Major Gifts Associate

About Community Change and Community Change Action:

Community Change builds the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to lead powerful and dynamic movements for social change. 

Our vision of a better world centers the leadership of impacted people of color to move our work on immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity, including a focus on jobs and housing, early childhood care and education, and income support.

This position also supports Community Change Action, an affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy organization and Community Change’s associated PAC Community Change Voters. While motivated by the same core values – equity, inclusion, and justice – Community Change, Community Change Action, and Community Change Voters operate independently. 

Position Description:

The Major Gifts Associate supports and collaborates deeply with the Deputy Director of Major Gifts and the Director of Fundraising — as well as other fundraising staff — to raise the major gifts portfolio within the organization’s larger movement-driven fundraising model, centering donor-organizing practices and relationship-based fundraising.

They are a key member of the fundraising team, which works collaboratively across the organization and in close coordination with executive leadership, program colleagues, and the finance and operations teams. The Major Gifts Associate will produce written material under deadline; support major donor strategy development; track deadlines and completion of certain fundraising tasks; manage information and relationships; and hold the prospect research necessary to build a strong fundraising program. The Major Gifts Associate will staff the Deputy Director to develop cultivation and solicitation language and stewardship acknowledgments for assigned major donors ($5,000+), mid-tier donors ($1,000-$4,999), and prospects. 

This position will also support the Deputy with donor communications campaigns to be used for donors of all levels, including special event outreach, newsletters, donor briefings, and other fundraising vehicles.

Principal Responsibilities:

The Major Gifts Associate is responsible for staffing the Deputy Director of Major Gifts and Director of Fundraising to sustain and increase support from existing major donors and solicit new cross-cutting revenue through the research, cultivation, and solicitation of new major donors. They will also leverage rising programmatic opportunities and partner closely with the Deputy on cases of support and appeals.

Community Change regards donors as key partners and collaborators, which means fundraisers work closely with program staff, building a culture of philanthropy and serving as a bridge between programs and funders. As part of this structure, the Major Gifts Associate will be “embedded” into program teams to become familiar with our work — with a focus on areas of work that undergird general operating fundraising, emergent pipelines, and short-term funding opportunities.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Support the Deputy Director with major donors and prospecting, including managing all written and verbal communication and developing and implementing tailored solicitation. Donor vehicles could include family foundations, donor-advised funds, and other sources as needed. 

• Develop subject matter knowledge within assigned embedded programs, within the understanding of the entirety of our impact as an institution;
• Support the project management of the stewardship and solicitations for our major donor pipeline;  
• Work in close collaboration with the Deputy Director and the Senior Writer to translate program objectives into major donor language;
• Compile and draft content including writing campaign appeals, email outreach, and donor acknowledgment letters, as well as major donor-facing case statements, concept notes, and donor updates; 
• Drive overall prospect research for the team, owning and tracking individual relationships without a clearly identifiable starting pipeline; 
• Support the moves management process of all major, mid-tier, and planned giving donors.
• With the Deputy, forecast donor revenue and capture data in our database management system (Salesforce).

• Support and provide value to the Institutional Advancement Department through overall strategy development in conjunction with the Deputy Director of Major Gifts.
• Working effectively and collaboratively with program staff.

• Support event planning strategy; co-designing visual fundraising campaigns; providing inspiration and feedback on strategic fundraising campaigns, including playing a project management role in regional and donor-hosted events
• Being an ongoing and proactive advocate for CC/A within the community at-large by attending appropriate functions and events.
• Support tracking Board of Directors fundraising tracking.
• Developing a working knowledge of CC/A's various projects and initiatives.
• Due to the every-changing nature of philanthropic vehicles, a portion of this role will support the project management and writing of some traditional grant proposals and reporting. This work will ebb and flow with election cycles.

Other Duties: 

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:

The Major Gifts Associate will be an impeccable project manager, strong writer, and editor. They see fundraising as their contribution to the movement for social justice and are committed to using their work to build the power of low-income communities of color. 

The Major Gifts Associate must build good relationships, internally and externally, and cultivate an instinct for fundraising opportunities and alignment between donors’ interests and our programs. They should also have a collegial spirit. In addition, the ideal candidate will bring:

• Three to five years of development experience in a non-profit environment. Experience doing basic prospect research.
• Minimum of two to three years' experience staffing executive leadership in donor and stakeholder outreach and cultivation.
• Superb writing and editing skills; strong project management skills.
• Ability to prioritize tasks and work accurately under deadlines and the pressure of a fast­ paced work environment.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, Outlook, MS Office applications, and Salesforce. 
• Knowledge of professional fundraising standards and practice including moves management.
• Excellent communication skills; discretion and diplomacy in dealing with high-value donors and the philanthropic sector.
• A problem solver; tenacious, and proactive with the ability to get things done. Keen attention to detail; a team player, with the capacity to be resourceful and flexible.
• Innovative and creative with a fresh perspective, as well as the ability to champion new ideas thoughtfully and thoroughly;  
• Ability to build trusting relationships internally and externally.
• Deep commitment to the mission of Community Change and the project of building power with low-income communities of color; passion for social justice and a commitment to work in solidarity with the people directly impacted by injustice.
• Master's Degree is a plus.

This position reports to: Deputy Director of Major Gifts

Supervisory Responsibility: N/A

Salary Range: $70,000 - $80,000. Community Change also offers an excellent benefits package, which includes 4 weeks of annual paid vacation; additional paid holiday leave between December 24 and January 1; 8% employer contribution to retirement account after six months of employment (and 3% employer contribution for the first 6 months); and a choice of generous health insurance plans.

Travel Requirements: Up to 10-15% annually nationwide to support regional fundraising events and/or in-person staff meetings.

Classification: Community Change recognizes a staff bargaining unit affiliated with IFPTE Local 70, a union for non-profit workers. This position is included in Community Change's bargaining unit and covered under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Location: This is a remote position, with the ability to be based anywhere in the U.S. Staff based outside of the D.C. area work from home offices or from designated shared office spaces. Eastern time zone hours preferred.

Equal Opportunity: Our vision of a better world centers the leadership of impacted people of color to move our work on immigrant rights, economic justice, and racial equity, including a focus on jobs and housing, early childhood care and education, income supports, and immigration reform. We strongly encourage the interest and applications of people of color, women, and people in the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities. Community Change is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Closing Date of Position: Open Until Filled

Click here to learn more about our employee benefits and Community Change’s values