Development Writer

Posted Aug 15

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We take on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change. We partner with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals and communities to engage the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.

Founded in 1971, Earthjustice has a distinguished track record of achieving significant, lasting environmental protections. We achieve this by hiring people who share a passion for justice and a healthy environment. Our headquarters are in San Francisco with offices in Anchorage, Juneau, Los Angeles, Tallahassee, Honolulu, New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Seattle, Bozeman, Miami, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Houston.

The Senior Development Writer, Principal Gifts (Senior Writer) will serve on a team of Donor Communications professionals who support Earthjustice’s entire Development department.

This individual’s work will be specialized in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of our largest monetary contributors. The Senior Writer routinely partners with the Principal Gifts team to create strategic communications assets for personalized donor journeys of current and prospective supporters at the $1 million and above giving level. The Senior Writer produces materials in a variety of media for delivery in digital and print formats. The Senior Writer provides editing, peer coaching and guidance to Donor Communications team members as they craft fundraising assets for major and principal donors.

The Senior Writer works in partnership with organizational leadership and programmatic teams to translate reporting on casework and legislative advocacy into persuasive fundraising materials utilized across the organization. These materials include proposals that demonstrate the impact of Earthjustice’s work and communicate a forward-facing vision in support of the organization’s strategic plans. Building relationships with a subset of Earthjustice’s program teams, the Senior Writer will serve as Donor Communications’ expert on a segment of Earthjustice’s work (beats) and serve in an advisory role to inform other team members’ projects. In addition to writing projects covering specific programs, the Senior Writer will develop collateral related to Earthjustice’s entire programmatic portfolio, fundraising campaigns, and initiatives that exist at the intersection of several program teams.

The Senior Writer contributes to Donor Communications standards that reinforce our organization’s values, align with our brand, and improve the donor journey at Earthjustice. This individual partners with the Communications department to continually improve editorial standards, find efficiencies, and build solutions toward shared goals.

This is a remote U.S. position.

Responsibilities:

Project Coordination and Asset Production (55%)

Join strategic fundraising conversations with Principal Gifts team and Development department to understand opportunities, challenges, and resulting tactics appropriate for donor communications.
Apply and refine Earthjustice messaging best practices with counterparts in the Communications and Development department.
Actively participate in meetings with program staff and other subject matter experts throughout the organization to capture insights necessary to fulfill objectives of Donor Communications projects.
Secure vetting from subject matter experts to ensure integrity in our communications.
Conduct effective interviews with organizational leadership in order to articulate their vision to the donor audience.
Facilitate strategic planning, creative briefs and project management for donor communications assignments.
Transform programmatic reporting into development collateral that serves the organization’s fundraising objectives.
Collaborate with project stakeholders to personalize assets for individual donors.
Reinforce Earthjustice’s brand and values through donor communications.
Facilitate effective feedback conversations for continual improvement and improved partnerships.

Program Knowledge Generation and Sharing (15%)

Build program knowledge through informational meetings, webinars and event recordings, newsletters, strategic memos, board books and materials generated by program and communications teams throughout the organization.
Conduct reviews for other team members' assets and provide coaching for more junior writers.
Collaborate with other writers and communicators to share programmatic information and messaging guidance.
Disseminate actionable insights regarding principal giving strategy to inform peers’ writing.
Bring expertise in specific program areas, fundraising strategy and messaging best practices to inform asset planning efforts such as campaign collateral, Annual Report, yearly docket asset, calendar, etc.

Development Department Contributions (15%)

Contribute to initiatives for continual improvement of a healthy workplace culture and alignment with organizational values.
Participate and lead efforts to refine and enhance infrastructure such as our technical toolset, team norms and operational best practices.
Engage with efforts to measure and analyze Donor Comms performance metrics.
Contribute to Donor Communications guidelines like editorial style decisions, PRI narrative frameworks, integration of multimedia, etc.
Participate meaningfully in retreats and recurring meetings at the department, team, sub-team and 1:1 level (includes facilitation responsibilities).

Professional Development, Organizational Engagement and Administrative Duties (15%)

Invest in skills and relationships that equip personal growth as well as advancement of organizational priorities.
Contribute to Earthjustice’s commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion by participating in committees, affinity groups, and other programming.
Participate actively in ongoing alignment with Earthjustice’s commitments to excellence in people and management.
Enhance Earthjustice’s culture of feedback, credit and appreciation in practical and systematic contributions.
Engage meaningfully in organization-wide initiatives (e.g. Data Records and Management) and trainings (e.g. electioneering compliance), adherence with IT standards and changes, etc.

Qualifications:

Five years of professional work experience writing for a high-volume non-profit Development department.
Proficient in strategic communications, applied in strategic planning exercises as well as individual communications projects.
Demonstrates specialized writing skills in support of Development objectives.
Leverages humility, cultural sensitivity, and experience working with a range of subjects in support of equitable storytelling.
Conducts interviews of subject matter experts, organizational leadership, external partners and more for storytelling that serves persuasive communications goals.
Facilitates remote meetings to maximize the benefits of synchronous time needed across team members.
Leverages internal communications skills to serve a geographically dispersed team, working across several time zones.
Facilitates coaching and feedback conversations that build trust and enhance performance.
Demonstrates an awareness and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds and orientations.
Contributes to the creation of a diverse, equitable and inclusive work culture that encourages and celebrates differences.

Demonstrated success in the following areas:

Producing communications assets for fundraising including proposals; reports; concept papers; cultivation decks; web site content; and case for support and fundraising campaign collateral.
Developing materials for ultra-high net worth audiences including philanthropic advisers.
Ghost writing for executive leadership.
Articulating the vision of executive leadership.

We offer a mission and employee-focused work environment and a competitive compensation package including excellent benefits. Earthjustice is an equal opportunity employer and highly values diversity. As a 501(c)(3) organization, Earthjustice is a qualifying employer for purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

Salary is based on experience and location.

Salary range in San Francisco, CA or New York, NY: $98,300 - $109,200

Salary range in Seattle, WA, Washington, D.C., or Chicago, IL: $93,400 - $103,800

Salary range in Denver, CO or Philadelphia, PA: $88,500 - $98,300

Salary range in Miami, FL, Texas (state), or Atlanta, GA: $83,600 - $92,900

The remote salary range for other locations in the U.S.: $83,600 - $103,800

To Apply:

Interested candidates should submit the following via Jobvite by September 5th, 2023:

With your application, please submit a resume, cover letter, and two examples of fundraising communications assets that you wrote. At least one sample should be a proposal for a major gift solicitation.

Please reach out to jobs@earthjustice.org if you are having technical difficulties submitting your application. No phone calls, drop-ins, or hard copies.

Earthjustice is driven by a passion for justice, partnership, and excellence. Our core values lead us to seek a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds to achieve our mission and to maintain an inclusive environment where all staff are valued and respected. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to employment practices that ensure that employees and applicants for employment are provided with equal opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or or any other factor that is not related to the position.

For positions located within the City and County of San Francisco: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment-qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

For positions located within the City of Los Angeles: We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring. 