, and financial information for concept notes and proposals, updates and reports, and other communications for current and prospective major and principal gift donors, wealth advisors, fund managers, and others. 

​​This is a unique opportunity for a talented communication professional with excellent writing and project management skills to become part of the development team at one of the nation’s premier environmental organizations. Reporting to the Director of Donor and Board Communications, the Donor Communications Manager will be responsible for developing written materials that inform, cultivate, engage, solicit, and inspire NRDC’s major gift donors. The manager will collaborate with gift officers, program staff, and others to conduct background research, develop concepts for funding, and write donor proposals and fundraising materials. All donor-centric materials must convey strong cases for support, demonstrate impact, convey gratitude, and reflect the NRDC brand and values.  

Responsibilities

• Create and design communications that engage NRDC’s top philanthropic supporters. Manage a portfolio of these projects and produce compelling narratives for donor outreach, including but not limited to messaging guides and toolkits for major gift officers and other Development staff, cultivation and solicitation materials, gift proposals, and program updates.  
• In collaboration with donor relations colleagues, develop an internal repository of information that reflects institutional priorities and fundraising goals for the use of the team and donor relationship managers. 
• Proactively identify compelling content, transform complex material into highly readable stories, and deliver them using the most appropriate media and channels. 
• Partner with staff from across the institution to manage the collection of program input and other information about the organization, our strategies, and partners. 
• Collaborate with relationship managers and program and Finance staff to prepare financial documents including proposal budgets, grant expense reports, and budget and expense report narratives. 
• Maintain a working knowledge of the interests and expectations of the organization’s major funders and proactively seek program information to cultivate major donors based on their interests. 
• Apply NRDC style guides, basic graphic design principles, and personal creativity to advance the visual presentation of donor communications, seeking opportunities to use photography, infographics, data visualizations, and other imagery as appropriate. 
• Ensure proper documentation and record-keeping around deliverables for internal future reference. 
• Contribute to team initiatives and support peers and colleagues with editorial input, reviews, and ideas for improving processes and products. 
• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications

Necessary Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree 
• 2-4 years of relevant professional experience writing for a high-volume non-profit development department or private sector equivalent (e.g., as a marketing/business development assistant or proposal/grant writer)  
• Experience writing about complex topics for print and multimedia communication media 
• Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders to produce creative projects 
• Working knowledge of branding and graphic design 

Essential Skills: 

• Excellent writing, editing, verbal, and visual communication skills, including the ability to express a range of voices and styles for varied projects with diverse audiences. Solid interviewing, research, and project management skills. 
• Superior organizational skills, including the ability to—with a great deal of creativity and independence—manage the timelines for, communications around, and production of multiple projects simultaneously while working with numerous partners to achieve high-caliber final products. 
• Familiarity with philanthropy, environmental issues, conservation, or related sciences. 
• Ability to synthesize and describe complex scientific, legal, and policy-related subject matter in clear, concise language and present persuasive rationales for philanthropy. 
• Collegial, responsive team player able to work well with diverse internal and external constituencies. 
• Strong analytical skills and experience working with project budgets and financial reports.  
• Able to work effectively and maintain composure and flexibility under pressure.  
• Fluent in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, etc.), with a very high level of skill in MSWord including editing and formatting layouts. Donor database and/or project management software experience preferred (e.g., Salesforce, Asana, et al.). Familiarity with Google suite, Adobe Acrobat and InDesign also helpful. 
• A good sense of humor is helpful! 

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement.  

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.   

We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. Internal equity will be reviewed and considered to determine a final offer. For this position, the salary range is $79,000 to $86,700.   

Our offices are open and we are operating in a hybrid model. We offer NRDCers flexibility, and we ask them to come into the office and spend meaningful time there in collaboration with their colleagues. We call this purposeful presence.  

As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination, those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions via NRDC Employee Relations. NRDC treats all vaccine-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws.  

To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé and cover letter. Please mention where you saw this posting and upload any additional materials that showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates we would like to interview. Please no phone calls, emails, or in-person résumé drop-offs.  

If you experience technical problems while applying or if you are a person with a disability and need assistance applying online, please reach out to iCIMS Customer Care at 1-800-889-4422.  

For more about NRDC, visit www.nrdc.org.